Thursday, August 17, 2006

Things They Should Uninvent: Ad hominem (self-)righteousness

I think the major problem in politics today is people who act as though they're automatically right because of who they are, or who treat other parties as though they're automatically in the right because of who they are. I see this in Canadian politics, US politics, Middle East politics, everywhere. So much policy-making is permeated by a sense of "We're the good guys, therefore our opinions in this matter are automatically correct," or "They're the good guys, therefore their actions are automatically virtuous," or "I define myself to be on your side, therefore anything I think of will automatically be to your benefit."

I think it would be a lot better if all our politicos presented every idea as though they had no particular credibility based on who they are or based on their record. All policies and all ideas must stand up on their own merits, and don't get any bonus points even for being thought of by the smartest, most innovative, most virtuous person in the world.

1 comment:

CQ said...

_Another blogger made the similar comment of how anything that 'The Americans' do is automatically opposed as a bad idea within Canadian lefter-wing politics.
_It seems to hold true from what I've followed.