[MD] Mill: Quality philosopher

[david buchanan]

John Stuart Mill said, "Conservatives aren't necessarily stupid, but most 
stupid people are conservative."

I wonder if this can be seen as something more than just an insult. What if 
Pirsig's references to social level values as "mindless tradition", to 
Victorian morality as "hopelessly static and hopelessly stupid" can also be 
seen as more than just an insult.

There is a very similar idea in Ken Wilber's work too. His is based on 
developmental psychology as well as our evolutionary history. I mean, there 
is clnical data to back this up.

Basically, the idea of broad-mindedness and narrow-mindedness has a basis in 
experience. Naturally, its not just a matter of intelligence or cognitive 
function. Its not really about how smart you are, at least not in the 
ordinary sense of the word. Its more a matter of scope, a matter of wider 
and deeper perspectives being better by virtue of its greater reach and 
inclusiveness.

In terms of practical political realites, this difference in perspectives 
can be seen in the differences between conservatives and liberals. ABC news 
and the Washington Post conducted a poll in April of last year, for example, 
in which they asked, "Should a political leader rely on religion when making 
policy decisions?". 63% of conservatives and 62% of Republicans answered yes 
while 65% of Democrats and 77% of liberals said no. Man, that's a huge gap. 
I think these two sectors effectively live in different worlds. Similarly, 
CBS and the NYTimes found (11/04) that 53% of Republicans worry that 
politicians are too "inattentive to religion" while 65% of Democrats worry 
about the very opposite; that politicians are "too close to religion". And 
an AP/Ipsos poll from June of last year shows that religion plays a larger 
role in the USA's politics than in the rest of the West. 37% of Americans 
think religious leaders SHOULD try to influence government. In France, only 
12% think they should, 20% among the Brits and 30% in Italy. Probably 
because the Pope lives there.

37% is enough to control one of the two parties and that's what's happened 
in the US. And it just so happens that this is the party that controls all 
three branches of government and an extensive media echo chamber - all at a 
time when the US is basically at war with religious extremism. Maybe 
sometimes there is something to be said for fighting fire with fire, but I 
don't think this is one of those times. This is no time for the stupid party 
to be in charge of things. I mean, these born-agian neocon types are exactly 
the opposite of what we need right now.

Don't you think? Wasn't Mill getting at this same difference? I think so.

dmb

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