Perspectives and politics

Historically, most of what are considered the most influential philosophers of western civilization have skirted around the issue of how, and why, people percieve things the way they do. David Hume probably spends the most time talking about a persons perspectives in his book A Treatise of Human Nature. Hume, preferring to use the word "perception", never went so far as to discuss how a person forms their perceptions of the world around them. (To be clear, the words perception and perspective are synonomous: their difference in meaning is only in dialectic position-the former is third person, the later is first person. For the purpose of this essay I will stray between both words as determined by context). By and large, the rest of the greatest thinkers of western civilization either completely avoided the issue entirely, or creatively tried to ignore it in such a manner that their logic contained serious holes once it was realized what they were trying to avoid...

For as long as I can remember, I have always believed that one of the biggest things which differentiate, and separate, one person, and groups of people, from others is our "perspectives"-our personal "takes" on things; how we "see" things"; the side or positions we take on issues; our point of view; etc. In sum, it is our perspective on things which directly forms the opinions we all develop regarding all issues. The problem with this, in my opinion, is that people have no cognition for why they have the points of view on issues that they have: i.e. they can't explain themselves. When pressed, most people can't actually explain their opinions-regardless of where they are "coming from".
As we have progressed further into the Obama presidency, and America as a whole has become more and more polarized ideologically on all issues, this problem has become more apparent to me-particularly given the fact that the extreme fringes of our political spectrum are in control: Socialists, disguising themselves as Liberals, on the left; and Religious Collectivists, disguising themselves as Conservatives, on the right.

We are lucky in that we live in the greatest country on Earth. We have the right to hold and express any opinion, from any perspective, we wish. But what good are those opinions-our points of view-if you can't explain them? If you can't explain what makes yours more right than anothers?
Liberals, led by their President of "change" claim to be for the working man. They claim to be for helping out the poor; for the betterment of society; for social equality-yet they support programs that are destructive to all those ideals. And when pressed for explanations they fall back on claims of racism and conspiracy theories, and then go on to spin their own words over and over again, in a fruitless effort to confuse those listening.
Conservatives claim to be supportive of Free Market Capitalism and to support the Constitution as it was originally written-which means allowing people the freedom of choice that comes with being an American. But the minute that freedom of choice conflicts with their religious zealousy they forgot what they say; the minute that passing legislation which would bring financial equality to all means a lessening of their financial clout, they suddenly back pedal; the minute that their words means bringing those who they dont like, up to their level, they suddenly change their tune.
Due to the inabilities of both sides to communicate and express themselves logically on all issues, the masses-those vast majority of us in "the middle"-just tune out those in power, because neither makes sense:
How can Mr. Obama, and his political party, stand against immigration legislation in Arizona that does nothing but help enforce the laws regarding the issue found in the Constitution?
How can Republicans be for freedom of choice and personal responsibility, when they rail so hard against issues like abortion and religious freedoms?
How can Democrats be for lowering taxes on the "middle class", when their over all economic policies reduce incomes as a whole, while increasing the welfare state?
How can Republicans claim to be for peace when they are the first to offer our military for "support" for any one who asks for it?...

Using our perspectives to form our opinions is only natural-and fortunately we have a right to do so in America; but what good is doing so if those opinions are going to be illogically based and hypocritical? What good are the opinions of our leaders if even the most simplest of thinkers have no way to rationalize them?

A year of study

It has been almost a year since I last wrote on my blog. My year of absense was intentional and put to good use: in studying philosophy, politics, economics and socio economic theory. I was fortunate in that I had the time to devote to learning more about such 4 intense and complicated subjects so as to provide better content and educated opinions in my writings.
The time has also allowed my passion for expressing and sharing my personal views to come back...