Generalities vs Specifics in political thought.

[Mims44 1,889]

I thought about this when commenting in some of the other threads and would like to get peoples thoughts and views as I'm sure I am not the only person who operates with this mindset. A lot of the time we'll make some broad statement about an issue and when someone points out some minutiae happenstance we find ourselves arguing our point, even though in that specific situation we would go against the earlier made broad statement. I have two that I wanted to start with (one is being talked about now in our forums, the other gets brought up but at the moment is not a hot button topic), but please feel free to add other topics.

 

TOPIC #1

ABORTIONS

I always say I am anti abortion. It is a knee jerk answer that I don't even think about. However, when these discussions start it is almost instantly brought up "what if..." and with a lot of those questions I would be for abortion. If there is a chance for the mother to die due to some medical condition then I think it's ok. If there is a serious defect with the fetus where they are just in pain and have no chance outside the womb then I am for it. I am even ok with early term abortion as I've had friends who lost their baby before they even knew they were pregnant and it seems odd to me to say it's wrong if people lose their pregnancies without even knowing it. So the Plan B (abortion pill) or whatever it's going by is also cool with me. My knee jerk anti-abortion stance is because I am so heavily against late term abortions and abortions of vanity. I believe most European countries have their laws set for 12-15-18 weeks in a majority of the countries there, and I could see myself being ok with the 12 week one (with medical emergency also ok of course) if a politician ran with that stance.

 

TOPIC #2

DEATH PENALTY

This one is also a easy knee-jerk NO for me. I don't believe in any normal trial that the death penalty should be something available to try for. Our justice system, while set up well still makes so many mistakes. It sucks if someone is wrongly jailed for years before they are proven innocent. But at least then they get to be free and likely get compensated for the years of life lost. There is no way to give back a life once taken. However, those "What ifs..." pop up and there are situations where I would be 100% cool with a death penalty. Chiefly, these terrorists we are constantly seeing shooting up schools and grocery stores. In that instance the fact that they are unquestionably guilty of such horrendous crimes I would be completely fine with them being executed. My knee jerk no to the death penalty is based solely on how much I am against the killing of potentially innocent men and women. So if someone was to run and be ok with the death penalty in those instances only, that would be fine with me.

[AURex 2,031]

Um, abortion is minutia for you? Death penalty is minutia for you? You are knee-jerking, but the word "specifics" is in there somewhere?

Sorry, I don't comprehend. If you are anti-abortion with exceptions or anti-death-penalty with exceptions,. just say so.

Most of us here are not ***knee jerk*** anything.

 

[TexasTiger 13,000]

On 4/29/2023 at 4:34 PM, Mims44 said:

I thought about this when commenting in some of the other threads and would like to get peoples thoughts and views as I'm sure I am not the only person who operates with this mindset. A lot of the time we'll make some broad statement about an issue and when someone points out some minutiae happenstance we find ourselves arguing our point, even though in that specific situation we would go against the earlier made broad statement. I have two that I wanted to start with (one is being talked about now in our forums, the other gets brought up but at the moment is not a hot button topic), but please feel free to add other topics.

 

TOPIC #1

ABORTIONS

I always say I am anti abortion. It is a knee jerk answer that I don't even think about. However, when these discussions start it is almost instantly brought up "what if..." and with a lot of those questions I would be for abortion. If there is a chance for the mother to die due to some medical condition then I think it's ok. If there is a serious defect with the fetus where they are just in pain and have no chance outside the womb then I am for it. I am even ok with early term abortion as I've had friends who lost their baby before they even knew they were pregnant and it seems odd to me to say it's wrong if people lose their pregnancies without even knowing it. So the Plan B (abortion pill) or whatever it's going by is also cool with me. My knee jerk anti-abortion stance is because I am so heavily against late term abortions and abortions of vanity. I believe most European countries have their laws set for 12-15-18 weeks in a majority of the countries there, and I could see myself being ok with the 12 week one (with medical emergency also ok of course) if a politician ran with that stance.

 

TOPIC #2

DEATH PENALTY

This one is also a easy knee-jerk NO for me. I don't believe in any normal trial that the death penalty should be something available to try for. Our justice system, while set up well still makes so many mistakes. It sucks if someone is wrongly jailed for years before they are proven innocent. But at least then they get to be free and likely get compensated for the years of life lost. There is no way to give back a life once taken. However, those "What ifs..." pop up and there are situations where I would be 100% cool with a death penalty. Chiefly, these terrorists we are constantly seeing shooting up schools and grocery stores. In that instance the fact that they are unquestionably guilty of such horrendous crimes I would be completely fine with them being executed. My knee jerk no to the death penalty is based solely on how much I am against the killing of potentially innocent men and women. So if someone was to run and be ok with the death penalty in those instances only, that would be fine with me.

I think the reversal of Roe is demonstrating that many folks who said they were firmly against abortion are much less so, according to changing polls.

[Mims44 1,889]

9 hours ago, AURex said:

Um, abortion is minutia for you? Death penalty is minutia for you? You are knee-jerking, but the word "specifics" is in there somewhere?

Sorry, I don't comprehend. If you are anti-abortion with exceptions or anti-death-penalty with exceptions,. just say so.

Most of us here are not ***knee jerk*** anything.

 

My apologies for not being clear enough on that.

The minutia would be a minimal % happenstance. IE: I am against abortion in general, however in those minute instances where the baby never grows a head. I am not against abortion. Since making the woman carry a headless corpse in her body seems beyond cruel to me. Aborting an ectopic pregnancy would also be ok with me. Since ectopic pregnancies' pretty much always kill the baby and mother. I say minutia because when people generally bring it up my thoughts go to the tons of abortions carried out for healthy mothers and healthy babies. Which was what I was going for, in general I am against abortion, but in specific scenarios I would not be against it. I am against the death penalty but in specific scenarios I would be ok with it.

For the second one, maybe 'knee-jerk' reaction was the wrong word? What I meant to convey was that when asked about these topics I give a quick straightforward answer (Yes or No) without having to think and ponder about how I stand.

 

Do you have differences in some of your stances if given specific situations where your conclusions might not jive with your general principles? It doesn't have to be about either of these two topics.

 

23 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

I think the reversal of Roe is demonstrating that many folks who said they were firmly against abortion are much less so, according to changing polls.

I for one never expected the hardline changes. I wanted the healthy abortions stopped and the late term abortions stopped. Carrying dead fetuses or outlawing BC pills is going waaaay too far with it.

[TexasTiger 13,000]

1 hour ago, Mims44 said:

My apologies for not being clear enough on that.

The minutia would be a minimal % happenstance. IE: I am against abortion in general, however in those minute instances where the baby never grows a head. I am not against abortion. Since making the woman carry a headless corpse in her body seems beyond cruel to me. Aborting an ectopic pregnancy would also be ok with me. Since ectopic pregnancies' pretty much always kill the baby and mother. I say minutia because when people generally bring it up my thoughts go to the tons of abortions carried out for healthy mothers and healthy babies. Which was what I was going for, in general I am against abortion, but in specific scenarios I would not be against it. I am against the death penalty but in specific scenarios I would be ok with it.

For the second one, maybe 'knee-jerk' reaction was the wrong word? What I meant to convey was that when asked about these topics I give a quick straightforward answer (Yes or No) without having to think and ponder about how I stand.

 

Do you have differences in some of your stances if given specific situations where your conclusions might not jive with your general principles? It doesn't have to be about either of these two topics.

 

I for one never expected the hardline changes. I wanted the healthy abortions stopped and the late term abortions stopped. Carrying dead fetuses or outlawing BC pills is going waaaay too far with it.

Maybe the word you’re looking for is default as in your “default position.”