DJ Politico
I distinctly remember going to a doctor's office around the age of 10. The other children would bawl and howl and kick and scream but I sat nervously waiting my turn. I was not scared, not at all, quite to the contrary I enjoyed it. The man in the coat would take a light and shine it into my ears (my earliest foray into what I was sure was neurology) and I would wait patiently for him to explain what was good or bad about my current condition. After every test, I would politely ask a few questions about what he was looking for and why, and every now and then I would find a good answer instead of the usual coddling jests like "earwax statues". Of all the world the doctor was my hero. He knew many things I did not at that time and that gave him a mystical quality. As I got older, the doctors grew to be less of enigmas and more of what I understood to be scientists and scholars. The title of "Doctor" was even within my own reach I found if I were to truly desire it! The world of science was my ocean and I was quickly growing gills.
Upon my final years in high school and into my first few years of college I began to fall in love with the idea of Libertarianism. My philosophical friends would hem and haw about the likes of Ayn Rand, calling the movement selfish and immoral and I would sometimes not so politely respond with reasons this may or may not be the case. I mainly kept to myself about it, as this was new territory for me and so I did not yet have the knowledge to “defend the borders”. I would be on my computer at three in the morning neglecting reading, lab assignments and sleep most of all to try and expound upon Rand’s ideas. With each breakthrough in thought I got closer and closer to my goal of understanding and one day I awoke after a particularly rough night to find all was well in my head. The questions were all there, but enough of them were answered to my satisfaction that I felt I could truly to begin to shape myself as a moral being. This is about the time I met the second “Doctor” in my life, the Spin Doctor.
“Libertarianism is dog eat dog and we’re a civilized lot!”; “We all are one!”; “It is the duty of the intellectual to instruct and assist the masses.” All of these have served as war cries among those against self-serving attitudes. I write today to explain the great ox that is perception. There is what exists, and what we believe exists, two simultaneous worlds often clashing in terrible and magnificent ways. In this arena, I am writing strictly about the perception of the Libertarian and the Capitalist. We are the movers, the shakers, the producers; the money-lovers, the greedy corporations; the men of rational self-interest. The Capitalist is not a swine set to part you from your money unduly. Capitalism is a means of trading value for value, that is, if you work for four hours at your job and are paid Twenty dollars, you can use that money to buy food. In this way, both you and the business you work for gets what each wants. The value for value system is the framework by which a hard-worker can prosper and no man receives the pay of someone else’s work. Is this what has been dubbed as unfair and immoral?
A Spin Doctor is aptly named because this person can take a problem and, under the guise of intellect and knowledge, use it to meet his own ends. This is what is so dangerous. In the same way we respect and accept the doctor’s evaluation, we are wont to accept the ideas of whoever we feel contains more knowledge on a subject than we do. We are set and prepared to trust the experts, but what do we do when the experts act in immoral ways themselves? I could attempt to validate the ideals of Capitalism, but when it comes down to it, it’s all really about what fiction you choose to believe. For me, I am a Libertarian. You may be of the Conservative variety, and the person just down the way may be fond of Marxist ideals. The main thing to remember is to always, always question the doctors. Even if you get an answer like “earwax statues” you will eventually come up with something more substantial. In the end, it is about driving your own perception and learning to accept that which is moral, rebuff that which is immoral and question everything.
Upon my final years in high school and into my first few years of college I began to fall in love with the idea of Libertarianism. My philosophical friends would hem and haw about the likes of Ayn Rand, calling the movement selfish and immoral and I would sometimes not so politely respond with reasons this may or may not be the case. I mainly kept to myself about it, as this was new territory for me and so I did not yet have the knowledge to “defend the borders”. I would be on my computer at three in the morning neglecting reading, lab assignments and sleep most of all to try and expound upon Rand’s ideas. With each breakthrough in thought I got closer and closer to my goal of understanding and one day I awoke after a particularly rough night to find all was well in my head. The questions were all there, but enough of them were answered to my satisfaction that I felt I could truly to begin to shape myself as a moral being. This is about the time I met the second “Doctor” in my life, the Spin Doctor.
“Libertarianism is dog eat dog and we’re a civilized lot!”; “We all are one!”; “It is the duty of the intellectual to instruct and assist the masses.” All of these have served as war cries among those against self-serving attitudes. I write today to explain the great ox that is perception. There is what exists, and what we believe exists, two simultaneous worlds often clashing in terrible and magnificent ways. In this arena, I am writing strictly about the perception of the Libertarian and the Capitalist. We are the movers, the shakers, the producers; the money-lovers, the greedy corporations; the men of rational self-interest. The Capitalist is not a swine set to part you from your money unduly. Capitalism is a means of trading value for value, that is, if you work for four hours at your job and are paid Twenty dollars, you can use that money to buy food. In this way, both you and the business you work for gets what each wants. The value for value system is the framework by which a hard-worker can prosper and no man receives the pay of someone else’s work. Is this what has been dubbed as unfair and immoral?
A Spin Doctor is aptly named because this person can take a problem and, under the guise of intellect and knowledge, use it to meet his own ends. This is what is so dangerous. In the same way we respect and accept the doctor’s evaluation, we are wont to accept the ideas of whoever we feel contains more knowledge on a subject than we do. We are set and prepared to trust the experts, but what do we do when the experts act in immoral ways themselves? I could attempt to validate the ideals of Capitalism, but when it comes down to it, it’s all really about what fiction you choose to believe. For me, I am a Libertarian. You may be of the Conservative variety, and the person just down the way may be fond of Marxist ideals. The main thing to remember is to always, always question the doctors. Even if you get an answer like “earwax statues” you will eventually come up with something more substantial. In the end, it is about driving your own perception and learning to accept that which is moral, rebuff that which is immoral and question everything.