Letters to the Editor
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Response to Amy LeeTee and other critiques of liberalism.
Amy LeeTee, to which "dialectic" do you refer? Is it the eternal class struggle, or something else? Regardless, assuming you self-identify as a leftist and not a liberal, do you and the other leftists here truly believe that there will ever not be elites in this world? People who, by virtue of innate ability, circumstance, and luck become elite athletes or artists or intellectuals or industrialists or political leaders? What of revolutionary elites, the kind of people who understand 10 cent jargon like "dialectics?" "Elite" is not necessarily a pejorative; often it is merely an acknowledgement of reality. My trainer is an elite martial artist. She can fight circles around me and always will. I'm not angry about that: that's just the way it is. My friend is an elite intellectual. He has a very big brain, far bigger than mine, and due to that and his elite education, he will always out-think me (even if I can best him in checkers from time to time). So it goes.
As long as there are elites -- and there always will be -- there will be classes. Liberalism is dedicated to using collective effort through government to maximize freedom and opportunity and justice in society, despite classes. What is wrong with that?
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I'm very impressed Pennywhistler!
You were right, I was talking about the quote from Exodus. It's right after where the Torah conclusively states that a fetus does not have the status of a human being. I purposely ignored the different contexts where the phrase Ayin tachas Ayin appears. Yasher Ko'ach!
I'm also impressed that you knew to use R'Kaplan's excellent translation of Torah. Accept no substitute!
OK then, Vuss sagt d'Rashi? According to the wonderful Artscroll, D'vorim 19:21, Rashi says Ayin b'Ayin - EYE FOR EYE. This means Mammon - payment of money.
The comments below indicate that eidem zomemim, false witnesses, are given similar penalties to what they would have given their victims through the court. However, they are not blinded, nor are they killed if they falsely accuse someone of murder.
For a fuller explanation, explore Tractate Makkos in the Talmud.
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To paraphrase...
Regardless, assuming you self-identify as a leftist and not a liberal, do you and the other leftists here truly believe that there will ever not be elites in this world?
To paraphrase Stephen Jay Gould in his book The Mismeasure of Man, its not that I think everyone is an Einstein. But I do believe that everyone has the ability and the right to contribute and lead fulfilling lives in society. This is impossible in todays classist society, and one that will not be solved by "liberalism" (which in fact, has no sense of collectivity; it's an individualist political philosophy). It will only be possible with eliminating, as much as possible, monetary, racial, and sexual barriers.
I'm not, before anyone asserts it, dreaming of utopia, but rather not falling down to the navel-gazing cynicism and finished before you've even started "pragmatism" of many people in today's political culture.I don't have any delusions of the large institutional and cultural barriers in the way of a path to socialism (essentially what I'm describing above), but if you get to the moon by shooting for the stars, what the hell are we doing now? Hoping to not get too skidded up when we hit asphalt?
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um...
Media Matters documents instances of lying and distortion in the news media.
You forgot to mention that it was founded by a proven liar, David Brock. Hmmm.
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Brock Copped to His Lies
You forgot to mention that it was founded by a proven liar, David Brock. Hmmm.
The only reason you know Brock is a proven liar is because Brock told you he was a liar and showed you the proof if it himself.
Brock copped to all of his lies and he didn't "have to" like some people we know who are still stonewalling it. Brock saw the error of his ways without a grand jury breathing down his neck, or a Congressional investigation looking into his lies.
Look at all of his cohorts from the Arkansas Project who have not admitted to their lies, let alone gone on to try and make amends for them.
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Sean SIberio, i can *imagine* "eliminating racial and sexual barriers
but *monetary* ones? in a heterogeneous society? i can imagine it in homogenous societies like scandinavia, germany and holland, where it's looked upon as some sort of collective insurance, but in the U.S. where extreme heterogeneity exists, one group is always pitted against another. race, sex and money all intersect in life insurance. you could have true insurance, where rates are determined by *all*, but that's not what happens. whites live longer than blacks and females live longer than males. but it is only "segregated" i.e. categorized, by sex not race. why? perhaps there's some deep sociological reason why one differentiation is accepted but another isn't. to me, there should be *one* national insurance, and it would cover *everything* health, life, fire, and flood. the government would just print the money - it would be taken out evenly via inflation. perhaps there are holes in this that i haven't realized, but it would be comforting to know that my government would try and help me out in emergency. whatever.
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darwin was wrong
a prep school cheerleader, a cokeheaded wartime deserter, a child abusing drunk, a serial business failure, is President of the United States. If that doesn't refute elitism I have no idea what does. Starting with Ronnie Ray-gun, we've been sold the notion that we want an average joe, a schmuck to drink a lite beer with, to run the most powerful nation on earth. And the purposeful erosion of the public school system, the Mall Wartization of Murka, is an established fact. The average Murkan is detached, half drunk, half witted, and bigotted beyond belief. That's what the conservative movement wanted all along: a malleable electorate, most of which doesn't even vote, and knee-jerk consumers. And a little jerk shall lead them.
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As if the last eight years haven't proved we do...g!
>...we'd best understand the powerful anti-elitist sentiments here and stop talking down to the huge numbers of people who naturally distrust us because they perceive that we think we know better than they do what's good for them.<
Forget that mess, Robert. Those folks have brought this country to the brink of disaster by letting their inferiority complexes run crazy and wanting to bully the "elites" into silence. They've been acting like kids and we've been cowed by their "you think you're better than us" attitude for far too long. They don't _want_ to listen, because then they would have to change and they would sooner admit they were wrong as hell than do that. In short, they are going to see liberals as patronizing or worse because they want to, and there is no trying to talk to them.