Comments on: Bait and Switch Tactics in American Politics and the Iraq War http://blog.potterzot.com/2007/09/30/bait-and-switch-tactics-in-american-politics-and-the-iraq-war/ Economics. Data. Software. Fri, 15 Oct 2010 05:46:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: zot http://blog.potterzot.com/2007/09/30/bait-and-switch-tactics-in-american-politics-and-the-iraq-war/comment-page-1/#comment-163 zot Thu, 15 Nov 2007 22:56:44 +0000 http://blog.potterzot.com/2007/09/30/bait-and-switch-tactics-in-american-politics-and-the-iraq-war/#comment-163 Stephen: I think I'm in full agreement with you. It seems to me that a lot of people are sick of both sides, and would like to see a third reasonable side emerge. I have envisioned some strange combination of the libertarian party and the green party...I haven't worked out the details of how that would work out yet though. Thanks for your comment and good luck with your practice. I'm more than a beginner myself. I think I've only sat in an official zazen twice. I wish there was a soto sect in my town. Stephen: I think I’m in full agreement with you. It seems to me that a lot of people are sick of both sides, and would like to see a third reasonable side emerge. I have envisioned some strange combination of the libertarian party and the green party…I haven’t worked out the details of how that would work out yet though.

Thanks for your comment and good luck with your practice. I’m more than a beginner myself. I think I’ve only sat in an official zazen twice. I wish there was a soto sect in my town.

]]> By: @Stephen http://blog.potterzot.com/2007/09/30/bait-and-switch-tactics-in-american-politics-and-the-iraq-war/comment-page-1/#comment-162 @Stephen Thu, 15 Nov 2007 22:46:51 +0000 http://blog.potterzot.com/2007/09/30/bait-and-switch-tactics-in-american-politics-and-the-iraq-war/#comment-162 I found your site via your question at ZenHabits. You do have some interesting articles here. First I'd like to commend you on your bravery in asking questions about Zen and Buddhism and the perceived contradictions. I have been studying and reading about both for a few years and I am still just a beginner. As for the above post, Iraq is a giant mess precisely because there are two modes of thinking that exist in the world right now. One (generally labeled "Right") is of the opinion that while "Knowing is half of the battle", the other half is violence. The second mode (generally labeled "Left") is of the opinion that "Knowing is the battle, in fact there shouldn't be a battle"; rather, let's talk about our feelings and make sure that everyone gets the same size slice of the pie. The "Right" side takes for granted that some things (people, ideas, cultures) are better than others, and the inferior things must make way for the superior. The "Left" side operates under the assumption that the universe is a 'zero-sum' game, and all things must be equal, if not then they must be equalized by penalizing the 'superior' position. This kind of dichotomy cannot be reconciled. The "Right" position is messy and inelegant (and just isn't "fair"), the "Left" position suffers cognitive dissonance due to its faulty premises. Thank you for putting up with the long comment. I found your site via your question at ZenHabits. You do have some interesting articles here. First I’d like to commend you on your bravery in asking questions about Zen and Buddhism and the perceived contradictions. I have been studying and reading about both for a few years and I am still just a beginner.

As for the above post, Iraq is a giant mess precisely because there are two modes of thinking that exist in the world right now. One (generally labeled “Right”) is of the opinion that while “Knowing is half of the battle”, the other half is violence. The second mode (generally labeled “Left”) is of the opinion that “Knowing is the battle, in fact there shouldn’t be a battle”; rather, let’s talk about our feelings and make sure that everyone gets the same size slice of the pie. The “Right” side takes for granted that some things (people, ideas, cultures) are better than others, and the inferior things must make way for the superior.

The “Left” side operates under the assumption that the universe is a ‘zero-sum’ game, and all things must be equal, if not then they must be equalized by penalizing the ‘superior’ position.

This kind of dichotomy cannot be reconciled. The “Right” position is messy and inelegant (and just isn’t “fair”), the “Left” position suffers cognitive dissonance due to its faulty premises.

Thank you for putting up with the long comment.

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