Jim asked: What is this "rational politics"? who believes in it and what are its tenets?
I responded: My employer describes part of 'rational politick' well when I discuss world affairs with him. Essentially, there's nothing he can do about 3/4 million dead Iraqis, so just go on with 'business (and social mores) as usual, and he LIKES IT like that. Jim replies: why is this creep relevant to pen-l discussions? is there anyone on this list who is like this? (David S is a conservative, but I don't think he fits this category.) If there's no-one on the list who's like this, preaching against their perspectives here seems like spitting into the wind. He's an empirical example from my 'local universe'. He's a 'Libertapublican' 'creep' who also pays me for holidays even though he's not required to, and allows me to take the day's bakery leftovers to the hungry and homeless (He has a guilt streak a mile wide that I only bang on occasionally). In other words, he's as much of a 'creep' as any other "Compassionate American" who cares about their own, and screws everyone else. He's just honest about it. He is the kind of person for whom economics matter, it is a quite personal (his person) economic, and it behooves economists on the 'left' to understand the *full range* of people that make up the society they are economizing for, not just other list members... unless there is some plan to *impose* an economic structure on their society, in which case there is no point to understanding the individuals view of what an alternative economy offers them personally and how they understand the world around them.
-- Jim Devine / "if there's an original thought out there, I could use it right now." -- Bob Dylan & Sam Shepherd.
Ditto... Leigh
