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Hopeless ideas to which I retain an irrational attachment
Historic India, before Partition, is an idea which appeals greatly to me. Not the colonial version, but the idea of an independent and tolerant India of larger scope.
I don't pretend to have any good arguments for this idea, and I understand (to some degree) how and why it fell apart. I also understand that historic India was itself not very unified. That is in part what makes my attachment irrational, and perhaps the irrationality is part of the attachment itself.
What is your hopeless idea to which you retain an irrational attachment?
Posted by Tyler Cowen on August 30, 2007 at 09:58 AM in History | Permalink
Comments
I irrationally hold to the view that God created an old earth, an earth with dinosaur bones and fern fossils already in it. Again I too know that it is irrational but cling to it. :)
Posted by: Thirsty at Aug 30, 2007 10:25:37 AM
I wish all term-limiting laws were abolished and killed until they were dead, then killed again. By abolishing the power of the voters to kick the bums out, these laws distort and damage what we like to call democracy.
Posted by: sinyet at Aug 30, 2007 10:26:18 AM
Tyler,
This is an interesting irrational attachment; urges of this variety can pleasantly end up contributing to an enhanced understanding for us also. A book, perhaps?
India today doesn't "feel" like a democratic country, and it surely has more trouble than western countries holding up the image of marshmellowy social cohesion. People simply pay more attention to their town or city, for cultural reasons and also because bureaucracies have grown immensely on the state level.
Posted by: Sandeep Prakash at Aug 30, 2007 10:55:27 AM
I would like to see Franz Ferdinand return and reclaim his K.u.k. throne.
Posted by: N.a.a.r.B. at Aug 30, 2007 11:04:09 AM
there is a reason india is termed a subcontinent. the typical indian state as the population of a large european country (some, like uttar pradesh aren't that much less populous than the united states). the idea of a politically unified india is aurangezeb's gift to hindu nationlists.
Posted by: razib at Aug 30, 2007 11:25:41 AM
Canada.
Posted by: darcy mcgee at Aug 30, 2007 11:27:01 AM
Doesn't an independant and tolerant India of very large scope exist ? Maybe that idea is not irrational after all...
Posted by: Smith at Aug 30, 2007 11:30:14 AM
Santa
Posted by: Buddy Elf at Aug 30, 2007 11:30:33 AM
The Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth, as modified by the 3rd of May Constitution. Now THAT's pre-Partition...
Posted by: Affe at Aug 30, 2007 11:31:08 AM
I'm irrationally attached to the idea of the historic United States. The one with limited government, a meaningful Constitution, and republican virtues.
But I like the idea of a unified India, too. Bharat mahaan!
Posted by: kdwmson at Aug 30, 2007 11:32:40 AM
> What is your hopeless idea to which you retain an irrational attachment?
Libertarianism
Posted by: dr_doofus at Aug 30, 2007 11:37:10 AM
Integration.
I was brought up by a very sweet, socially appropriate mother who, beneath that public face, was in fact, an atheistic (she called herself an agnostic) left-wing radical, who carried the latest copy of I.F. Stone's Weekly in her purse to introduce as evidence whenever the conversation turned to politics. In the middle '60's, that happened pretty frequently.
We were brought up to believe that a completely integrated society was the goal toward which any rational policy must lead. It was not just that the only forbidden word in our home was the 'n' word, but that we were brought up to believe that racial intermarriage was a positively good thing. My mother firmly believed that we would have reached the good society when we were all some shade of brown.
I don't know how the ideal of integration got so totally lost. It has a lot to do with good intentions; "Black Power" and Affirmative Action, while responding to the very real psychological, social and economic distress that a long history of oppression had created, did in fact result in a widening gulf between the races and the relegation of integration, as a social ideal, to the realm of benighted political incorrectness.
I still think it was a good idea; I'd still like to live in an integrated society. I'm sad that it won't happen.
Richard
Posted by: Richard Blumberg at Aug 30, 2007 11:39:00 AM
Free will, personal identity, the usual.
Posted by: jim at Aug 30, 2007 11:43:05 AM
Despite decades of disappointment, I still look for good tomatoes in the supermarket.
Posted by: JS at Aug 30, 2007 11:43:21 AM
That I, and I alone, could "cure" Portia DeRossi's lesbianism.
Posted by: Yancey Ward at Aug 30, 2007 11:56:59 AM
That 100% literacy for women in India is attainable goal; one which will empower them and liberate them from the tyranny of patriarchy.
But then again look at all the women in the west, who are already educated and still serve a double-shift in the office and at home, and you will see why it is a hopeless idea with which I have an irrational attachment.
Posted by: Shefaly at Aug 30, 2007 12:14:12 PM
The American middle class.
Posted by: rod at Aug 30, 2007 12:37:07 PM
Libertarianism and free-will are good ones, though I'm slowly managing to cure myself of the former.
Posted by: Bernard Guerrero at Aug 30, 2007 12:46:22 PM
Latin America developing their own successful version along the lines of the European Community or European Union. (really hoping that i am being pessimistic to call this irrational)
Posted by: natalia at Aug 30, 2007 12:55:53 PM
That the right institutions can make politicians and bureaucrats respond to the broad public interest rather than the best-organized or best-financed interest.
That political leaders' personality quirks are not a primary determinant of political outcomes and, more broadly, contemporary history.
Posted by: David at Aug 30, 2007 12:57:39 PM
World Peace
Posted by: Spike at Aug 30, 2007 1:16:21 PM
The Seattle Mariners
Posted by: Steven Donegal at Aug 30, 2007 1:18:59 PM
I'm a Latin teacher. Take your pick.
But I love Cicero in part because of his hopeles, irrational attachment to the ideal of a Republic that everyone except him knew, at the time, was dead.
Posted by: Andromeda at Aug 30, 2007 1:22:16 PM
That it's somehow possible to avoid what is to come.
Posted by: at Aug 30, 2007 1:22:41 PM
A college football playoff system, the end of the Electoral College, D.C. voting rights and that someday I will be able to go into space.
Posted by: washcycle at Aug 30, 2007 1:40:13 PM
