Question: What is your question?
Stephen Carter: I’m going to cheat a little bit and give you two questions we should be asking ourselves. First and most important question: “How ought we to live?” as opposed to what we tend to ask: “How are we to force other people to live?” So I think the first thing all of us can ask ourselves is, “How should we live?” How do we inspire our neighbors? If we care about global warming, let’s not put as our first question, “Therefore what should we regulate?” “Therefore what should we do and try to inspire this by our example.” That seems to be the first and most important question: “How ought we to live?” And then second, “How can I myself, by trying to be less certain of myself, promote public dialogue by opening my mind to the possibility that I may be wrong?” If we would each ask ourselves those two questions – how would I live, and how am I to stop acting like those who disagree with me are evil – if we could just do those two things, I think we could advance dialogue in America and in the west generally, and perhaps in the world enormously.
Recorded on: 7/25/07
Discuss
Tony O'Brien on January 23, 2008, 11:51 AM
Respect for democracy means respectimg peoples choices. If a country freely chooses a socialist, islamic or other fundamentalist government, then we should respect that choice.
However it seems we think the democratic result is only acceptable if a country chooses a government we approve of. Palistinians elect Hamas – how dare they, Iraquis elect fundamentalists "not going to happen", elected socialists in South America have to be overthrown.
Like Stalin we only believe in approved results.
Tony O'Brien on January 23, 2008, 11:55 AM
Can I play my Dixie Chicks CDs now?
Tony O'Brien on January 23, 2008, 4:51 PM
Respect for democracy means respectimg peoples choices. If a country freely chooses a socialist, islamic or other fundamentalist government, then we should respect that choice.
However it seems we think the democratic result is only acceptable if a country chooses a government we approve of. Palistinians elect Hamas – how dare they, Iraquis elect fundamentalists “not going to happen”, elected socialists in South America have to be overthrown.
Like Stalin we only believe in approved results.
Tony O'Brien on January 23, 2008, 4:55 PM
Can I play my Dixie Chicks CDs now?
Benjamin Taylor on February 14, 2008, 5:24 PM
I support completely Mr. Carter's statement—and I'm paraphrasing here—about being willing to admit and embrace the posibility that I may be wrong, about many things. When we take a position on something, why must we feel the need to have an argument as opposed to host dialogue. It is going to be a collectively achieved policy that will be most binding and truly reflect the needs of the people.
Benjamin Taylor on February 14, 2008, 10:24 PM
I support completely Mr. Carter’s statement—and I’m paraphrasing here—about being willing to admit and embrace the posibility that I may be wrong, about many things. When we take a position on something, why must we feel the need to have an argument as opposed to host dialogue. It is going to be a collectively achieved policy that will be most binding and truly reflect the needs of the people.
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