Perhaps the plight of our world was no better stated than in a discussion group televised on C-SPAN. Focusing on the 2008 presidential elections, one Republican woman stated “we don’t have the luxury of voting our values this year.” One’s values are a “luxury?” Our social world is collapsing because of the values we have been pursuing for many decades, and now is not the time to devote attention to such matters? When would be a more important time to do so? Indeed, when would it ever be inappropriate to focus on one’s values in decision-making? If a person has just been informed he has cirrhosis of the liver from many years of heavy drinking, would it be rational for the patient to say to his doctor “I don’t have the luxury of rethinking my lifestyle right now?”
This kind of nonsense reminds me of a man who, a few years back, telephoned a Libertarian Party office to see if they could provide a speaker for a program on liberty. He was told “we don’t have time for philosophic discussions now, because this is an election year.”
