24.10.24

Kant rides in North Carolina, apparently

Jason Kirk with the good word for today

It's been a hard transition for me from "maybe the United States can do some concrete good in the world to improve the condition of the people being treated worst" to "it's generally better if the US never does anything, because halfhearted attention produces a worse outcome than doing nothing in a lot of cases". One day it will be worth writing that out in greater detail. But the piece of that original belief that's never left me, and in fact only grown stronger over time, is that I have an absolute responsibility for everything that's under my control. I cannot make the world a better place on my own, but I can organize my own social world to maximize the good I can do for others, and impact the views of the people around me. And one piece of that is, improbably enough, voting, where I can signal to the world that I exist as a long-time resident of a southern state who does not approve of any of the worst of what's out there. I do it not because I expect any particular outcome, but because it is right.

No comments: