This column has been republished with permission from Vox Fairfax.
Do not pity the masses. Rather, exercise some sympathy for them as they attempt to sort through their daily lives while politicians – elected and campaigning – issue barrages of promises, criticisms, and non-answers to questions. With just a smattering of reflection, the separate universe cultivated by politicians may be withering away like the dictatorship of the proletariat.
In philosophy, dualism relates to distinguishing between mind and body, or subject and object, to identify the likely or reliable truth of competing propositions. In 1637, Rene Descartes coined his principle of inquiry as “Cogito ergo sum” meaning “I think, therefore, I am.” The French philosopher sought to parse cognition, concluding that doubt concerning the world around us results in reasonably reliable conclusions.
Nationwide, Republicans are spearheading efforts to rid state electoral systems of fraud and theft of elected offices. The evidence to support those efforts is sparse to nonexistent, yet the campaigns and promises and criticisms continue. This phenomenon is no less true in Virginia, where Governor Youngkin adopted “election integrity” as a campaign plank. His popular vote margin to victory was 63,688 – 0.0195% – out of 3.262 million votes cast. Continue reading
