I often have political discussions with acquaintances. Well.... for a given value of 'often'.
During those discussions, there usually appears to be a disconnect. Since I'm the one writing this, I'll say that disconnect is on the other side of the discussion. The disconnect I speak of is the one between reality, reason, logic, and emotion. Too many times the whole 'argument' boils down to "I think Republiservatives are evil and mean because that's what everyone I know says", which is in itself a remarkable triumph of political propaganda the likes of which even the Politburo never dreamed.
In the interest of a better quality discussion, I'd like to have a short list of questions to pose. Concepts and ideas that can form the foundation of whats to follow. Towards that end, I'd like input from others... preferably folks more intelligent than I, which leaves a wide field to harvest from.
Offered as example....
- Do individuals have the inherent right to pursue their own path in life?
- Is there such thing as 'right' and 'wrong'?
- Is it ever 'right' for a group of people to do that which is 'wrong' for an individual to do?
I throw the floor open to all you bright people out there. Add to this list of questions... refine them... turn them into building blocks for the foundation of communication between people.
Please... ignore the average level of insanity amongst the population, and assume for this discussion that some people are capable of coherent and honest thought.
2 comments:
Mine is, what is your definition of civility?
Three excellent questions you have there! The only trouble is, a cautious bloke (as it might be me) will simply answer "yes" or "no" and stop... so may I suggest that you could prod said cautious bloke for the second one (since it is the really fundamental one) with a follow up set of questions: are 'right' and 'wrong' absolute, or relative to a situation or culture or one's own opinion? In any case how, or by whom, is the determination to be made? (I might note that all three "religions of the book" share a common answer, although one would not always believe that to be so). The third question begs for the additional -- if you answered yes, under what conditions and, again, how and by whom is the determination to be made? The first question again begs the additional -- if you answered yes, is that unconditional, or are there limits to the right and (here we go again) if so, how and by whom are the limits to be determined?
Fun and thought provoking!
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