Most of all, I've become more moderate, and also more conservative, I mean that word in its literal rather than partisan sense. Living in Germany for a year, in the mid-1980s, was a big influence. I don't think the U.S. should try to copy those institutions, but it did make me more of a "every country is different" sort of guy. I also, over time, have come to see civilization as more fragile than I had thought. So if a set of institutions shows some ability to keep a civilization going, we ought to have (critical) respect for what has been accomplished, and not always be so quick to suggest radical changes.
My paper "When Are We Being Too Utopian?", found on my home page, is a very good place to start for understanding my political views.
That all said, my core instincts are still quite libertarian.
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The faster you delete the link the faster the link will vanish from Technorati and less likely you are to have your secret blog outed. (You may also wish to delete this message in case someone really clever/devious/desperate to read your blog but not you book is watching for inbound links to the Technorati page...)
Actually, ignore the above link: it's here http://qurl.com/wd91z
Interestingly enough, I'm about to leave for Germany for a year to work and take classes. As part of the process, I was asked to provide an example of one my values or beliefs that I did not think would change while over there.
I answered that my beliefs in classical liberalism would likely be unaltered.
I'm confident in that prediction, but I'm also sure to gain empathy into how history and cultural attitudes and play into one's philosophy.
Besides, I'm only 22. I've plenty of time to sample other philosophical cuisines. It might be boring to have the same basic worldview from college on.
Culture and institutions are so intricately linked, that even if outsiders see easy solutions to problems in the system, inability to change the mind-set along with the new systems will prove to be very difficult, and might indeed cause a backlash.
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