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Our Political Dilemma

Once upon a year in Germany, while a student doing research, I learned--in order to survive impeccable German student logic--that working out the logic of an argument is a fine art, but that the art depends on what you assume in the first place.  Things follow from that.  If they follow badly, they are illogical.  Good logic is to understand the requirements of what is assumed in the first place. 


That sounds pretentious!  It only means that, in an argument, the most important thing is to get clear about what is assumed in the first place.  Those things aren't logical.  They are "what-if"s.  Logic is just following the demands of what you assume.  Everything depends on "what-if"; on where you start.


Start by assuming that it is a dog-eat-dog world!  You will move your way, logically, to some very rich, and some very poor, people, as a quite reasonable result.  


Start by assuming that everyone should have a voice in what affects us all!  You will end up with something like a democracy, or a republic.


Assume that God is male, and created "man" in his own image.  You will defend patriarchy, and male priesthood, and giving daughters in marriage.  If you assume that "male and female he created them", your logic becomes more complicated.


Or maybe just assume there is, or there is not, a god, or many gods!  


What do you assume?  That no one should ever tell you what you can, or cannot, do?  Or that we necessarily depend on each other?  The first will logically make government evil; the latter, that we have to regulate each other.  Are Caucasians simply brighter than Brown or Black people?


Do you believe that a community should shelter its old people?  Its poor?  Do you think that being born with brains should allow you to prosper, and that being ordinary means you should not expect the best health care?  


Are taxes bad?  Are Republicans selfish?  Who owns the oil under the seabed?  How many gods are there?  Is there an absolute truth?  Is having some very rich people the best way to make a lot of people better off?  


The things we assume shape what is logical, or sensible.  Our conclusions rest on feelings and attitudes and inherited ideas.  Our articulated, ironclad arguments rest on generally unspoken and, often, unexamined convictions.  

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