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WARNING! THE "GAME" DOES NOT WORK YET! THE APPLET BELOW IS JUST A SANDBOX FOR TESTING.

I've got the random spawning working now.

In which I decide to not be so small

Those of you who know me, or who have been introduced to me, or have merely been in the same room as me, know that I am not fond of libertarianism or libertarians.

I should be clear here that when I say "Libertarianism" I use it in the sense of a coherent ideology separate from classical liberalism. I've found a lot of people use the term to mean

• Likes making money and hates both political parties equally
• Conservative but not Republicans
• Believes strongly in civil-liberties (but who may support socialized medicine)
• Strict Constructionist regarding the constitution (with the special proviso that Lincoln twisted the "true" original meaning with his amendments)
  

I don't want to argue over whether those definitions are right or wrong (they're wrong) I just want to make it clear that when I say libertarian I mean someone who believes roughly that taxation is theft, the unregulated marketplace works best, and that without the government people would be freerer and happier.

"But surely, Tom," you'll say. "Such people don't actually exist do they?" In fact, they do. They oppose universal health care and environmental regulation. They also think the problem with the economy is that the Republicans regulated it too much. I've been arguing with one online for a while and I think it may be the equivalent of being caught smoking and being forced to smoke a whole pack as punishment.

I'm contemplating letting go of my hatred for Libertarians.

It's not that I've stopped disagreeing with them. It's that I'm beginning to appreciate that our beliefs are the result of a lot of things beyond our control - our family, our friends, our experiences - and that you can't really hold them responsible if they've been unlucky enough to end up in a situation where they believe dumb things. The same goes for the geocentrists and religious fundamentalists I've argued with. You can try to stop them from acting on those stupid beliefs (if it affects you) but the next few years are probably going to be a low-point of Libertarian influence and we ought to let them be.

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Yes we did!

For me, the election of Barack Obama was, kind of anti-climactic. After having hoped for a Democratic victory for 8 years it was odd to find myself at the end of the night playing "guess that 80's sitcom theme song" with my friends*. Taken as a whole though it was pretty impressive to witness the election of the first black president, the first non-southern Congressional majority since Reconstruction, and the first solidly liberal government since LBJ.

It is certainly possible to win a narrow victory based on personal appeal without winning a mandate. Bush discovered when he tried to privatize Social Security. But that's not what we witnessed. The Democratic victory was a rejection of Bush, yes. But it was also a ratification of the Democratic majorities in Congress who for the last 2 years have sent bill after bill to the white house only to see them shot down. The expansion of the Democratic majorities is a positive vote for Democratic leadership on the environment, the health care crisis, and foreign policy.

Though Americans voted for a clear direction on those issues last night the rickety American political system will make it very difficult for Democrats to institute their agenda. The filibuster - contrived to protect minorities - may allow a recalcitrant and unpopular Republican rump to endanger our environment, our economy, and our nations fiscal standing. We're only going to get what the 4 least conservative Republicans approve of. And that's why I don't feel like the pressure has let up after this election: the fight has only just begun.

I remember 4 years ago, reeling from a Democratic defeat** talking a friend who was of the Republican persuasion. I told him frankly that both sides had gotten their chance to present their plans and that - having won both elected branches - the Republicans won the right to institute their plans relatively unhindered. Soon enough, I told him, we'd have a nice long look at what Republican governance is like and we wouldn't have to debate if it would be good or bad, it'll be self-evident.

Well, you know how that turned out. Last night, the Democrats got their turn. I think they'll do well, but in 2 years we won't have to debate whether the Democrat's platform is good or bad: it'll be clear. Like most Democrats I'm pretty confident the next several years will reflect well on our platform. Let's finally see if we're right!

*For the record, Lydia and I blew away Zack and Lisa.
**A defeat that wasn't nearly as resounding as the one Republicans experienced last night.

(Map courtesy of Mark Newman)