# Parting Thoughts

## November 23rd, 2020

"I'm always stunned when I get to the end of the class, and especially this semester - wow. It went fast, and it was weird!"
    -   The final project is due December 7th
    -   I'll have office hours tomorrow; after that, I'll be available for meeting by appointment
        -   "Remember, keep it focused on questions of process and legitimacy, NOT the content of what the actual legislation/final policy should be"
-   So, we've gone through 3 models of democracy: the classical Lockean model, the morally thick republican model, and the messy deliberative democracy
    -   There are a lot of variants on these themes, but what all of these models have in common is that they're DEMOCRATIC: they're based on the idea of the "consent of the governed"
    -   Whatever the motive is, committing yourself to democratic principles is committing yourself to dialogue, and you're accepting that sometimes, you lose, and have to compromise
        -   "Democracy only works if those who disagree can lose gracefully; you can lose, but you live to fight another day"
        -   I'm hesitant to talk about the election, but right now, we're seeing an attack on democratic procedure and the rule of law - perhaps not a very comprehensive or cohesive one, but an attack nonetheless
        -   I do want to recognize that this present moment is dangerous to democracy
            -   The danger isn't that this one attack will work, but that it'll leave scars; there's a near 100% chance that come January 20th, Biden will be sworn in, but there'll be mistrust in the democratic process - and that's concerning
    -   Now, as a philosopher, I am getting some Rousseauvian and Plato vibes that nothing lasts forever, all institutions break down, etc.;
        -   Plato, skeptical of the Athens version of democracy, had in mind instead a "technocracy of the good," where he thought you needed people like philosophers who have special insight into what's true and good ("which, as a philosopher, I'm kinda skeptical of")
            -   That same attitude, though, of trusting guardians of truth and knowledge, exists basically unchanged when it comes to some economists and scientists and such
            -   Plato had this whole bizarre scheme of who we should let marry philosophers to avoid corrupting them, etc. - but Plato himself recognizes that this system isn't sustainable, and will degenerate from rule by the "good," to rule by honor, to rule by wealth, to rule by "democracy" ("the 2nd worst kind, according to plato"), to the death of democracy - the conflict of the rich and poor, where the rich fear the poor and the poor resent the rich, and so in the end the people appoint some champion or king ultimate power to fix their problems - who will then turn against them
                -   Plato thought it was in the nature of democracies to undo themselves, and honestly, history seems to be on his side
    -   Undermining democratic institutions themselves - rigging voting, finding the other candidate "corrupt" -

-   I, personally, am all-in on democracy and the rule of law; that's what I think is the best public policy for a good life. You might think the law is stupid, you might think the Electoral College is stupid, and ask for it to be changed, but you follow the laws you agreed to. I want to see decisions made only on legitimate authority, but right now I think we're seeing both the fragility and the resilience of democratic institutions; depending on the news network, you can whipsaw between hope and despair
    -   On the one hand, even if these court cases don't succeed, they'll leave scars; people won't trust any supreme court result that doesn't favor their side, and you may create a generation of people who have an eroded trust in democracy - that's serious
    -   On the other hand, you have state and local officials who have all been steadfast in following due process, following the evidence, and so forth; look at the Secretary of State of Georgia, a Republican who's refused to skip vote counting procedure for the sake of helping his party. He's said "I'm disappointed as anyone my party didn't win, but this is democracy; this is how things work." That's how things SHOULD be!
        -   I don't think American democracy is on suicide watch just yet, but if you're committed to democracy, it's an interesting (and possibly nerve-wracking) moment

-   "I was half-tempted to assign a last reading called 'The Paranoid Style in American Politics,' by Richard Hofstadter - and the idea is that at either fringes of the political spectrum, you have people who promote conspiracy theories because they can't believe reasonable people of good will could vote in ways they don't understand - and so they come up with theories about the Illuminati pulling strings in the shadows, etc., to explain why things aren't going their way"
    -   In early American politics, for instance, you have this early streak of being suspicious of the Freemason cabal and such - but in practice, this always works out to being excuses to not believe in elections
    -   Hofstadter recognizes this tendency in American politics; when people don't understand or accept what's happening, and they need someone to blame, they go knocking

-   PHEW! This has been a weird semester, but I hope you learned something despite these circumstances; for my part, I'm getting really, really sick of my office room, but perhaps I'll see some of you next year when the vaccine's been distributed and had time for people to use it, when we can finally meet with faces uncovered
    -   So, I wish you safe travels, I hope your family stays safe and you do your part, your holidays are enjoyable, and - well - that's all I have! Goodbye for now, and I'll look forward to reading your work!