ERIC P. CHARLES wrote at 09/27/2012 09:56 AM: > *The extra adjective is there because this is irrelevant to the financially > liberal position.
I'm not so sure that it is irrelevant. I tend to view the merchant, who just wants to do business and doesn't care about your other social positions, as the very foundation of social liberalism. The best way to maintain a speaking relationship with someone you otherwise might hate is to continue doing business with them. That "bottom line" is very similar to the realists' ultimate Truth and provides a horizon for a continual moral compass. Ultimately, the ability to "make a buck" is a compression of all the other things that keep us alive ... food, shelter, procreation, etc. When doctrinal delusions like promises of 72 virgins, our own planets, or Star Trek social equality interfere with our ability to "make a buck" ... well _that's_ when all hell breaks loose and we riot in the streets. Financial liberalism is the _trunk_ and social liberalism is the leaves. -- glen ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
