Enlightenment vs. The French Revolution

Ok, so in class, once again, everyone assumes that:
1) The Enlightenment is related to the French Revolution
2) Greed is bad.

To point 1:
The French Revolution was a totalitarian revolution. The Enlightenment was about individual rights and property rights; the dislike of government comes from the frequent denial of those rights by them. The French Revolution denied most rights, especially freedom of speech (if you were a dissident or even suspected of being a dissident, you were beheaded). So, no, the French Revolution was not a result of the Enlightenment, nor was it founded on Enlightenment principles.

To point 2:
Greed has done wonders. Greed has built every comfort of modern life! Adam Smith (an Enlightenment Philosopher) explained why, several hundred years ago, yet people still are mistaken about this point.

Quick Thoughts on Truth

So, certain ideologies that I oppose, including communism, believe that the truth (i.e. history) is whatever the movement thinks strengthens the cause. The Soviet Union apparently used to remove party members who had fallen from favor from photos; the complete block on information on what was happening in the USSR was called the “Iron Curtain”.
Anyway, I will try to write more in the coming weeks, but I cannot make any promises.

Quick Update

Sorry about the lack of posts here. I haven’t thought of anything to write about for a while now. I’m sure that this will change when I get back to school and have more people around, and more discussions. I guess my co-blogger has been in the less internet connected parts of Texas. Or maybe he has the same problem as me.
In the mean time, I have a twitter account here. I need to think of more things to write.

Speech I Intend to Give

I intend to give this at the beginning of the spring trimester, in my AP US History class, in response to things my teacher has said, and to what my classmates have said.

“I intend to expose the flaw in your theory of pragmatic, or non-ideological, politics.
Idealogy is used to make ideas that are logically consistent. Your ideology of pragmatic politics is the ideology of inconstancy. You will find that the policies you implement to solve the problems you see will lead to further problems, that will require more policies. As the government balloons in size to manage the horrid tangle of legislation, regulation, and social reform programs, it will further intrude into the lives and liberties of every citizen. The economic regulations you so enthusiastically call for only blur the lines between government and business. Monopolies will exist in every part of the market, and they will be in perfect harmony with the government.
Well, welcome to fascism! Welcome to Mussolini’s corporatism! Welcome to totalitarianism! You have asked for the god-state, and you have received! And it all came from the non-ideological desire to reform society and the pragmatic search for a third way between capitalism and socialism! Well, here it is!
Thank you for listening.”

What do you think? Anything I should do to make it clearer? Anyone?

John McCain, considered lesser evil by Republicans.

John McCain is considered a lesser evil to the Republican party than Clinton or Obama.  Demonstrating an impressive show of real politic, republicans in Texas voted in the democratic primaries, skewing the vote towards Clinton by a few percent.  Many republicans, included ‘elder’ conservative Rush Limbaugh, believe that Clinton is easier to beat than Obama.  Clinton still hasn’t caught up to Obama’s lead, but has closed the gap to 144 pledged delegates.  By keeping the gap narrow, republicans hope for the democratic party to continue to feud among themselves, opening holes in its armor for McCain to shoot at.  McCain continues to strengthen his position among independents and “open minded liberals”, but still has trouble with getting the conservative base behind his campaign.  With Huckabee telling his suporters to vote for McCain and President Bush telling the republican party that McCain is a,”true conservative,” the party might fall in line behind their nominee.  Also many Republicans believe that McCain is a lesser evil than Clinton or Obama.  With the Republican nominee select already decided for the 2008 election, the Democratic presidential nominee will have a hard time trying to catch up in campaigning against the republican party and McCain.

Latest in Presidential campaign

So, John McCain cinched the nomination, and Mike Huckabee dropped out, finally. Well, meh. I don’t really like McCain, but then again, I dont really like anyone in the race right now.

On the Democratic side, Clinton won Ohio and Texas. I recall some pundits predicting that this means that Hillary will now begin a vicious fight with Obama that could potentially split the Democratic Party, or at least damage it. The next few months could be very interesting (read: entertaining) if the predictions of angst over the superdelegates come true. Though, at the end we are still stuck with a competition between people who will most likely push for more regulation.

Maybe I will vote Libertarian in November after all; don’t tell me that I’m throwing away my vote when the mainstream candidates are exactly the same.