Why?
Hi Maeght,
Because I think the ‘western’ liberal, democratic, secular world is in deep trouble. I value freedom of speech and association, the foundation on which liberal principles and all our other civilised freedoms rest, and which are always under threat. I value truth and want to keep a grip on reality, as far as it’s knowable. I value security and material comfort a little less, but highly.
I don’t think Harris has the intellectual or moral capacity to lead the Western world or defend the things I value. She failed to articulate any detailed policy or principle, or to answer a straight question straightforwardly, over the hour or so I endured. The way she nods patronisingly and earnestly at the interviewer, like a primary school teacher encouraging a child reciting the alphabet, pretending she’s saying something worth listening to, while she recites vacuous sound bites, and whinges. She complained about the state of the US economy and society as if she hadn’t been in office for the last 3 years and Democrats for 11 of the last 15. She complained about Roe v Wade. What exactly stopped Clinton or Obama from codifying abortion rights during their 16 years in power? Her comments on Israel / Gaza were… meaningless.
And the alternative is Trump.
The threats to my freedoms are currently coming from people who label themselves left wing and progressive. I’ve had my freedoms of speech and peaceful association impinged upon on several occasions over the last 3 years, and the "progressive" "inclusive" mob trying to silence me and run me off the public streets were enabled and facilitated by agents of the state. The police did not apply the law reasonably or fairly. They did not protect me. I saw it with my own eyes. They broke their social contract with me.
I don’t care what labels are adopted or assigned anymore. Someone looking me in the eye and telling me they believe the equivalent of 2+2=5 is not to be trusted whether they truly believe the lie or not. They’re either stupid or dishonest, unfit to make decisions on my behalf.
Empires come and go. It’s been my privilege to live in an affluent, relatively peaceful and relatively free society for most of my life, unlike the vast majority of people.
I read The Handmaid’s tale when I was 18 and knew then that every one of the horrors described by Atwood was being perpetrated on women somewhere in the world. I knew how lucky I was to have been born here and then. I’m seeing now, close up, exactly how fragile my security and freedom to tell the truth is.
"Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so." Douglas Adams
The lessons in how to exploit and manipulate people seem to have been well learned by some.
John Stuart Mill had it right:
“If all mankind minus one were of one opinion and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.”
The contemporary "left" are not left at all. If I join my sisters and brothers on the barricades, it's highly unlikely it'll be on the same side as Kamala Harris (or Keir Starmer, with his huge majority, delivered by a third of the less than two-thirds of the electorate that bothered to vote. That's not democracy.)
