Objective Judgment in Politics

About this event

PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW LOCATION (Le Pain Quotidien, 29th & 7th) One of the primary causes of emotionalism in political discussions today is the lack of an objective standard in judging politicians. Today we’ll discuss five possible standards for judging a politician, their relative validity, and their relationship to each other. • Tribe: which tribe does the politician belong to? The good one (the one you belong to), or the bad one (the one you don’t belong to)? • Likeability • Character: What is the ​moral character of the politician? Is he an essentially good man or an essentially evil man? By what standard? • Ideas: What is his level of philosophic and economic literacy? What philosophic and economic ideas does he hold, and are these ideas consistent with America’s founding political philosophy or not? • Policies / Legislation / Appointments: What is the ideological orientation of his administration? What concrete policies does the politician want to enact or has enacted in the past? What demonstrable effects have they had or are likely to have? Once we have discussed the criteria, we will use it to evaluate President Trump and the New York candidates running in the midterm elections, followed by a general discussion of the present and projected future states of the Republican and Democratic Parties. After the event, any interested guests will be invited to continue the conversation at a nearby restaurant. \* \* \* \* \* \* \* Our Meetup location, Le Pain Quotidien, is a private business; so that our group remains welcome, please don't arrive with beverages purchased from outside, and please be willing to purchase at least one beverage and/or menu item during the event. AN IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING NO-SHOWS Unfortunately, there is a longstanding problem in our group with large numbers of people who sign up frivolously and neither cancel nor show up, leading to large waiting lists of others who lose their opportunity to attend. Please note that going forward, those who sign up and neither cancel nor show up will be permanently removed from the group. Also, if you need to cancel, please have the courtesy to give at least 24 hours' advance notice rather than canceling immediately before the event, so those on the waiting list have an opportunity to attend.