One of my pet peeves (don't ask me why) is when a viewpoint with which I disagree is misrepresented. Instead of tracking down individual instances and correcting the perpetrators, i shall mention them here, in a cowardly fashion.
1. Fascist does not mean "bad." Stalin was bad, but he was not a fascist. Fascism is a particular political ideology that combines militarism, nationalism, and support for large business interests. Bush is not a fascist just because you don't like him. Bush leans fascist because he combines militarism and nationalism with crony capitalism (also known as "not really capitalism at all").
2. Neo-con does not mean "bad." Pat Robertson is bad, but he is not a neocon. Neoconservatism is a particular political ideology characterized by a belief in democracy and human rights with the conviction that advanced democracies can impose those virtues by force, and that democratic and human-rights-respecting states deserve privileges (including, for some, the ability to violate democracy or human rights for the greater good) that 'rogue' states do not. Bush and Cheney are not consistently neocons, and their domestic views are not distinctively neoconservative.
1. Fascist does not mean "bad." Stalin was bad, but he was not a fascist. Fascism is a particular political ideology that combines militarism, nationalism, and support for large business interests. Bush is not a fascist just because you don't like him. Bush leans fascist because he combines militarism and nationalism with crony capitalism (also known as "not really capitalism at all").
2. Neo-con does not mean "bad." Pat Robertson is bad, but he is not a neocon. Neoconservatism is a particular political ideology characterized by a belief in democracy and human rights with the conviction that advanced democracies can impose those virtues by force, and that democratic and human-rights-respecting states deserve privileges (including, for some, the ability to violate democracy or human rights for the greater good) that 'rogue' states do not. Bush and Cheney are not consistently neocons, and their domestic views are not distinctively neoconservative.
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speaking of academics: i think we turned out OK mostly due to our charm and smashing good looks. but that's just a hypothesis.
re: lucrative careers. like most philosophy/social science grad students, at one point, i flirted with law school. but i picked grad school. i remember my dad was really relieved, b/c he was sure that if i went to law school, i'd end up broke doing pro bono work for the poor.