Tuesday, May 12, 2020

The Lesser of Two Weevils.


Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Poster     In the movie Master and Commander : the Far Side of the World, actor Russell Crowe, in the character of Commander "Lucky Jack" Aubrey, tells a joke for his officers at dinner; he lays two weevils on the table and bids his medical officer Surgeon Physician Maturin to choose, which is the best. Maturin falls for it. He examines both weevils from a scientific angle, estimating their size, and he, after a brief study, decides. Maturin selects the larger one. To which Captain (by courtesy a Captain in his own ship, even though he is the rank of Commander) Aubrey says : "Ah but Doctor, in the Royal Navy it is always our way to choose the lesser of two weevils. "

And so, it comes to this. I've been hearing a lot from the Bernie or Burn crowd that anybody but Bernie is evil, and so no matter who it is, they won't vote for Trump, but they also won't vote for option B because "Choosing the lesser of Two Evils is still choosing evil."
              Well, I'm going to come out and say this with no sugar on it: If you think you can vote for Justin Amash or Jill Stein or Gus Hall because voting for Biden would be a vote for Lesser Evil and Lesser Evil is Still Evil, then you can smooch up on my buttocks and wait for me to fart. I'm sick to death of hearing purity test "Bernie or nobody" fools. Get off my lawn. Lookit. I'm not a fan of Joe Biden. As a matter of fact, although I do not think Biden is evil (he is somewhat mendacious, as are all politicians.) I don't agree with his policies. I don't really know him as a man so I can't speak to that, but I don't like his policies and that's just how it is. In 2016 I was for Bernie right up until Hillary won the primaries by some 3 million votes and was nominated at the convention. Not a fan of HRC either, but when it became clear she was going to be the nominee I got behind her and helped as much as I could in my small way. I do not regret it. I only regret not winning. in 2020 my ardor for Bernie had cooled some, but I was very favorably impressed by Elizabeth Warren. I found her to be real, warm, personable and talented- - everything the orange fuhrer is not. I was behind Warren foursquare. Well, it was not to be. I shall bite back my bitterness, swallow my pride and push as hard as I can for Joe Biden. Because the trolley is headed toward the switch, and there are a kid's soccer team stuck on the bus on one leg of track, and a man with a broken pelvis on the other. I have to choose. You must also choose. Inaction will only cause the trolley to derail, killing all the passengers. The man cannot get himself off the track in time, and the children can't get off the bus in time. You gotta pull the lever. Choose. I shall apologize to the family of the man with the broken pelvis later. Now you choose. Either choice you make is evil. Choose. Tick-tock. Time's running out. Choose.

Notes : 
     1)  Yes, this is the infamous "lesser of two evils" hypothetical. I'm not the first one to propose it, and I sincerely doubt I will be the last.  It offers you a choice between two actions, both of which will result in someone else's death. One vs Many. I have also eliminated the escape hatches of "I'll just leave it for someone else" and "I'll derail the streetcar and save everyone."  Except doing that will kill the passengers and crew of the streetcar. 

2) Yes, it's not fair. Life is not fair. 




The Trolley Problem Will Tell You Nothing Useful About Morality ...