In the first blog post I ever published on the blog, Jonathan Arts and Critique, I said:
I am:
Pro peace, not merely anti war.
Pro privacy, not merely anti state voyeurism.
Pro speech, not merely anti censorship.
Pro capitalism, not merely anti far left.
Pro welfare, not merely anti Darwinian.
Pro individualism, not merely anti collectivism.
Pro equality, not merely anti privilege.
Pro compassion, not merely anti hatred.
Pro realism, not merely anti idealism.
Pro principle, not merely anti opportunism.
Pro liberty, not merely anti human rights imperialism.
And, as much as anything:
Pro secular liberal parliamentary democracy, not merely anti-authoritarian.
One important thing to remember is that it is not enough to be against something evil; you must also be for something valuable!
How inconvenient is this truth for the true believer, the ideologue, the shallow cynic…
