Umbral Echoes Blog

I took a quiz today at OnTheIssues.org, to see which candidate’s views most closely match mine. The result? I apparently shouldn’t vote for anyone, because no candidate really stands for my views. Well, at least no Republican nor Democratic candidate, which were the only ones it listed in the quiz results.

I’ll probably end up voting Libertarian, but I feel bad doing that because it’s a wasted vote, and also, most Libertarian candidates seem to be nutjobs in their own right. I’m all for smaller government, but I don’t realistically think that we’re ever going to get rid of the IRS. I guess I’ll have to keep a closer watch on the candidates.

When thinking about politics, I often find myself in a philosophical quandary involving the most basic issue. On the one hand, I think that in general people should be free to run their lives as they see fit, with as little intervention from the government as possible (the Libertarian mindset). But on the other hand… a lot of people are really, really stupid, and I’m not sure they could handle that much freedom in a way that would benefit civilization as a whole.

For instance, I tend to think that reproducing should be a privilege, not a right. Honestly, some people just shouldn’t be allowed to breed. But isn’t this an inherent part of being a human? Isn’t it your god-given right to produce offspring and raise them, even if you’re not really equipped to handle it, and will only end up screwing that child up?

I never come up with a way out of that conundrum — freedom, versus protecting people from themselves. Obviously the “best way” (if such a thing exists) is somewhere between the two, but where? The cynical among you might say, “Well if people want to screw up their own lives, give them the freedom to do it.” But it’s short-sighted to believe that they would only screw up their own lives — inevitably, they would end up negatively affecting yours, too.

I could ramble forever, and end up going in circles. So to the two or three of you out there reading this: what are some of your thoughts on these sorts of things?

This post is in honor of my dog, Kayla. She has a natural sad-face, even when she isn’t trying. My ex-girlfriends tend to be more interested in how she’s doing than in how I’m doing, and she has endeared people to her who hate dogs, being their one exception to the rule. So, here’s a picture I took of her the other day, with my new camera. Click on the image for the full version.

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