tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post1114012617301427914..comments2024-03-11T10:32:34.217+00:00Comments on Conservative Tendency: Lessons of the mastersMark Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-78840288215388006832010-11-15T07:49:52.915+00:002010-11-15T07:49:52.915+00:00I think we may be at least half in agreement. You ...I think we may be at least half in agreement. You didn't say that you had not found any mentors, only that those you had found turned out to be seriously flawed. So perhaps you learned something from them and then moved on, which seems healthy to me. In my experience, we have to think our way through many ideas to find the few that seem to have lasting value, which may or may not be the ones we started from.Alanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16898681927233029900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-32011094941240731852010-11-15T05:27:25.107+00:002010-11-15T05:27:25.107+00:00Alan, I agree that the proliferation of ideas, inf...Alan, I agree that the proliferation of ideas, information, etc. can be - is, in many respects - a major problem, but I don't know if this means we have too many intellectual mentors. In general the information is fragmented and variously sourced - not taken from a trusted person, a 'thinking master'.<br /><br />I know you are using the word 'mentor' loosely ("too many mentors"). And I think we would agree that there is a need for intellectual guides. My point is simply that I have been disappointed in my search for one, and I am asking why this is. Am I expecting too much? Do other people feel this need?Mark Englishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-62746447809484276732010-11-14T09:16:38.192+00:002010-11-14T09:16:38.192+00:00It might be rather that we have too many mentors. ...It might be rather that we have too many mentors. We have so many sources of ideas, and so many new books, not to mention films, the net, and other media -- the problem is to sift through them without going nuts.<br /><br />In the ancient world, philosophers learned a craft, and mostly built on the work of their predecessors. This may be still largely true today in the sciences. Outside the sciences there is no agreement on method, so we have to make it all up as we go along. This makes good philosophy more necessary, but it also makes it look more useless, because less successful.<br /><br />It's a problem.Alanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16898681927233029900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-75463559161218465982010-11-13T01:21:52.418+00:002010-11-13T01:21:52.418+00:00I'd get rid of irrelevant comments.I'd get rid of irrelevant comments.Alanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16898681927233029900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-87597905712439608332010-11-12T05:42:54.759+00:002010-11-12T05:42:54.759+00:00SOCIALIST AMERICA
Government programs funded by ...SOCIALIST AMERICA <br />Government programs funded by taxpayers for the benefit of all citizens<br />Public Education K-12<br />State College System<br />Community Colleges<br />Social Security<br />Medicare<br />Medicaid<br />Libraries<br />FDA<br />FDIC<br />SEC<br />FCC<br />FEMA <br />Police Departments<br />Fire Departments<br />Civil Services Such as Park and Forest <br /> Rangers/Employees<br />National Defense System – Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard<br />National Guard<br />The Government Itself on National,<br />State and Local Levels Including Federal and State Depts of:<br />State<br />Treasury<br />Labor<br />HSS<br />Commerce<br />Agriculture<br />Energy<br />Interior<br />U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security<br />U.S. Mint<br />FAA<br />NASA<br />FBI<br />Secret Service<br />CIA<br />NSA<br />U.S. Highways System<br />International and Municipal Airports<br />Bridges<br />Tunnels<br />Dams<br />Municipal Waste Water Removal Systems<br />Municipal Garbage Pick Ups<br />Museums<br />Science Centers<br />The Smithsonian<br />Library Of Congress<br />National Institutes Of Health<br />Animal Control (Police/Sheriff’s Department)<br />Patent, Copyright and Trademark Protections<br />Other Intellectual Property Protections<br />Government Farm Program That Pays <br />Me To Not Grow Crops<br />Subsidized Water For Big Ag In California <br />That Flows Through The State Water <br />Project and Federal Central Valley Project<br />US Army Corps Of Engineers<br />Justice System Including Sheriff’s Department, District Attorneys, Public Defenders, City Attorneys, County Counsels<br />Unemployment Insurance<br />Workers’ Compensation Insurance<br />Disability Insurance<br />Minimum Wage<br />Eight-Hour Days<br />40-Hour Weeks<br />Overtime Pay<br />Welfare For The Poor<br />Foodstamps<br />OSHA -- Workplace Safety Standards<br />Workplace Benefits:<br />Sick Leave<br />Vacation Leave<br />Unpaid Family Leave<br />Overtime Pay<br />Child Labor Laws<br />...<br /><br />Which would YOU get rid of?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04021638794657149233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-64162077287558478862010-11-12T04:54:36.711+00:002010-11-12T04:54:36.711+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Mark Englishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-55137412310852846082010-11-11T14:53:46.212+00:002010-11-11T14:53:46.212+00:00"Arts and humanities-oriented writers and sch..."Arts and humanities-oriented writers and scholars are too often ignorant or (worse) scornful of scientific knowledge. Scientists and mathematicians, on the other hand, are often amazingly uncritical in non-scientific areas, and especially in social and political contexts."<br /><br />This has been my experience as well. Even polymaths like Sagan were unreliable on politics. His view of military spending was (at least at one point in his life) a veritable set piece of wishful thinking.<br /><br />I don't know if you can get the American conservative radio talk shows by Michael Medved and Dennis Prager, but they should be available via podcast. Anyway, Medved believes in Bigfoot, Prager in psychic phenomena.<br /><br />I adored Bertrand Russell until I learned about his politics (worse than naive). How could someone so wise about so many things be that foolish about others? Later still I found out about his treatment of women. He was a standard cad, for all his philosophy.<br /><br />Interestingly, in a speech late in his life, Sagan urged his audience to dispense with heroes: "They're gone!" I like to think it was a species of humility, some sense of his own limitations.<br /><br />I am accustomed to thinking of the skeptical conservative's frustration as a matter of having no (or just a very small) tribe. Your point, that there is a dearth of mentors, is a fresh frustration.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com