Iran Nuclear Deal

[jacassidy2]

The recent nuclear deal with Iran is the most recent and clear example of the philosophy of pragmatism.  What US negotiators did, was separate out the idea of Iran's nuclear ambitions from all other aspects of the character of Iran's leaders since this country became a theological dictatorship.  For pragmatists, the facts of Iran's lies, duplicity, and violent statements of ultimate intent are not important considerations in the light of a possible wedge in Iran's nuclear ambitions. 

 

If you ignore principles, ignore recent history, you can arrive at the view that, regardless of all other knowledge, it makes sense to enter a nuclear agreement with Iran.  You are pragmatically raising the fear of nuclear consequences above other knowledge - your knowledge that Iran doesn't honor treaties and that Iran specifies their goal of punishing Israel and the US has no reality in the context of the nuclear fear to politics and politicians grounded in pragmatism.

 

What will Iran do with the windfall of resources released after the financial embargo? They are the major source of funding for radical Pseudo-Islamic terrorism - what do you think they will do?

 

More importantly, what is to become of a nation (the US) when the citizens generally don't see the clear truth of cause and effect in the pragmatic decisions of their leaders?  The most dangerous aspect of this current event is not Iran, it is the pragmatist philosophy at the basis of a treaty with an entity you know will not honor the agreement.  And the citizens go about their lives.

[dream_weaver]

Micheal Hurd asks:

Just How Bad is Obama's Deal With Iran?

 

Like everyone who is wrong, they rely on the argument from intimidation. “If you don’t agree with this deal, then you want war with Iran.” The almost unspeakable evasion in this statement is disregard for the fact that the United States is already at war with Iran, each and every day, whether it wants to be, or not. Each day, we’re subject to another 9/11-style (or worse) terrorist attack, likely subsidized in part by the Iranian government — and always approved of, by them.

 

This shows you how psychopathologically deep the confidence in government by progressives runs, at least when the government is operated by progressives like Obama, Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and others. The kind of people who support this deal with Iran are the same kind of people who actually believe that you can wish cheap or free health care into existence merely by signing a law; wish economic growth into existence merely by debt-financing trillions in “stimulus”; wish education into existence merely by pouring billions more into the federal department of education; and on and on.

 

. . . And the citizens go about their lives.

 

Which harkens to "the entire miserable show is kept up by nothing but routine and pretense, which disguise bewilderment and fear".

[softwareNerd]

Which harkens to "the entire miserable show is kept up by nothing but routine and pretense, which disguise bewilderment and fear".

We "fixed" the great recession via "extend and pretend". We've "fixed" social-security that way too, once by Alan Greenspan, who then went on to screw up the broader economy in his role a pretend maestro. Europe pretended for a decade that all European economies were equally-good credits, and they'll still trying to extend the farce. China's stock market started to tank and their government unleashed extend-and-pretend cash and threats of jail time for those who won't play game. Japan has had a decade of pretending it will deal with its huge debt by some routine, incremental changes. GOP die-hards are pretending that immigrants are one of the main problems holding the economy back. 

 

If I had to identify just one single thing I'd like to see improved in the psychology of the human race it would be: make more people think more long term. I'd like to ask the genie for much more, but I'll settle for this. When you tempt an animal with some goodies here-and-now, the animal may not understand the later consequences, and may not be able to resist the emotional pull anyway. Since we're animals, it is not surprising that we're torn between the intellectual choice of short-term pain with long-term gain versus the intellect-rejecting emotional choice of short-term relief with long-term problems.

[dream_weaver]

We "fixed" the great recession via "extend and pretend". We've "fixed" social-security that way too, once by Alan Greenspan, who then went on to screw up the broader economy in his role a pretend maestro. Europe pretended for a decade that all European economies were equally-good credits, and they'll still trying to extend the farce. China's stock market started to tank and their government unleashed extend-and-pretend cash and threats of jail time for those who won't play game. Japan has had a decade of pretending it will deal with its huge debt by some routine, incremental changes. GOP die-hards are pretending that immigrants are one of the main problems holding the economy back. 

 

If I had to identify just one single thing I'd like to see improved in the psychology of the human race it would be: make more people think more long term. I'd like to ask the genie for much more, but I'll settle for this. When you tempt an animal with some goodies here-and-now, the animal may not understand the later consequences, and may not be able to resist the emotional pull anyway. Since we're animals, it is not surprising that we're torn between the intellectual choice of short-term pain with long-term gain versus the intellect-rejecting emotional choice of short-term relief with long-term problems.

Some genies are diabolical, a side effect of being bottled up inside for long durations of time.

 

Excellent tie-in with the economic examples, readily apparent when stated, and ties in well with the  point Dr. Hurd raises about debt-financing "stimulus". Easily added to the list would be socialized medicine in Canada, England, and Cuba where those who could afford it would come to the United States to avoid the waiting lines. The darker cloud is the federal department of education, where short-term gain is often touted over short-term pain and the long-term consequences are considered "too complex to be understood."