A most excellent blog post by Mr. Tom Bozzo reminded me of a C-SPAN call-in show I caught this weekend in which Nick Gillespie, editor-in-chief of the Libertarian rag Reason, was a guest. I don't have much to say about Nick Gillespie, except for the fact that I do:
1) His arrogant distain for the callers--every single one of them--oozed and dripped out from the TV set, into my living room, and when it came to rest, it ruined my new shag rug. Can somebody remind me to bill him for a replacement?
2) He consistently failed to impress me with any deep or real understanding of the consequentialities of many of the important issues discussed on the show--particularly the issue of the manufacturing jobs decline (here in the states). A caller from Detroit did a good job explaining to Mr. Gillespie some of the obvious problems that arise when car manufacturing plants close, like the destruction of communities, in an attempt to enlighten (the caller's word) Nick. Amazingly Nick shrugged off the caller and said that companies like Toyota and Honda could hardly be called "foreign" anymore because they bring jobs to the US. He failed to compare the wages and benefits of jobs lost to the jobs gained, and I think I know why.
3) Just when I thought I was about to be dazzled by some inkling of the thinking-variety understanding, he would say the oddest half-brain thing. For example, he said that the internet was giving people "more" freedom of speech. He said it with the utmost sincerity and frankness. It wasn't one of those simple speech mistakes either, because I was really hoping it was. More freedom of speech? So I guess people who can't afford internet service, let alone a computer, have less Freedom? Freedom doesn't come in units. It's like "life". You don't say that you have more "life" because you have more adventures. You can have more avenues of expressing your "life" or "freedom", but you can't have more of something that simply is.
The articulate, yet disappointing Nick Gillespie is a fine example of orange first tier thinking.*
Speaking of spiral memes, last night on Democracy Now Amy Goodman interviewed Russell Tice. He is the whistle-blower who was fired from the NSA. Most government workers, at least in the CIA, NSA, and FBI, are conservative Americans he said when Amy Goodman asked him if he voted for Bush. (Duh, Amy!) In the blue first tier thinking level, people are strongly tied to their family or "team". However, they see the world in black and white, right and wrong. You can imagine the turmoil these people go through when they sense their bosses, or "team", have them conduct or participate in "wrong" activities. When they break, I think they either become Russell Tices or the post-tramatic crazed victim (like the cliche homeless Vietnam vet). Otherwise, they never break and become the Nazi soldier type simply and blindly following their boss's, their family/team, commands. Personally, for the sake of myself, my rights, and my country, I'm rooting for the Russell Tices.
In addition, Mr. Tice made a wonderful argument to those who don't feel alarmed about the government violating their Constitutional rights (the telephone tapping of Americans without proper judicial consent). I'm paraphrasing here--he said, "What if a terrorist dials the wrong number? Heaven help the poor innocent bastard who is unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of that phone call."
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* I apologize jumping into Spiral Dynamic speak if you have yet to be introduced to it. Others, my favorite being Ken Wilber, explain it more articulately than I could ever hope to. If you are interested in learning more, I suggest you start here.
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1/6/06 note: I think I might have been a little harsh on Nick Gillespie. On the same C-SPAN show he also spoke about the morality of the conditions many immigrant workers are subjected to--this is an article in their latest issue. I think his heart is in the right place, on this particular topic, but he confused me with his robotic and lackadaisical responses on the topic of plant closures.
2 comments:
Thanks for the link, Janelle.
I've been slowly mulling how alarmed I should be and/or what it says about relative labor market conditions in the southern U.S. and in South Korea that Hyundai builds cars in Alabama.
Regarding domestic spying and pseudo-libertarians, you might check this out for a mordant chuckle:.
Hi! Tice's comments on being alarmed about wiretapping reminded me of New York Times columnist Bill Safire's recent appearance on Meet the Press, where he recounted his own experience of being illegally wiretapped when he was Nixon's speechwriter. He leaked a story to a reporter who was being wiretapped, as a result the FBI put a tap on him too. It really is disconcerting.
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