I find Robert Wright's article on "Progressive Realism" a thoughtful consideration of global politics. There's a bit too much trust in markets, in my mind, and it's an oversimplified outline of a real agenda (as any article that brief would have to be), but I think that I would call myself something of a Progressive Realist.
Wright writes:
This immersion in the perspective of the other is sometimes called “moral imagination,” and it is hard. Understanding why some people hate America, and why terrorists kill, is challenging not just intellectually but emotionally. Yet it is crucial and has been lacking in President Bush, who saves time by ascribing behavior that threatens America to the hatred of freedom or (and this is a real time saver) to evil. As Morgenthau saw, exploring the root causes of bad behavior, far from being a sentimentalist weakness, informs the deft use of power. Realpolitik is reality-based.
I think this is a crucial reason why I teach literature--I think that reading is a vital tool for the cultivation of moral imagination.
If I had a cell phone, I would make the recording of Bush's shit comment my ring tone. For no particular reason.
Aaron and Laurie are coming in two days.
Posted by pjaussen at July 17, 2006 04:51 PM | TrackBack