When I saw this photo, I realized at once that, again, I here have an image I would have liked easily were it not suddenly connected to a reality too potent to reduce into mere memes. I still like it a great deal, perhaps more so actually, but I can’t be flip about its content. This is part of growing older, too.

mills

The personal always complicates one’s adherence to principles. My point is not to disparage Mills—in fact, I respect his insight here. Rather, it’s to observe that most people profess (in all honesty, no doubt) certain principles at the theoretical level, but their true test is whether they adhere to them personally. Again, the personal complicates things.

I’m reluctant to bring politics into this discussion, but this is one reason why I really like Sarah Palin as a person. (I’m not discussing her VP qualifications or experience, just one aspect of why I like her.) She had solid pro-life principles. Then she got pregnant, and personally confronted the issues of carrying a Downs baby to term. 90% of women in her situation choose abortion—in line with or in spite of any professed principle (although I wonder how significant a role philosophical reflection actually plays). Palin faced the issue and chose rightly and, especially considering the relevant stats, I believe she should be highly, highly regarded for it.