[ExI] What Makes People Vote Republican

[Lee Corbin]

Damien S. writes

>> Whether or not the government passes lots of ridiculous laws about
>> abortion, or who can sleep with whom, or whether the kiddies must
>> or must not pray in school---all these seem trivial to me in comparison.
> 
> Let me guess... the author is a straight man.

This here is our problem. With every man... oh, sorry, person... thinking
only of him/her/self  it's just as Haidt is saying. Consider a man, gay at heart
who thinks first of his country---will any mere personal burden so betray
him that he's no longer part of his nation's soul?

Well---hope you got a laugh out of that 19th, er, no 4th century B.C.
riposte  :-)

> What matters more?  Growth tomorrow, or rights today?

I'm *so* interested in growth, that very small infringements don't bother
me; For example, I'm fine with the Securities and Exchange Commission
taking away some of my freedom to buy and sell with whom I want
when I want. Nor does it bother me that I cannot buy a piece of 
land and build anything I want there, but must bow to zoning ordinances.
And I'm even *relieved* that the government curtails what I may
wear or not wear, explicitly prohibiting nudity. Naked sex on public
streets and in the parks should be prohibited too, not to mention
the sexual seduction of small children.

As for abortion "rights", privacy "rights", and other novelties, no,
I don't think they matter at all, compared with having a sound
economy. Being poor or collapsed makes those things appear
pretty trivial.

>> year history of power politics as usual resumes. And the last people we
>> want in the White House are those who would exhibit the least naivety
>> here, one-worlders who really cannot understand the reality of "us vs. 
>> them".
> 
> Not that there's anything self-fulfilling about foreign policy
> attitudes.  Oh, wait.

Yes, indeed, there can be something quite dangerous here. Too much
suspicion can actually start conflicts that no one wanted. But as with
most things, seek moderation. Simply understand that in the real world
some people and some institutions are almost unimaginably evil. Don't
wonder at *anything* the Gestapo or the NKVD, or their modern
counterparts in some places in the world might do. Well--you probably
know that.

> Or anything valuable about maintaining a healthy alliance of
> democracies and of goodwill.

Nothing wrong with that at all. Remember, no two democracies have
*ever* gone to war against each other. (IN 1812, Great Britain was
not a democracy, with only 3% of the people able to vote.)

> Also BTW, a different 2D quiz:  http://quiz2d.com/

Interesting.

For once, my little splotch of red stayed entirely out of the
conservative domain. But I still tilt to the right of pure libertarian.

Lee