Quote:
Originally Posted by Grimbl420
They both have different goals in life, and are both being pragmatic about them by taking action to achieve them.
how is that hard to understand?
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It's not, you're just using a different definition of "pragmatism" than I am. I'm defining it as essentially an end in itself - stability, predictability, keeping the lights on... as distinct from policies that are touted as morally righteous (and in fact might be), but don't really do anything in the sense of keeping the system running optimally.
That's not to say that the latter sort of policies are bad inherently or that it's wrong for government to pursue policies of that sort. I'd suggest, for example, that legalizing gay marriage had more to do with morality than pragmatism, but it was still a good thing for the government to do.