Sunday, April 22, 2007

Another Worry For Liberal Parents

Q: Do you find that having children adds meaning to life?

A: I find that for a left-winger like me, the problem is that either your children out-left you or they become fascists.

(From an interview with Terry Eagleton.)

4 comments:

Zo Kwe Zo said...

It is the essence of a conservative to obey, of a liberal to rebel. Indulgence to either fosters conservatism.

Math geeks might prefer this metaphor.
conservative = 1
liberal = -1
indulge = sqr
challenge = sqrt

indulge (conservative) = conservative
indulge (liberal) = conservative
challenge(conservative) = either
challenge(liberal) = dares to imagine an entirely new set of possibilities

Only the challenged liberal student can turn the imaginary into reality, and merely by believing in the power of i.

bjkeefe said...

Excellent!

It's nice to hear that imaginary numbers are part of the reality-based community, too.

Anonymous said...

You're all silly, people are more complicated than a few labels or small set of numbers, and their political positions cannot be simply be predicted based upon those of their parents.

Remember also that being 'liberal' is relative, for example JFK today would be considered right-wing by today's liberal lot (JFK wanted to eliminate the capital gains tax). What about conservatives that rebel against a liberal establishment? Are those rebels not truly liberal unless they were raised as challenged liberals?

In case you were wondering I was raised by moderate liberal parents, and yet I consider the self-described "reality-based" community to be a bunch of delusional, myopic egalitarians who in fact cannot handle certain aspects of reality. I still haven't met one that could discuss issues like race or gender without getting as emotional as a prom queen. I reached this position after many years and much thought and education, all the while hoping that those years of egalitarian delusion weren't a waste of time. Sadly, I feel that they were.

But please continue with your silly freudian theories and self-aggrandizing, it only motivates people like me to expose the "reality-based" community for the egalitarian fraud that it really is.

Have a nice day boomers.

bjkeefe said...

Eesh. Another proof of better living through anonymous posting.

I will gladly debate you on topics of race or gender, Anonymous, if you will first acknowledge that what most of us "egalitarians" advocate is equal rights, not an inherent equality of every human being. I think you serve as a fine example of the distinction.

Meantime, while you're working up the courage to sign your name to your next screed you might find this definition of some use.

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