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| Thad Williamson and Mark Mitchell |
Last week, as part of the reTHINK lecture series, the McConnell Center hosted a debate between Thad Williamson and Mark Mitchell about the search for the Humane Scale. This lecture proved to be very popular for the students and faculty of the University of Louisville as there were several classes and students doing research specific to this topic present. Neither side seemed to find much disagreement with one another. One of the ideas presented was the idea of stewardship, in which we should be focused on preserving the particulars and not the large and impossible task of saving the entire world. A popular idea among the scholars is emphasizing and protecting small communities. Mitchell mentioned that at the core of Conservatism should be conserving something, which is why conservatives should attempt to really strive for sustainability in their politics. Both sides agreed that stability on this level would protect against the instability that occurs when trying to compete in a much larger market. Both Williamson and Mitchell agreed that the lack of attention to sustainability issues is both a function and a flaw of the growth-oriented and driven system that leads to injustice and dependence. Overall, I think the talk served to demonstrate a common ground between the two political parties on an issue that should be at the center of our thoughts and politics. Both parties agreed that we should continue to educate ourselves on the foundational principles of our ideologies and use that as a starting ground to thinking about ways in which we can better contribute to a solution to this ever growing problem.
Taryn Mahanes, of Pewee Valley, Ky., is a senior McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. She is studying Humanities and English with minors in Spanish and political science.