A truly different take

... on the US election, that:

"Which side of the Red/Blue divide you you're on is a matter of whether you see government as an insurance scheme or a patronage system. And that, in turn, depends upon whether you believe that people can and should operate according to universalizable moral principles or think that moral obligation supervenes upon sentimental bonds of family, tribe, and community."

The full post is here.

I find it particularly interesting having had, from living in Thailand, experience of an almost perfect patronage system. A comment piece in the Bangkok Post once explained that there was no such thing in Thailand as "public" land. There was the king's land, which of course had to be treated with reverence, and "no one's land", on which it was perfectly acceptable to dump rubbish, or industrial waste or whatever, even if it was outside your, or someone else's, door.

Courtesy of Majikthise.