There's a great example of

Epicureanism in this month's Reason:

Beyond Conventional Thinking

Life's rich pageant, outside the halls of state

Brian Doherty

And you know the affinity I have for that philosophy.

Nothing like this week of all-Kerry-all-the-time Democratic convention coverage to turn one's mind to the other side of life - you know, the side not directly connected to the system of coordinated violence and threats designed to force other people to do what you want them to, and people's attempts to game that system in a usually futile attempt to "make a difference."

I know far too many people of what would generally be called "progressive" political tendencies who have been hoodwinked by two-partyism into thinking that they must devote great amounts of money, time, and effort to the cause of encouraging people to vote for Kerry, a man who stands for almost nothing they believe in passionately, on issues from war to civil liberties.

I try to resist the temptation (often a totalitarian one, as it can lead all too quickly to thinking that you, or someone, has to do something about it) to let other people's choices about what to do with their lives depress me. But I confess the sight of a sincere activist commie (especially one I might be personally fond of) wasting time and treasure on the cause of John Kerry's election is a serious bummer. It's a situation where I fear two-partyism has imbued my progressive comrades with what the more intellectual-history-minded among them might call "false consciousness."

Or perhaps it's a purer form of what we consider hedonism to be, from the author of This is Burning Man.

Little comes out of throwing your support behind candidates except further support for a system of petty controls and evil tyranny. Believers in progressive politics who are interested in the arts and experiments-in-living, as they so often are, have much more to offer the world - and, if I may be so bold, their own lives - by producing art and experiments in living rather than indulging in electoral politics.

This is the true political philosophy:

The Catholic Church has long advocated the rich and wonderful principle of subsidiarity, which advocates dealing with social concerns at the level closest to the individual human being. Our federal system leaves some room for this--San Francisco itself, is, obviously, far closer to the dream polity of its progressive denizens than the U.S. at large. While attempting to perfect the entire world, or even an entire nation, is inherently futile and impossible, attempting to make our own lives, and those of our immediate family, friends, and block, successful and peaceful and cared for is something within the realm of possibility. And it's a path whose rewards (and, of course, failures) would be real and immediate and fulfilling. But it is, make no mistake, harder than voting, or getting out the vote, or attending political conventions, or writing about them.

As I write, I'm indulging myself, while my wife and daughters are out of town, by blasting my favorite rock... I almost feel ashamed to admit it's a tape... Polo Hofer und die Schmetter Band. Hard-core, bluesy rock-n-roll in a language I can barely make out, Schwaitzerdeutsch (as he would spell it). It's an exceedingly rough sounding dialect, well suited to the form.

Sitting here, enjoying the raw emotion combined with exquisite instrumental skills and rock/blues compositions reminded me of this article. I felt that blogging about it would make a perfect evening. Blogging about rebellion against politics, listening to a guy ripping out his vocal cords and reading an article by an anarcho-capitalist... I expect to be as satisfied as I can be, in the absence of my wife and children, by the time the album is done.