My friend Dave asks about my five top political influences. I’m not quite sure what to answer. I’m generally not very impressed with my own political opinions. I’m a Liberal Democrat in Sweden, a left-wing Democrat in the US and a Brownite in Britain. In Taiwan I don’t really know yet (but I’m all for better relations with the mainland). I guess I’m just your average bleeding heart liberal.
But even bleeding hearts need a justification. What are the grounds for my beliefs? I could probably point to some people who influenced me, but what I can’t explain is why I found these particular people influential. What I can’t explain is what the grounds are for choosing a certain set of grounds. And what are the grounds of those grounds? What’s behind the reason we find certain reasons persuasive? I just don’t know.
Or am I making it too complicated?