Assumptions

Articles

Scott Jones

Assumptions
Aug 22, 2003

Everyone knows the old adage, “Never assume because you make an A** out of U and Me”? I have been reminded of this adage many times recently, especially when I have read the columns posted here on Useless-Knowledge.com. I am also reminded of the adage each time I listen to political pundits (both right and left). Granted, it is certainly easier to argue against a generic philosophical construct that has been created specifically to provide the pundit (or columnist) an ideally imagined foil against which said pundit (or columnist) can then launch their specific rebuttals.

My first column on Useless-Knowledge.com It’s Lonely Here in The Middle basically attempted to define my own specific stance and philosophical bent. I admit freely to being neither a conservative, nor a liberal, rather I believe that I have ideas that would fall on either side of that spectrum. Of course, I also understand that compared to some of the more extreme columnists here on Useless-Knowledge.com, I have been pegged as a screaming liberal, and thus those same columnists seem justified in assigning all of THEIR assumed “Liberal Viewpoints” and “Liberal Argument Techniques” to me and then ASSUMING that I mindlessly support those Viewpoints. I realize that when one places themselves all the way to the extreme right, then anyone else can be assumed to be “on the left”, but I wanted to provide a caution to this type of thinking.

“Extremism in the pursuit of liberty is no vice.” Barry Goldwater said that during his bid for the presidency in 1964. To me, this statement is very dangerous, then as it is now, because it presents an extremely limited and self-justifying perspective that excludes any ideas except those that fall in the narrow range of that extreme. Such extremism is dangerous because it represents the type of philosophical foundation upon which such things as fascism, despotism, radical socialism and totalitarianism is based. None of these particular “isms” fit the ideal that is America.

I have never been comfortable with extremists of any kind. It has often been my experience that such people tend to be closed minded and subject to a self-reflexive justification of their own ideas that neither invites or encourages any type of meaningful discussion. When meaningful discussion is removed, then what takes its place is name-calling and stereotyping, neither of which are productive in regard to developing real solutions to difficult problems.

I also recognize that in the world of political punditry, these qualities are admired and rewarded, after all, isn’t it great to listen to Rush Limbaugh shoot down some caller with a pithy name and then hang up on them? Of course it is, and that is why he and others like him are so popular. But punditry and governance are not the same.

Those who are in the government have been elected to represent and govern ALL Americans. Certainly, those politicians must be sensitive to the attitudes and desires of their constituents, but they also are expected to be able to think beyond themselves and consider the needs of the country as a whole. Much of our current political climate (by current I mean within the past 30 years) seems to have degenerated in to Party-Affiliated in fighting and maneuvering. The individual, and more importantly, the value of the individual, has been supplanted by the mass consciousness of political party ideologies.

We are in a very dynamic time in our history as a country. There are frightening things happening in the world and we are reacting to those situations in more or less appropriate means. Certainly Terrorism cannot be tolerated on this planet, and as the most powerful country on this planet, it is incumbent upon us to take the lead in eradicating this problem. By virtue of our overwhelming financial and military superiority, we have become the leader of the world in this respect. In assuming this role, however, we also assume a massive responsibility to all of those that we are now leading. We cannot lead the world, without also considering the ‘world’s” needs and interests right along with our own.

There is virtue and power in the tension between strength and compassion, between action and restraint and between decision and consideration. America has grown strong and virtuous by recognizing and developing that tension, and it is this tension that will support us into the future. America is a beautiful dream that is in a continual state of almost being realized. We must all pursue this Dream in our own way.

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