Monday, January 7, 2008
Political obligations
When I was watching "By the people" some of the participants kept alleging that we all had obligations to our fellow citizens. They left what those obligations ambiguous for us to interpret. What obligations do you feel you have to your community? I believe I have an obligation to be informed about the politicians in my community, to perform some act of needed service, to give alms, and to be informed of news in my community and around the world. Is this comprehensive enough, too comprehensive? You tell me.
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6 comments:
I think one should show more dedication to their local community rather than the world community. The less attention everyone would pay to the world community, probably the better off everyone would be. Almost every problem dominating the news these days is a result of some sort of intrusion into parts of other peoples' land/country/world. The developed world is obviously very guilty of this; by putting their standards and values onto other cultures and governments in very different countries, those cultures have been destroyed and their governments made corrupt. After all, ignorance is bliss.
I think you bring up some good points , but I also have some points of criticism for you anonymous. The more impact a sphere has on your life you should consequently have the greater obligation and investment in that arena. You should have the most obligation to your family, distant family, friends, community, international, etc. in descending order. However, that does not mean that you should disregard your impact on the international community. With a more globalized world it is just ignorance to not acknowledge your impact on foreign countries. You can influence the treatment of foreigners by your investment in certain companies, purchase of certain companies, or even support of not-for-profit corporations. In counter to my former point though, I do understand your concerns for imperialism in a globalized world and it is something we must caution against in the coming age.
I completely disagree with you anonymous. The intrusions you speak of are a result of a lack of respect for other communities. For example the exploitation of workers in the diamond mines of South Africa by DeBeers would not occur if the company owners treated the African community with the same respect as their own. The developed world is much more likely to damage another country if it only looking out for its own interests, its own community. And ignorance is most definetly not bliss. Wilful ingornace is stupidity. The problems of other communities affect us too because we are all one community. Pollution from China hits the west coast. Pollution from the midwest impacts the east coast. An unstable country is more likely to spread war, create refugees, and interupt the world economy. Instead of isolating ourselves from the world's problems we need to be a force for good. Fight disease, poverty, malnutrition, protect people from oppresive regimes or genocide. All of this adds up to a compeling obligation to be informed, and when possible, to take action to improve the lives of people in other communities. As Thomas Paine said, "The World is my Country and to Do Good is My Religion."
I smell the butterfly effect in the discussion and I agree.
Nice work Dan getting in the quote from the House of Payne :-)
I think anonymous raises a good point which is that interfering in other countries' affairs can have both a positive and negative reaction depending on the situation and how it is addressed. When the US sends aid/troops following an event like the tsunami, it will clearly be received much differently than when the US attempts to enforce its value system on another country. As Winston Churchill said, "Democracy is the worst form of government tried, except for all those others that have been tried." Therefore, maybe anonymous is suggesting that we should just leave democracy to ourselves and if another dictator is committing crimes, maybe we should attempt to resolve those particular crimes instead of overhauling the entire system. After all, democracy is guilty of as many human rights violations as any other form of government. The Ron Paul isolationism has appeal, but this is 2008, not 1800, and with the global economy, like Dan and tea talker mention, no longer do our actions only have an impact on our country.
Anyway, back to the original post. It seems to be like these days the young people are more opinionated than ever but less active than ever. Look at New Orleans. The problem in rebuilding the city was not lack of money but lack of human volunteers to get the work done. Throwing billions of dollars at the problem does not solve it. Therefore, I feel like donating to charity is only a small portion of one's political obligation. Still, voting is by far the most important political obligation.
Joe you are a beautiful with beautiful sentiment.
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