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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LLCF who wrote (81585)	10/23/2009 12:14:06 PM
From: one_less	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

"I wish it were so easy..." Principle is easy, practical circumstances are complex. Policy should always be founded on principle. Whether it is Aristotelian science, Socratic thought, Ghandian morality, Jeffersonian Democracy, etc we begin with a pure idea and form a principle for which the idea should generally apply. Solutions don't just pop into the air and mob mentality rarely does anything but add new problems onto old. Real solutions are discovered with dilligent use of reason founded upon the logical application of principle. The real question/problem is coming up with a sound principle that applies. I find arguments over broad ranging solutions to be silliest when no one is addressing the fundamental principle supporting each side. I usually avoid arguments on SI when I see something in the form of, "because all the coolest people are saying its the right way to do things" ... Usually 'cool' in the form of 'We libs' or 'Righteous Conservatives'. When I see something that appears to be an 'everybody thinks this way,' I try to formulate another way to look at it, because doing that has the potential to stimulate new thinking. New thinking isn't loyal to a camp or agenda and so has more potential for consideration. Like when you said 'rights are accrued;' I could see how most people would think that way, so I thought through the issue in a reverse fashion... rights are diminished until no longer applicable. You have to admit it caused you to think about things differently, right? Its what we call challenging conventional wisdom. You said 'its not easy' so now I've built an argument on the simplicity of principle, which is not wrong but is the reverse way of looking at it. Your wish has been granted.