Natural Law 2

I'm not stuck, but there is a lot here.

I don’t want to say that I am stuck on natural law, but it’s a rich area to study. I’m flying from Washington, D.C., back to Boulder, so the timing is proper to explore a bit more.

Let’s do it.

Natural law is the backbone of arguments in politics, IQ, genetics, economics, philosophy, biology, mathematics, physics, and so much more.

There have been many academics that pose questions where they try to find correlations between specific natural laws and life outcomes (e.g. education attainment, finances, marriage, GPA, mental health, overall satisfaction.)

There is a point where these studies becomes contentious.

Basically, the work product is saying, “you were born this way, so your life will yield X based on something you cannot control.” Many of these studies are rarely rounded off with discussion on environmental or social influences. I’ll cite some of them later and we will break them down together in a later post. But my main argument here is that many of these ‘studies’ are at odds with liberal principles: liberty, equality, and justice for all. Because underpinning these studies is a firm assertion that all men are not created equal. Is this true? That all men are not created equal?

“This trait, which is measureable and exist, is correlated with this outcome,” says much of this research. It doesn’t seem as scary in physics or mathematics but when it’s applied to humans, it’s terrifying.

Think about the common associations peopel have with natural law. It’s usually through the lens of their politics.

Conservatives are said to be firm that the laws of nature take care of themselves and people who can produce will - if not, that’s their own fault. We do nothing (survival of the fittest.)

Progressives are said to believe that the laws of nature will leave those who can’t produce unprotected and we must do something about it.

YEAH….

I want to break the progressive-conservative paradagim in half and discard it. It’s not useful anymore. What happened to looking at social and environmental issues for what they are? Devoid of politics. Does that mean we should look at these hard edge studies and not account for the social and environmental influences?

NO WAY

Still, I’m afraid this political paradigm is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Check this out… The New Yorker wrote an exposè on a Professor of Psychology, Kathryn Paige Harden, at the University of Texas at Austin.

The New Yorker article is titled, Can progressives be convinced that genetics matter?

In the opening of the article it states, “The behavior geneticist Kathryn Paige Harden is waging a two-front campaign: on her left are those who assume that genes are irrelevant, on her right those who insist that they’re everything.”

There it is.

Left - “those who assume that genes are irrelvent.”

Right - “those who insist that they’re everything.”

But I still see a serious issue with this paradigm. Almost as if it has remained untested for too long. Especially, seeing as many ‘conservatives’ are having a hard time believing in science, and many ‘progressives’ seem to be fully vested in science.

Here we are, looking at a fine specimen of those who lean into their ‘political beliefs’ when it’s convenient.

There is a problem here - I agree, and the New Yorker article cited above explores it in detail.

The problem is that society can seek to improve humanity or it can seek to marginlize parts of humanity out of existence.

That’s why I’m writing:

To lay the groundwork for an extensive, rigorous critique of American Politics, Government, and liberalism.

The United States is still the global hegemon. A country that is diverse in many ways and resourced beyond belief. I think we have to do more to protect liberal and democratic ideals for all citizens. I think that we must advance our understanding of the world and push the boundaries of human potential to remain competitive as the global leader of democracy.

If you see what I’m grappling with, please comment below and lets start dialogue. I’m going to be posting more frequently over the coming weeks.

Talk soon!

P.S. There is so much to explore within American politics.. I spend a lot of time thinking, writing notes. writing multiple drafts, deleting, editing, talking to friends, colleagues, scholars, reading books and research. It is usually easiest for me to produce this content if I take the structure off and go after it so that it can be entertaining and insightful. It’s important to me that there is room for open inquiry. I’m not an ‘expert’ but I want to ask questions that aren’t being asked and look for the answers.