[EM] Critics and Advocates

[John B. Hodges]

>Subject: Re: [EM] Cheering for simplicity/Orphan
>From: Joe Mason
>
>On Thu, Aug 21, 2003 at 10:41:39PM -0500, Adam Haas Tarr wrote:
>>  2) Since it is a Condorcet-compliant method, it shares all the 
>>weaknesses that
>>  all Condorcet methods have in the eyes of the IRV advocates (i.e. the weak
>>  center winner).  I don't think an IRV supporter would see this as 
>>a compromise.
>
>Since it requires multiple rounds, it also shares IRV's non-summability
>problem, so there a lot of Condorcet supporters who wouldn't see it as a
>compromise either.
>
>Joe

(JBH) I've seen this attitude often on this list.

It is a wonderful thing to be a critic. One's moral purity and social 
superiority are assured, without ever having to get out of one's 
armchair.

Being an advocate is slightly harder, but not much. I've sent money 
to worthy causes, written letters to the editor and op-ed pieces, 
without getting any further from my armchair than the mailbox, which 
I visit regularly anyway.

The difference lies in the criteria for success. A critic seeks to 
obstruct any reform that is not ideal, not the best imaginable. If no 
reform happens, they have succeeded, whether their efforts were 
decisive or not, whether the status quo is anywhere close to ideal or 
not. An advocate seeks to make some change happen. If they are wise, 
they will choose to advocate reforms that are (1) politically 
achieveable (2) significantly better than the status quo. It SHOULD 
not matter to them if their proposed reforms are not ideal; they 
should not have any deep need to see their reform through 
rose-colored glasses. If they contribute toward making positive 
change happen, they have succeeded to that extent.

It is true that ideals motivate many to try to make them real. Ideals 
have a glow, a shimmer to them that inspires people. Max Stirner 
wrote of "ghosts"- "the things for which men live and die, that care 
not whether men live or die."

Advocates have to learn to live with disappointment. Their reforms 
will always take much longer than they expected, if ever enacted at 
all, and will do less good than they hoped. They must learn to take 
satisfaction in small victories. The critic can bask in a lifetime of 
almost-guaranteed success.
-- 
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John B. Hodges, jbhodges@  @usit.net
Do Justice, Love Mercy, and Be Irreverent.