A rational opinion
I read this today at Oxblog. Josh Chafetz has an extremely well written and thoughtful examination of his reasons for reluctantly voting for John Kerry. What's comforting about his opinion is that it's not coming from a Bush hater. He's clearly someone who is straddling the fence and has made his decision after carefully weighing all the factors.
There's only one part that I disagree with:
I don't think he shares my view of the transformative power of liberty and democracy, and I worry about how that would affect his administration's policies. I worry that he would tip the scales too much towards creating order and not enough towards creating democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan.I think John Kerry believes in the transformative power of libery and democracy. The big difference, as I see it, is Bush is willing to use force to create democracies. This does not work. The people have to choose democracy - it cannot be imposed upon them. You can't create freedom by forcing freedom. It just doesn't work that way. So I am not as concerned as Mr. Chafetz about this difference between Kerry and Bush.
Anyway, check it out. And if you know people who are straddling the fence, it might be a good idea to point them to Mr. Chafetz's post.
posted by Matt @ 10:15 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Matt S here. I just have trouble believing that there would be people who might vote for either of the two major candidates. Okay, I believe it. I just don't understand it. Even given my well-publicized problem with voting for Kerry, I admit the point that he's radically different from (and certainly better than) Bush.
I think the people who are torn between the two are the people who worry Kerry isn't strong enough on national security issues. Republicans have the reputation of being the better choice during wartime. I know that when September 11 happened, I thought maybe it was a good thing we had Bush in the White House instead of Gore. At the time, I felt safer with Bush. I feel very differently now obviously.
Well, first off, I'm not sure I would pair the two phrases "George Bush" and "liberal democracy" in the same sentence.
Additionally, I agree that I don't think force is the way to bring about peace or equality - however you define those terms - in the world. Yes, I agree that Hussein was doing Bad Things to his own people. Yes, I agree that there should be consequences for that. But funny how Hussein is in jail right now, while a whole lot of other people are dead. Who paid the consequences?
Also, there are a lot of other people in other countries doing Bad Things to people, and we haven't bombed the hell out of them. We should have thought of that 20 years ago when we thought he was the cheese for helping us out.
Unrelated thought: "War on Terror." I hate that phrase with a passion. You can't fight or destroy a _concept_ with bombs.
Anyhow, a very nice, even-handed post. I am tempted to send it to my parents, as revenge for all the crap they send me. Personally, I don't much like either candidate, though. We've become too set in our ways. I think the whole two-party system needs to be severely shaken up, stirred, and perhaps even thrown into a blender for a bit.
As for the Lesser of Two Evils thing... I haven't decided if I want to vote for Kerry yet. I'm afraid of the "anything's better than Bush" mindset that seems to have gripped the country. While I am firmly convinced that Bush is not going to run things the way I think they should be, that saying is balanced by "better the devil you know."
What I really am is angry, actually. Angry, annoyed, irritated by liberals who condemn Nader for running for president yet again. The rationale I've heard is, splitting the liberal vote will give Bush the edge he needs to win. Well, screw it, so be it. If Kerry can't keep the liberal vote, if there are issues on which people can't agree with him, if he needs to reconsider his position[s] on issues in light of that, then so be it. Don't blame Nader for the fact that the democrats can't get their shit together, and the republicans as a whole are much more goal-oriented than liberals.
Do I think Nader is the right one for the job? Not necessarily. But I so DISlike that attitude, and so annoyed with the democrats, I just have a hard time convincing myself to vote for their candidate.
End rant.
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