A musing Beam

This is my second in a three-part series on a secular approach to how to come to a voting decision. My first was on related  concepts of earning, value, and property, and how these are societal constructions. (See  http://amusingbeam.blogspot.com/2012/10/voting-thoughts-part-1-foundational.html  ).  This entry will first touch on the concept of liberty, which will be my last "pure philosophy" concept, then I will switch to the role of government.  In particular, I will discuss the philosophy of legitimate government, then with what I think should be the focus of a "good" government.  Finally, I will discuss how our governments have worked historically. (Those enamored with our Founders and their concepts of liberty might take particular interest in that section.) Liberty Some ideas of liberty focus on being free from coercion, and these are sometimes classified as negative liberty.  I should not be compelled to believe a certain religion, or work in a job I don&

Introduction A friend recently suggested that I do a series on how to vote that didn't assume that the reader was Christian.  This is a short series on the subject. Now, remember, folks, that this is a blog--it's not a scholarly tract, so there will be quite a bit of painting with very wide brush strokes. This is not going to be anything like an exhaustive trip through history, political philosophy, or legal interpretations.  These are just a few thoughts on one way to approach how to make voting decisions. This will be a three-part series, with the first two covering some foundational principles, and the last listing values and applications.  You'll note that I will not give a party affiliation or an ultimate conclusion. Instead, I list values and suggestions for how some of them might apply. These first two entries will be a bit dry.  Sorry, but ... hey, foundational stuff is important.  And I will not be devoting a lot of time to Christian principles here -- I'v