moral realism

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Jim Nichols
A Speculative Fiction
www.JimNichols4.com

Neal Boortz...

From his daily email...

The taxpayers of Prior Lake-Savage in Minnesota should be outraged. Their tax dollars funded the construction of a brand new $16.8 million elementary school. The people of the school district were so excited because their schools are "overcrowded." Do you know why they are overcrowded? Bluntly speaking ... too many parents having children that they (a) can't afford to raise; and, (b) won't take responsibility for. But don't get me started on that...

Question... since the Regan revolution of tax cuts... the economy that people once knew and still desire went away. Government after the Regan revolution no longer protected people and no longer empowered the economy to grow and reap rewards at all income levels. It turned our economy into an every man for themselves affair.

Unfortunately for those impacted by the Regan revolution (i.e. most everyone) economists since Adam Smith have been pointing out that an economy is a collective effort. You feel it every day and in many ways you don't even realize.

Why turn to the negative? Imagine if these people assumed the economy of the New Deal era... with all the post war growth and the newly created middle class--which the government program known as the G.I. Bill almost single candidly did... could it be possible that they were expecting the conservative revolution to pay off the way conservatives claim... and so made economic decisions that obviously seem unwise--is that a nicer way of putting it?--to Boortz.

Plus isn't behavioral economics and cognitive science addressing the question of people acting through emotion and biology rather than a reasoned and economically rational way. And if this holds true. Why would Boortz's bash people for doing that which isn't logical but is still natural.

You could simply flip it around and create incentives to do rational, efficient, and economically productive things rather than feel the need to punish and condemn. My job isn't to punish and condemn. My job is to forgive, protect those who are weaker, and empower those who need a hand up.

Boortz always seem to see a hand-out... when quite often it is really a hand-up.

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Jim Nichols
A Speculative Fiction
www.JimNichols4.com

quote from Integrative Economic Ethics by Peter Ulrich

"As long as our dealings with other people are restricted to those who essentially share our moral views because they have grown up in the same historical and cultural context and have been 'brought up' in the same or a similar fashion, we will normally understand each other's moral feelings and judgements perfectly well and have little reason to question the validity of our moral principles. But when people with very different moral conceptions encounter each other--and this will be more and more the normal case in an increasingly multicultural world--moral conflicts can easily arise as soon as the achievement of understanding on the principles of social coexistence or the correct way of living are at issue. Under these circumstances, whose moral concepts should be regarded as valid and who should be judged 'right' in the case of interpersonal conflict?

In search for solutions to interpersonal conflicts we are always, in the final analysis, face with the choice between the simple exercise of power and recourse to good reasons. In the first case the parties to the conflict do not see themselves as participants in a moral community or their conflict as a moral conflict between claims to validity which are capable of clarification. Instead the problem is reduced to the question of 'might is right' and leads to ruthless (social Darwinist) state of war 'of every man against every man'. Only when the parties to a conflict regard themselves in principle as members of the same moral universe of all human beings will they be in any way motivated to reach an agreement on a peaceful and just solution and so to abandon the power principle in favour of the moral principle in the solution of conflicts. In this second case the mere tolerance of the given power structure is replaced by the common will to find a (rational) justification for the moral rights of those concerned, in whose light we can answer for our actions to the others and to our own conscience." --p20-21 Integrative Economic Ethics

Makes me think of one of the core flaws of the axis of evil/war on terrorism frame...

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Jim Nichols
A Speculative Fiction
www.JimNichols4.com

Blog post on Habermas...

The Future of Human Nature

I’ve just finished reading “The Future of Human Nature” by Jurgen Habermas, the world renown German philosopher and one of the last true believers in the ideals of the Western Enlightenment. He has a really interesting argument against stem cell research and genetic engineering that is based on a completely rational-secular point of view.

This is what brings peace... Bush might learn from it...

Whether it was petty partisanship... or just not understanding forigen policy. Bush's statement on diplomacy with enemies was unacceptable and should be vocally condemned here at home.

If you want to create peace. If you truly want to win over the Arab "street." You have to show up at the table and talk. Dictators can't undermine you as well when you are actively engaging them.
In Qatar, Muslim, Jewish clerics meet

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — More than a dozen rabbis, including two from Israel, were in attendance this week as this conservative Muslim sheikdom opened one of the Gulf's first scholarly centers dedicated to interfaith dialogue.

The rare meeting of Muslim, Christian and Jewish scholars in the heartland of conservative Islam is another sign of Qatar's efforts to present a moderate image as it bids for the 2016 summer Olympic Games. It's also part of a broader push by Arab governments for interfaith dialogue, even though most still do not recognize Israel.

The talks were not entirely smooth, and politics and disputes over the Palestinian issue did inevitably intrude, said Rabbi David James Lazar, leader of a synagogue in Tel Aviv.

Yet, the benefits for him were huge, he said — especially the ability to make personal connections with Arabs and Muslims "who otherwise I would have no contact with."

"For some it's their first chance ever to hear, not only an Israeli but to hear a Jewish rabbi speak ... And so one of my responses is trying to tell them the story of the Jewish people, which often they have not heard. The Holocaust," he said.

"I hear their story as well," he said. "It's an exchange of stories."

Another attendee, Rabbi Herschel Gluck, chairman of the Muslim Jewish Forum in Britain, commended Qatar for "being brave" by holding the conference.

"We know that hosting rabbis and an interreligious forum can be controversial in the region," said Gluck, whose group is based in a part of London where Jewish and Muslim communities sit side by side.

Some Qataris did criticize the gathering.

"This openness to other faiths creates confusion among our people and jeopardizes our identity," said one preacher at the local Fanar Islamic center, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

But other Qataris consider this and other changes made by Sheik Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al Thani as progressive and credit him for social and economic reforms since 1995.

Two months ago, the country also allowed the opening of its first-ever Catholic church. It has had low-level ties with Israel through a trade office for 12 years although it does not recognize Israel, and recently also invited Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to speak at a conference on democracy.

Ibrahim al-Nuaimi, the director of the interfaith center sponsored by the ruling family, said the goal is to "promote joint studies of academics from three faiths to foster understanding and peace."

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who heads Vatican's council for inter-religious dialogue and attended the conference, praised Qatar's efforts to include Jews.

"As religious leaders, let us promote a sound pedagogy of peace, which is taught in the family, mosques, synagogues and churches," Tauran said.

Efforts at interfaith dialogue got one of their biggest boosts when Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah met with Pope Benedict XVI last November at the Vatican.

In March, the Saudi king then made an impassioned plea for dialogue among Muslims, Christians and Jews — the first such proposal from a nation with no diplomatic ties to Israel and a ban on non-Muslim religious services and symbols.

The moves, however, come amid rising tensions in the region and with peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians stalled. Many also believe there is a growing gap of understanding between the Muslim Arab world and the West.

Muslims have been angered by cartoons published in European papers seen as insulting the Prophet Muhammad and by the pope's baptizing on Easter of a Muslim journalist who had converted to Catholicism.

The specifics of the Saudi king's initiative — and who would participate — still remain unclear, in particular whether Israeli religious leaders would be invited to a Saudi-brokered dialogue.

It also is unclear if the Saudi efforts would have any political component, or any eventual impact on stalled Arab-Israeli and Palestinian peace talks.

Lazar, the Tel Aviv rabbi, said he is no politician but will carry his warm impressions from the conference back to his students and synagogue — as he hopes Muslim clerics will, too.

Lazar said one Palestinian researcher at the conference confronted him about Israeli textbooks that were, in his words, promoting hatred of Palestinians among Israeli Jewish children.

"My challenge to him was, let us meet together ... and together we'll look at our textbooks, the Jewish textbooks, the Muslim textbooks and the Christian textbooks in Palestine and Israel — and together we'll find if they're educating children toward hate," he said.

Something nobody has been able to answer for me...

There are a lot of very smart people who spend a lot of time creating very clever narratives about why Religion--more specifically Christianity--is a form of Revelation that is rock solid. The most truthful of true.

These are very smart people who are far smarter and better educated than I am; so maybe there is just something I don't quite understand.

I mean; I accept the a priori existence of God through the rules of our language, the likely a priori of its biological existence in our brains, the usefulness in the early development of our economy--its organizational and sociological capabilities.

But why do intellectuals adhere to it?

Some argue its a political alliance--a decision to pick one cultural faction over another, some say its needed to create and sustain community through the harsh truth of living, some argue that it is a useful means of explaining in narrative form important views to allow less educated people to flourish--which to me seems condescending of people and inaccurate aside from abnormal developments of some humans.

It just doesn't seem to add up. Doesn't inaccurate information harm our productive possibilities and humanistic capabilities? I don't know the answer to that one... any one care to give it a go?

seems to be useful for others academics as well.... (turned into a blogging ethics post)

Collected Advice for the Young Economists

update: I just wondered to myself if I need to hat-tip to the big boys... every time I pick up a good link from a Dean Baker or Brad Delong do I need to tell you? I tend to link/quote from their site... but everyonce in a while I get sent to another site (3rd site) and you don't know how I found it.

In this situation it came from Delong. Is hat-tip needed in inverse outsourcing? If I did would my readers stay away from my blog once they learn they can go to the direct source. Is this like illegal copies of a movie or new cd?

I want people to use my blog as a tool to save them time. If I hat tip to the bloggers that I use and learn from. I might lose what little audience I have. Do market principles say I don't need to hat-tip? I'm not claiming I wrote it... and if asked I'd tell you where I found--academic and intellectual honesty is not what I'm about.

But I don't know...

Any thoughts???

What are the labor issues involved in this?

Industries urged to train, use workers in Georgia state prisons

Commissioner Donald said a company taking part in the Prison Industry Enhancement Programs would be required to pay wages to prison workers and pledge that the prison workers will not take away jobs from outside employees.

Inmates would earn about 52 cents on the dollar of their wages, Commissioner Donald said. The remainder of the inmate’s paychecks would go toward taxes, room and board and victim’s compensation.

For industries, the benefits would be many, he said. Among them are tax incentives for participation, no requirement to provide workers with costly health insurance or pension or retirement plans, and reduced costs related to a work force with no required vacation, family leave or sick pay.

Bill Jourdain, chairman of the Dalton/Whitfield County Chamber of Commerce board of directors, said, “It presents a golden opportunity for businesses. Businesses are always interested in saving money and cutting costs, and this accomplishes that.”

Georgia already has a corrections industry program, in which state prisoners make everything from eye glasses to filing cabinets for state government. Prisoners also farm on 23,000 acres in the state.

The Prison Industry Enhancement Program will allow prisoner-made made products to be sold in the free market.

The program was created by Congress in 1979 and is active in about 40 states, including Tennessee.

Commissioner Donald said a main goal of the program is to improve Georgia’s recidivism rate. He said 65 percent of inmates in Georgia’s state prisons are repeat offenders.

The Georgia prison system is the nation’s fifth largest with a population of about 60,000, officials said.

State Rep. Jay Neal, R-LaFayette, said that population size makes it crucial to lower the $50-a-day cost to incarcerate convicted felons. He said that starts with changing the public’s perception of prisoners.

“We need to understand the difference between the ones we are mad at and the ones we are afraid of,” Rep. Neal said. “The ones we are just mad at … we need to look for ways to get them involved, whether it’s working at chicken houses in South Georgia, or whatever, so they are bringing in some income to offset the expenses we have, plus are able to take care of their children and their fines and restitution.”

Paul Tipton, branch manager of Quality Staffing in Dalton, Ga., said prisoners and ex-cons make good workers. He said there are prisoners leaving the system with master’s degrees.

“If you looked at that degree and that résumé, and you excluded the fact they were in prison, you would think you would have to pay them $60,000 or $80,000 a year,” Mr. Tipton said. “However, if they’ve been in the prison system and they know someone is giving them a second chance to be established, they will work for a lot less.”

Confederate Day?

From time to time I forget i'm in GA...

I had never heard of this...

http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/confmem.htm

I personally feel this slightly disturbing

Rev. Wright doesn't seem as outlandish now...

Its up to us...

...to hold the media accountable. There was a great segment on PBS's news hour...

Paul Sheilds was dead on and I quote his best points below. But its up to us to do something about it. Politicians lie, Politicians pander (on all sides) but its our duty to protect the Republic. If we don't speak out we have to look ourselves in the mirror and realize its our own fault.

Please get innvolved, please write letters to the editor. Also send me links to any good stories, examples of politics of divisiveness, nonsense, or invective. I was shocked at the negativity and also hate of many of the emails that came across my desk at the Georgia Assembly.

If articulate, respectful dialogue is not sustained and rises above the the crassness then we all lose. Share things with me you find, hold others you know (myself included) accountable when we fall short of such standards. Just a quite: Hey thats out of line can go a far way.

Little things like the fact that 40% of our veterans come home disabled in some way and our Presidents Budget has not included the long term costs of taking care of their health--both mental and physical. That should be spoken out loudly against. I'm watching the generation after mine be pulled under every day by our lack of accountability and lazyness.

We are to blame if we don't speak out. I think the condecending tone of Obama's preparitory remarks was a decent question to at the very least question and move on from. But a flag pin?

But there was no more egregious example of sort of the macho-swagger, press-pass, take-no-prisoners prosecutor attitude than asking Senator Obama, "Why don't you wear a flag lapel pin?"

And I'd just give you two quick examples on this, because this is the kind of question -- the explanation to ask? "It's all over the Internet." I mean, so are theories about John Kennedy's assassination and the United States government blowing up the Twin Towers. That's no reason.

I mean, Jim Webb, Democratic senator from Virginia, who was a company commander in the -- Marine company commander in Vietnam and won the Navy Cross, the second-highest award the country can give, the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts, and opposed the war in Iraq, does not wear a lapel pin.

Dick Cheney, who during the 1960s sought and received five deferments to avoid military service and explained that he did so because he had other priorities than military service, supported the war in Iraq and wears a flag lapel pin.

So I guess the question then becomes: Why doesn't -- should it be that why doesn't Jim Webb do it? I mean, this really bothered me. Now...

MARK SHIELDS: Judy, we found out on the Rand report this week that one out of five veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome or depression, one out of five. That's over 300,000. We have no plan for them as a people.

Now where is the patriotism? I mean, the flag lapel pin, I mean, is so fatuous, is so absolutely silly. I mean, if one wears -- if one is an uncritical supporter of the United States' invasion and occupation of another country, that makes him a patriot and someone who opposes it isn't? And you wear a flag to show that?

MARK SHIELDS: They've [obama and clinton] locked themselves in and they were dishonest, because let's be very frank about it. Judy, we've seen this week the FAA is not working. The Food and Drug Administration says that they can't even begin to test medicines and medical devices. We've had, in addition to that, we've had, today, the Wall Street Journal reported we can't inspect meat that's going into our children's schools.

You know, the federal government needs more resources. It needs more money to do its job. We need to rebuild bridges. We need to rebuild roads. Everybody says that.

Maybe we start considering our own consumption practices that impact food costs?

World Bank tackles food emergency

World Bank head Robert Zoellick warned that 100 million people in poor countries could be pushed deeper into poverty by spiralling prices.

The crisis has sparked recent food riots in several countries including Haiti, the Philippines and Egypt

I feel sometimes at a loss on how to navigate...

Sometimes I ramble poetical. Sometimes I speak and point more towards the data and empirical side of things. But I often wonder if I travel between the two ways of communicating--the artistic world, and the policy/philosophical world--in an effective manner. Or do I end up creating two many distractions. Some times I feel my artistic/poetic way of just saying what i'm feeling is petty and childish.

On the way out the door my gut fell out from under me and I felt guilty for posting this. It can be read as childish and petty... while it was intended as an attempt to speak of an emotion inside me that I want to be able to express with others who may feel the same way from time to time.

I want people to respect my views, I want to build a network of people with whom I can trust and who can trust me. To navigate this complex world. I don't want people to jump on my blog and have a bad first impression which makes them think I don't have anything productive to say or share.

Even if all I bring is an extra eye keeping up with the Josh Marshall's, Dean Baker's, and Brad Delong's of the world--who are every day teaching me via this wonderous tool--and pass them on to others who may not have the time, inclination, or ability to focus on such things. Then at least that is something.

I guess the question is how do I be true to myself, respectful of others, and coherent in my thinking? How do I build bridges and alliances with many different people from many different perspectives. I think this world is too complex for me to say that there are many important insights to take from people across the spectrum and across human history.

How do I do that, without being a pedantic, verbally assaulting, close minded, and divisive. That kind of crap goes on in politics, and especially prone to go on in the blog world.

I dunno, but I want to get better about being open/receptive/accessible in everything I do--more specifically on this blog.

Does the new media have to stay in the gutter? Or is this one more tool towards a more reflective and wise society?

I hope its the latter--from time to time I feel like I tend to jump the gun and do the former.

Sigh... I guess this is something I grow into learning how to accomplish.

Peter Singer

Peter Singer interview

for more by Singer I highly recommend you read: What should a Billionaire Give and his thoughtful website page 3 easy ways to make a difference which I will quote below...

THREE EASY WAYS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Want to do something to make the world a better place? Here are three easy ways to do it:


1. DO SOMETHING FOR THE WORLD'S POOREST PEOPLE
Donate some of your spare income to help those in great need. I support Oxfam, an organization that works directly with local grass roots organizations in developing countries, and supervises the way its money is used to prevent corruption and waste. Here are links to the Oxfam organization in your country: Australia, Belgium, Canada (Québec), France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, USA and for unlisted: http://www.oxfam.org.

2. DO SOMETHING FOR ANIMALS
No single human practice causes as much suffering to nonhuman animals as factory farming. Right now, billions of animals are locked in small cages so that they can't even stretch their limbs, or turn around, or are crowded into large sheds, tens of thousands of them in each shed, unable ever to go outside or enjoy fresh air and sunshine. Boycott this inhumane system of production. Don't buy factory farmed meat, eggs or dairy products. Better still, go vegetarian or vegan. Here’s a great website for the information you need.

3. DO SOMETHING FOR OUR PLANET'S ENVIRONMENT
Reduce your greenhouse gas emissions. Use public transport, walk or ride a bike whenever you can. If you must drive, get a fuel-efficient one, perhaps a hybrid. And remember, factory farming is a wasteful form of production that requires a lot of fossil fuel, so eating fewer - or no - animal products will cut the amount of emissions for which you are responsible.



These three points are all about living in a way that is ethically responsible. Try it - you'll find it gives more meaning to your life and it's a great antidote to boredom. There is always so much to be done. And talk to others about what you are doing. Don't preach or be self-righteous, or fanatical about it, that just puts people off, but at the same time, don't be shy about setting an example, and use opportunities that arise to let others know what you are doing.

Are jokes fair play in politics?

David Corn via Brad Delong

Did John McCain really say, in public, "The reason Chelsea Clinton is so ugly is that her father is Janet Reno"?

Answer: Yes:

David Corn:

[T]his new standard in the practice of journalism seemingly does not extend to other political figures, at least not media darlings like Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Earlier this month, at a Republican Senate fund-raiser, McCain told a downright nasty joke making fun of Janet Reno, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton. The fact that McCain had made the tasteless joke was reported in major newspapers, as was the vain attempt by his press secretary to initially deny what McCain had done. But... the Washington Post... said the joke "was too vicious to print." The Los Angeles Times... provided an oblique rendering... that did not fully convey its ugliness.... Maureen Dowd... wrote that McCain "is so revered by the press that his disgusting jape was largely nudged under the rug." But Dowd chose not to relay the joke, either.

The joke did appear in McCain's hometown paper... the Associated Press did report the joke in full... But by censoring themselves, the Post, the Times and others helped McCain deflect flak and preserved his status....

[T]his is what [McCain] reportedly said: "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno."...

McCain's two-liner conveys some interesting insights... particularly since it was delivered to a Republican crowd... the party that champions pro-family values.

McCain's lapse in judgment... may be a significant clue into aspects of his "character."... But many voters have been spared this insight, thanks to the censors in the press....

McCain is also unusually popular with the media. He gives good quotes; he is outspoken. He takes positions that contradict the Republican leadership. When you talk to McCain, he converses in the manner of a real person, seemingly telling you what he thinks. That is rare among elected officials.... [T]he joke revealed more than a mean streak.... It also exposed how the Washington Post, New York Times and Los Angeles Times play favorites when reporting the foibles of our leading politicians.

Now certainly it is important to highlight the conservatives aren't the party of family values. And all and all the concept of one sector of society being the representation of family values is outlandishly absurd. We all have families, we all have values... and you know what? I've found that when I sit down and talk to just about everyone... when I sit and listen to the core values and priorities they have I can respect them.

I'm not saying that I agree at all with many views, opinions, or policy positions they may hold. But when I sit and talk to pretty much anyone and try to find the core of their values I find things I can respect and admire.

So my question is this: Are jokes off limits to political figures. Are there off the record moments or not? Now that technology and the Internet are making the concept of a private vs. a public world seem rather obsolete.

I don't know? Is that a big deal? I'm not sure... it was just something to think about.

Old paper to read....

On Ethical Naturalism by James Rachels called Naturalism. The essay originally appreared in The Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory, ed. Hugh LaFollette (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000), pp. 74-91.