I left this comment on one of the threads but it’s important, which is why I want to amplify it and put it into a separate post.
If you have an “everybody for himself” worldview and you maintain it consistently in every aspect of life, then I respect that. I don’t share it but I recognize that it’s your right to have that worldview. It’s the lack of logic and consistency that angers me, but alternative worldviews definitely do not. For example, a transphobic pro-choicer makes me livid because that position is not logical. But a straight-out dog-eat-dog Libertarian does not anger me at all because s/he is logical and consistent.
Of course, when I see a self-proclaimed Libertarian who believes that the government should decide what women do with their bodies, then that’s not a Libertarian. S/he is either a huge hypocrite or a simple idiot. That I do not respect and will ridicule viciously. Or, say, a Marxist who waves around his copy of Das Kapital but lives off of the proceeds from his factory.
I respect people’s right to have alternative worldviews. A worldview, however, is not a bunch of unconnected opinions that you gathered from a variety of TV shows and articles because they somehow felt right for some unspecified reason. I believe that it is a duty of every rational human being to work on elaborating her or his worldview. Such a way of being in the world will have organizing principles, will be consistent and coherent. This is a life-long project we embark on and it is one of the greatest joys of being human to be capable of doing that.
A great variety of worldviews makes our shared human reality fascinating. As much as I dig my own worldview, I recognize that this planet would be a very boring, miserable place if we had seven billion Clarissas walking around, all thinking exactly like me. So if you have a worldview that is very different from mine, then I’m very interested in hearing about it. This is why I read and promote on my blog articles by people like Dan Miller and Charles Rowley. They obviously vote Republican but they are thinkers, intellectuals who have worked a lot on elaborating their vision, and I’m very curious about what they have to say on a variety of issues.
If, however, you are too lazy to elaborate a worldview and want to bore me with some unconnected, illogical, incoherent opinions, then do not expect any respect from me for those opinions.
P.S. My thanks go to reader and fellow Canadian Titfortat who inspired this post.
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