On page 129 of Peter Biskind‘s “Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America,”Bulworth screenwriter Jeremy Pikser (who also worked on Reds) explains the basis of Beatty’s lefty political philosophy.

I not only feel that Beatty’s is a wise way of regarding the world, but that it counter-illuminates the core of conservative thinking — i.e., we’re taking care of ourselves, and the hell with those who haven’t the smarts, chutzpah or connections to put money on their own kitchen tables. In essence, screw the have-nots.

“Warren’s fundamental belief about politics is that the world is a safer and better place for everybody if nobody get shit on too badly,” says Pikser. “He doesn’t want anybody in the world to be so poor, miserable and so pissed that they want to kill rich people. Because that’s bad for him. [He readily admits that this is the point of view of] a rich, selfish, self-interested individual. He realizes that his life is an embarassment of riches, so envy is not a good thing for him.”

Boiled down to basics, the troubles we’re having with Middle Eastern Islamics are at least partly if not essentially due to (a) conservative politicians’ screw-the-have-nots attitude and/or (b) these same people aligning themselves with others in the world who feel the same way. The world would be a far less volatile place if Beatty’s philosophy was this country’s governmental rule of thumb.