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More thorts
Mar. 8th, 2012 05:18 pmAnother important point: the withdrawal by Rush's sponsors is not a First Amendment / free speech issue, but the free market at work.
Here's a snippet of that New Scientist (3 March) interview about politics and morality: "... I think the Tea Party is driven in large part by concerns about fairness. It's not fairness as equality of outcomes, it's fairness as karma - the idea that good deeds will lead to good outcomes and bad deeds will lead to suffering. Many conservatives believe the Democratic party [is] the party that says, you got pregnant? Don't worry, have an abortion. You got addicted to drugs? Don't worry, we'll give you methadone. It's the party that absolves you from moral irresponsibility."
That's a very interesting insight; I think there's a similar belief behind some Australians' hostility towards asylum seekers, who the Howard government cleverly and falsely characterised as "queue jumpers". However, I'd argue that we should make it easy for people to make responsible choices, not hard or even impossible! As I commented to Jon, imagine if we denied driver education, seatbelts, and airbags to young men, and then told them "you can drive - but don't"! It wouldn't just be unfair - it'd be cutting off our own noses to spite our faces. Fewer unplanned babies means fewer people dropping out of school or work; it saves on welfare and is better for the economy. Plus, of course, it means fewer abortions - a result everyone wants.
Here's a snippet of that New Scientist (3 March) interview about politics and morality: "... I think the Tea Party is driven in large part by concerns about fairness. It's not fairness as equality of outcomes, it's fairness as karma - the idea that good deeds will lead to good outcomes and bad deeds will lead to suffering. Many conservatives believe the Democratic party [is] the party that says, you got pregnant? Don't worry, have an abortion. You got addicted to drugs? Don't worry, we'll give you methadone. It's the party that absolves you from moral irresponsibility."
That's a very interesting insight; I think there's a similar belief behind some Australians' hostility towards asylum seekers, who the Howard government cleverly and falsely characterised as "queue jumpers". However, I'd argue that we should make it easy for people to make responsible choices, not hard or even impossible! As I commented to Jon, imagine if we denied driver education, seatbelts, and airbags to young men, and then told them "you can drive - but don't"! It wouldn't just be unfair - it'd be cutting off our own noses to spite our faces. Fewer unplanned babies means fewer people dropping out of school or work; it saves on welfare and is better for the economy. Plus, of course, it means fewer abortions - a result everyone wants.
