A hot topic on the campaign trail has been the issue of how to handle ending the war in Iraq, and each candidate seems to take either a pragmatic or ideal position on the issue.
Senator McCain has argued that we should not leave Iraq until we have secured "victory," while Senator Obama has argued that getting involved in Iraq was a mistake all along and that we need to withdraw in a "responsible manner."
One could argue that McCain's answer is an idealist's approach to the issue (victory!) while Obama concedes that mistakes were made and that while we might not be seen as winners, we still need to leave for very good reasons.
But this is just one instance where we see these values (idealism and pragmatism) clash. Where else do you see this conflict in American culture?
2 comments:
i think that the economy crisis is another issue. this is because both sides of the presidential election want to sound idealistic in that everything will turn out alright, but they also want to think pragmatically so that they can do what is best for the country's future
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