Friday, November 2, 2012

Voltaire and Camus - Who would they vote for?

The philosopher-writers Voltaire and Camus both had developed political views, sometimes with overlap. Both of them tended to lean left. Voltaire criticized most authority figures during his time, because he was strongly against the aristocratic system that much of Europe was governed under. He was a friend of Ben Franklin and supported the American system of government. But that doesn't tell us whether he would vote Republican or Democratic today. Because he was against the aristocracy, who were handed their power and money from their parents, I don't think he would vote for Mitt Romney. Romney's father was governor of Michigan and made a lot of money. Sure, Mitt started his own business and made money for himself, but he had a head start. Voltaire would support Barack Obama because he was progressive for his time, and if he were alive today he would vote for the Democratic Party.
Camus leaned left in politics, which leads me to believe he wouldn't vote Republican. The question is, would Camus vote at all? There's a possibility that he would be too estranged with the system, because he encouraged revolt.

1 comment:

  1. I agree that Camus may not vote at all, because he did not agree with the system of government, but Im not so sure that Voltaire would support a strong government that democrats propose. I believe that if he would vote, he would choose a libertarian.

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