I had the same reservations, which is not to come down on Stabilizer, who makes excellent points. People must be told what to do in many cases, or more correctly, what NOT to do. The guiding principle for this, though, must not be someone's religious prejudices, etc., but careful analysis of the common good and wellbeing of the community…
I had the same reservations, which is not to come down on Stabilizer, who makes excellent points. People must be told what to do in many cases, or more correctly, what NOT to do. The guiding principle for this, though, must not be someone's religious prejudices, etc., but careful analysis of the common good and wellbeing of the community. and the environment. There must be ample space for public feedback on all such issues. But people should not be free to spray their gardens and fields with RoundUp (the shit should be banned) or put a septic tank in a wetland, etc. Government is the only body with the facilities to enforce such restrictions. On the other hand, if I'm gay and want to marry a person I love of the same sex, or I'm a woman and I want autonomy over my own body, or I have a non-typical gender or other identity, such things do NOT concern the government in any way
Exactly! Details matter. Progressivism is, and should be, constantly defined and/or redefined to reflect a higher, selfless morality and the common decency required in a civil society, pinned to science and ongoing reality -- universal ideals rather than some stubborn, individual ideology based on nothing but one's traditional "faith" in unchangeable thought processes and mercurial feelings.
I had the same reservations, which is not to come down on Stabilizer, who makes excellent points. People must be told what to do in many cases, or more correctly, what NOT to do. The guiding principle for this, though, must not be someone's religious prejudices, etc., but careful analysis of the common good and wellbeing of the community. and the environment. There must be ample space for public feedback on all such issues. But people should not be free to spray their gardens and fields with RoundUp (the shit should be banned) or put a septic tank in a wetland, etc. Government is the only body with the facilities to enforce such restrictions. On the other hand, if I'm gay and want to marry a person I love of the same sex, or I'm a woman and I want autonomy over my own body, or I have a non-typical gender or other identity, such things do NOT concern the government in any way
Exactly! Details matter. Progressivism is, and should be, constantly defined and/or redefined to reflect a higher, selfless morality and the common decency required in a civil society, pinned to science and ongoing reality -- universal ideals rather than some stubborn, individual ideology based on nothing but one's traditional "faith" in unchangeable thought processes and mercurial feelings.