My politics

Yes, I know, this blog is starting to resemble one long mash note to Ta-Nehisi Coates. I can't help the way I feel. Anyway, he has a long post on his politics. This made me think about my own. Some random thoughts: * I think most people think that they have good reasons for believing as they do. It is rare that they are simply malicious. * I think most people try about as hard as everyone else to be good people. * I think there is no way to derive a comprehensive moral or legal framework from a few first principles. In some situations, some values will be incommensurable; you need to pick one. And the choice is rarely obvious. * I think the world would be a vastly better place if people recognized that the right response to disagreement is debate, not rage. * I think things are usually more complicated than they look. * I think actions interact in complicated and often unpredictible ways. * I think incentives matter. * I think almost no one adequately appreciates how much heavy lifting hidden cultural norms do in our political and economic systems. * I think that no system is perfect, and the fact that something has gone wrong is not evidence that change is desireable. * I think people are biased towards affirmation and action, with often unfortunate results. * I think most people, undoubtedly including me, give themselves too much credit. * I think the knowledge that you might be wrong is the most valuable asset a human being can have. * I think that speaking of one culture as "better" than another is a meaningless statement. Culture gives you the preferences by which you evaluate it. * I think that too many people in political debate are looking for reasons to be angry. * I think that it is kind of creepy when everyone in a room, or a comment thread, agrees with each other. * I think that we have a moral obligation to, as the bumper sticker says, be the change we want.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2008/06/my-politics/3702/