Hm. I'll argue about "mistakes" but gently, and only because it can be a broad concept.
Some young folks engage in criminal acts - and while the actions are deliberate, they are mistakes of judgment. So it wasn't an "accident" that they broke into the store to try to rob the safe, and it wasn't an accident when they fought with the owner to avoid getting caught, but if they'd talked out the possibilities with a friend who made them think it through - the owner *might* be there, and if he tries to catch them, the only way to avoid getting arrested *might* be to fight back - maybe seriously injuring or killing the owner - they'd have decided not to.
In that sense, I can see it as an accident. I think I've mentioned before that I think the fossil fuel companies may well have known global warming was real and pushed denialism in hopes of eking out a few more years of big profits before they were on the downslope. I think that was an accident too, *if* it was true.
(That no one has come up and admitted this by now suggests I am being naive, at least about the bigger decision makers. Or maybe loyalty is too strong to overcome via guilt, so far.)
The Republicans don't (I believe) want to cripple government. They just say they do as cover for what they *do* want to do. They want to use the levers of government to help out the big money boys - and saying they want "lower taxes" and "smaller government" and "fewer regulations" is just cover for them. I think many of them don't understand or care about the negative consequences of their actions. For example, they don't know any women who were in tears and contemplating suicide because they couldn't get an abortion - their women-friends could always take two days vacation, drive the 150 miles to the nearest Planned Parenthood clinic that performed them, ignore the mandated legal scolding, and come back the next day to have the procedure done.
I could be wrong - I tend to try to see the best in people, to look for reasons why something horrible isn't *as* horrible. So, admittedly, I'm not the best judge. But I do think it's important to see why a person isn't a monster in their own eyes, at the very least.
I think if Trump wins, the Republicans will finally decide that a massive infrastructure investment is a *great* idea, for example. I think they know it's needed - but they didn't want Obama to get credit for it.
I hope that this means if Hillary wins, they realize they can't wait another four years to do some things. And Hillary is (I believe) sharp enough to let them play the game of "see? We beat her! She didn't want X but we got it!" to some degree, to let them save face.
Re: Well...
Some young folks engage in criminal acts - and while the actions are deliberate, they are mistakes of judgment. So it wasn't an "accident" that they broke into the store to try to rob the safe, and it wasn't an accident when they fought with the owner to avoid getting caught, but if they'd talked out the possibilities with a friend who made them think it through - the owner *might* be there, and if he tries to catch them, the only way to avoid getting arrested *might* be to fight back - maybe seriously injuring or killing the owner - they'd have decided not to.
In that sense, I can see it as an accident. I think I've mentioned before that I think the fossil fuel companies may well have known global warming was real and pushed denialism in hopes of eking out a few more years of big profits before they were on the downslope. I think that was an accident too, *if* it was true.
(That no one has come up and admitted this by now suggests I am being naive, at least about the bigger decision makers. Or maybe loyalty is too strong to overcome via guilt, so far.)
The Republicans don't (I believe) want to cripple government. They just say they do as cover for what they *do* want to do. They want to use the levers of government to help out the big money boys - and saying they want "lower taxes" and "smaller government" and "fewer regulations" is just cover for them. I think many of them don't understand or care about the negative consequences of their actions. For example, they don't know any women who were in tears and contemplating suicide because they couldn't get an abortion - their women-friends could always take two days vacation, drive the 150 miles to the nearest Planned Parenthood clinic that performed them, ignore the mandated legal scolding, and come back the next day to have the procedure done.
I could be wrong - I tend to try to see the best in people, to look for reasons why something horrible isn't *as* horrible. So, admittedly, I'm not the best judge. But I do think it's important to see why a person isn't a monster in their own eyes, at the very least.
I think if Trump wins, the Republicans will finally decide that a massive infrastructure investment is a *great* idea, for example. I think they know it's needed - but they didn't want Obama to get credit for it.
I hope that this means if Hillary wins, they realize they can't wait another four years to do some things. And Hillary is (I believe) sharp enough to let them play the game of "see? We beat her! She didn't want X but we got it!" to some degree, to let them save face.