Can there be any such thing as politics that is divorced from the political means? How would that work, if possible?
I get it that many people really like politics. Some feel the need to participate, rather than just observe. Some of these believe they are being self-defensively political. But is that really a thing? Isn't that like setting off a bomb in a crowded store and saying it was in self-defense?
I get protesting against some anti-liberty scheme. But is v*ting ever really a purely defensive protest?
How can you "be political" without violating the life, liberty, or property of anyone else in any way-- without archating?
"But is v*ting ever really a purely defensive protest?"
ReplyDeleteIt is when it is a vote against tax increases or authorizations for further expansions of State power.
Do v*ters ever actually stop there? (I didn't back when I used to v*te.)
DeleteI do, but then I can only be responsible and accountable for my actions. Conversely, is someone who refuses to say no to such measures responsible for the consequences of their abstention? For all the tax increases I voted against that nevertheless passed, who is to blame? Is it the minority of the electorate who voted yes or the majority of the electorate who refused to say no and thus allowed that minority to prevail?
ReplyDeleteOr those who proposed the theft increases in the first place?
DeleteI think those who allowed politics to infest our lives and decided that such things as theft are legitimately subject to majority opinion are to blame. You shouldn't have to v*te against theft or other violations of life, liberty, or property.
"Or those who proposed the theft increases in the first place?"
DeleteIn the hierarchy of 'blame assessment' these, I agree, clearly have priority. And I absolutely agree that such matters of ethical distinction, like theft or murder, should not and cannot be determined by or 'sanctified' by majority consensus. I am however always puzzled and disappointed that such violations of right behavior are routinely ignored by the vast majority who apparently can't be bothered to say NO in a venue where their choice to disapprove and condemn could be publicly expressed.