The version I have heard is "If you aren't liberal when you're young, you don't have a heart. If you aren't conservative when you're old, you don't have a brain."
On Wed, Nov 4, 2020 at 4:16 PM Steve Smith <[email protected]> wrote: > I appreciate this point of view. In 2016 it seems like there was a lot > of rhetoric about "vote in your own best self-interest" as a way to try > to increase turnout or focus on why any individual should take voting > seriously. > > Working at LANL for 27 years I heard *way* too many people there voting > for War Hawks because it was "good for (nuclear weapons) interest" which > was good for the lab's/county's budget... etc. > > I've never voted for my specific self-interest (supporting school bonds > because my kids were of school age or against them because I had none or > they were done with that) but with an idea toward a larger self-interest > of "what kind of world do I want to live in?"... which has progressed > with age from one where perhaps there was a lot of scrappy scrapping > going on where I could "get ahead" to one where "as few people are under > acute stress and misery as possible such that everyone (human and > non-human everyones) rises to be their best selves". I know this is > very Pollyanna at some level... But I so much prefer to ignore my > baser instincts of "greed and fear" in deference to something a little > more "enlightened". > > I have always been appalled by the admonition "If you are not liberal > while young and conservative when old, there is something wrong with > you". I refactored it to "idealistic while young and practical when > old". My *practicality* says that my life is improved by the lives of > my family, friends, neighbors, and beyond being improved, and as Marcus > reflects here, that works mainly/only/best for those of us NOT living > under dire threat of privation of abuse, but I would claim that the bulk > of that "threat" is an illusion in the first world. We all have spare > capacity to "rise above" if we choose to. > > - Steve > > On 11/4/20 11:54 AM, Marcus Daniels wrote: > > Nick wrote: > > > > < I know two trump supporters quite well. Mind you, we don't talk > politics that much. Both are owners of small businesses who have led the > highly regulated lives that folks must lead if they are going to make money > in a politically diverse community. Both [thought they] saw gains from the > Tax Cuts. I think both think the economic policies have been good for them > and they find the crazy stuff kinda fun. > > > > > Let me just give you my visceral response: If one is doing ok -- not > having your neck crushed under the knee of a cop or starving -- then I have > the expectation that a person persuade on the basis on what is good for > everyone, not what is good for them. I don't care how they make money. > That is their problem. I did fine under Bush, Obama, and even Trump. > I'm a lucky one. It would never occur to me to use minor trends up or > down in my income for a reason why someone should run the most powerful > democracy in the world. I find it petty and appalling that people do think > of making this connection. Yes, I would cancel them if I had subscribed > to them, but I never did subscribe to them. > > > > Marcus > > - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . > > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > > Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam > > un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > > archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > > - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam > un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > FRIAM-COMIC <http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/FRIAM-COMIC> > http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ >
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