Oftentimes it seems like those making policy decisions at least try to be utilitarian. Current political rhetoric suggests that utilitarianism is definitely on the brain of most politicians, even if it is just a means of appealing to a voter base, which means it's on our minds to some degree as well. In terms of domestic policy, there's a debate over which tax policy, which stimulus package or lack of stimulus package will help the greatest number of Americans. We try to weigh the consequences of spending and cutting in light of how many Americans, now and in the future, will benefit or suffer. There may be a bigger issue about how each side defines exactly what an "American" is, but that's another blog post I think. Overall, we're concerned with helping Americans, with supporting the members of our society. The utilitarianism often seems to end at our borders though.
Of course, we talk about foreign aid, war(s), and other forms of international intervention, but the tone of discussion is much different. It's an us and them situation. It seems like we weigh lives and rights differently, as was made clear in the discussion of the Iraq war the other day. The world is clearly much different than it was when Mill wrote, but does that change the way that we should view utilitarianism? It's difficult because we have different sets of laws and different cultural ideas, but global interaction occurs frequently. We work, travel, trade, live, and communicate internationally at much higher rates. Do we also have a responsibility then to consider the international community in the same way that we consider ourselves as Americans when making policy decisions? What are the boundaries of our society and of our utilitarian action?
I think that what you're discussing is a hugely prevalent idea in America. There is definitely this sense of 'We must do whatever is necessary to save our country'. I'm not sure if it's true utilitarian though, because instead of looking at all the negative outcomes, it seems to be easy for policy makers to prioritize more patriotic ideals.
ReplyDeleteThis is similar to what we discussed at Wednesday's pub talk (courtesy of Dr. Johnson's essay), the idea of a democratic nation doing anti-democratic things in order to promote democratic standing. It's an interesting concept: we must do anything to uphold our nation regardless of if it goes against what the nation stands for. Torture seems to be the perfect example for that: even in the name 'The Patriot Act' seems to stand for our nation (and its patriotism) even though it in of itself is a seemingly anti-democratic thing.