Political Faith

"I knew that there was a right-left division, I had a pretty good sense that people like Dick Armey were not good to have rational discussion with, but I didn't really have a sense of how deep the divide went." - From a New Yorker Paul Krugman profile,(where to me he comes off as a bit of douche.)

This is why I don't understand and respect a lot of people on the left when they try to talk about their politics. It's not the actual ideological divide, it's the fact that they call the other view stupid, ridiculous, and evil - instead really engaging in a discussion of different world views, that gets me really annoyed. Maybe conservatives do this too, and I don't notice, but I find conservative minded people are much more readier to discuss the issue at hand than say a liberal who will pass a moral judgment on you if you question something they fervently hold as true. It's like there is no other alternative to the view, that to me seems so incredibly narrow minded and more like faith than real philosophical reflection.

via Kottke (again) who thinks Krugman's political interest has a "born-Christian vibe" I'm not sure if this a compliment form Kottke, or just an observation. I would tend to take that comment as a dig, politics shouldn't be about blind faith and that's what I think it has become, something to believe in when nothing is left.