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Rambling thoughts on who knows what... Because not everything is as the conventional wisdom would have it... BLOGS I SORT OF LIKE... Volokh Conspiracy ProfessorBainbridge MarginalRevolution Patterico Powerline Ace Wizbang JustOneMinute XRLQ Betsy's Page HE WHO USED TO LINK ME EVERY NOW AND THEN InstaPundit Email Steve
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Thursday, March 19, 2009
My being able to vote on the basis of the issues that matter most to me means that I need to accept that other people get to vote on the basis of the issues that matter most to them. If I want the right to vote primarily on the basis of a candidate's views on taxation and national security and don't care so much about a candidate's views on earmarks or abortion, I have to be willing to grant someone else the right to vote on the basis of what might be the exact opposite set of concerns than I have.
And just as I have the right to form my opinions on the basis of whatever information, beliefs and values i want to take into account, others have the right to form their opinions on the basis of whatever information, beliefs and values they want to take into account. While I might feel it important to base my views on proven facts, sound economic and social theory and my sense of right and wrong, I know that other people have the right to base their views on other considerations entirely. But while I know they have the right, they're not immune from my criticizing them for basing their views on faulty information, an eagerness to jump on the bandwagon and class envy. And such an example is found in today's Washington Post, where in a letter to the editor, a Herbert Weinblatt offers up what must be to him a wonderfully humorous justification for criticizing the bonuses paid to employees at AIG-FP, claiming that "on the basis of the value of their past financial transactions, the executives at AIG Financial Products have earned a bonus of minus $165 million..." (bold mine). A wonderful thought, holding people responsible for their actions. Too bad for Mr. Weinblatt that he didn't have the chance to read the rest of today's Washington Post where he would have learned that the employees responsible for the mess at AIG-FP have left AIG. The employees being paid bonuses are NOT the ones responsible for the losses. So much for Mr. Weinblatt's argument. But why let a few facts get in the way of a good vent?
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