Joseph Rosenblatt <[log in to unmask]> writes:

> All political/philosophical behavior rides the pendulum of time. Each
swing
> between conservative and progressive (which IMHO is the antonym of
> conservative not the commonly used liberal) is slightly different. The

I think it goes beyond mere conservatism and progressivism.  What we are
seeing is post-modern philosophy in action.  Whereas those of the modernist
mind-set (probably the majority of baby-boomers) see Truth as an absolute,
post-modernists see Truth as whatever is real to you at this moment.  One of
the telling analogies is that of a baseball umpire:

Enlightenment (modernist) - "I call them as they are"

20th Century relativist - "I call them as I see them"

Postmodernist - "They ain't nothing until I call them"

And this is what we saw in Florida elections.  Unable and unwilling to abide
by the old-school (modernist) proclamation of truth (via the Secretary of
State and local election officials), both post-modern candidates resorted to
litigation to force de jure recognition of their (relative) truth.

Along these same lines comes the sharp division of people's reaction to Bill
Clinton's behavior while in the White House.  While some bemoaned the sad
state of affairs, others said there was nothing wrong with his behavior.
This can be seen by the following points of view:

Enlightenment (modernist) -acutely aware of the existence of absolute right
and wrong

20th century relativist - aware of existence of right and wrong, but they
are only "right" if to my thinking; it is highly individualistic

Postmodernist - Live in a virtual reality, it is not reality until I
experience it


Well, that's probably enough for now.  :-)


Jim Phillips