Entries tagged with politics

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On Punching Nazis

I've been thinking a lot about punching Nazis lately. I've observed a lot of conversation about it, both online and IRL, and it's even been in the news as something that happened today in the city I live in. I am generally not in favor.

As a martial arts instructor, it's not an option I'm willing to take entirely off the table. I do believe that "those who aren't willing to resort to violence will always be at the mercy of those who are." But also as a martial arts instructor, I've thought a lot about the consequences of applying violence. They are many, and they are grave. ( Read more... )

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politics

why i could never be a conservative, redux

So the last entry was a response to someone explaining why they could never be a liberal, and I titled it, as above, "Why I Could Never be a Conservative." I thought I might discuss more directly why that is.

First off, it's not even true. If we take general definitions of "conservative" versus "liberal" as wanting things to stay more like they were versus wanting things to be different, just who is which is context dependent. Conservatives can play a valuable role in society of putting on the brakes, and preventing too much change happening too fast and going too far. That's a good thing. If I was in France in 1790, or Russia in 1920, or China in 1950, I'd probably qualify as a conservative.

But I'm not, and in America in 2013 I'm definitely not a conservative. ( Read more... )

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politics

why i could never be a conservative

I really shouldn't be taking the time to do this right now, but I just read an article that struck me. It's called "Why I Could Never Be a Liberal" by Matt Lewis. I was really interested to read it, hoping to find a reasoned defense of views I don't necessarily hold. I was disappointed. WARNING/APOLOGY: This is about to get political. ( Read more... )