A Series Of Irrational Fears
My current list of Top Ten Worries:
(Please bear in mind that this is a list of worries, not a list of sound rational arguments)
10. There are people still listening to their pastors. I know a few pastors. Overall, I like them. But the real problem is, they are pretty much just like anybody else.
9. Creationism. It isn't a theory. It's a collection of ineffective attacks upon a different theory. Even if the attacks prove effective, they do not establish the idea that the universe was created.
8. Cold-Earthers. Basically, the same is true here, except it more pertains to extremism. If you're going to believe a single doubt, mistake, or incorrect bit of data is going to suddenly reverse the laws of physics, then you are going to wind up "disproving" the entirety of scientific knowledge. Stop blindly accepting people at their word. I don't trust scientists any more than I trust politicians, bankers, lawyers, or you. (And I damn sure don't trust an anonymous hacker.) That's why I investigate an issue before, say, calling Global Warming a hoax.
7. People. People are a menace. They are without a doubt, the most important thing in my life, and yet they act just about 5% or 6% rationally. I like to think of myself as maybe two or three percent more rational. Therein lies the problem. I used no statistics, gathered no data, and I still believe in the numbers I just used. Non-rational.
6. The Economy. Anyone can tell at a glance that money is not distributed evenly. Perhaps this proves that all men are not created equally (It doesn't. Remember Social Darwinism? Instead, biology proves that.) Perhaps it shows that monetary value does not equal inherent value. It is often interpreted as such, regardless. Socialism is a joke. Capitalism is not ideal. Our current recession is clear evidence of this. Government has to intervene in order to even make it sustainable. (I'm talking about child labor laws, freedom from slavery, anti-trust laws, laws regarding the length of the work day--stuff we take for granted.) Yet without money, people lose their motivation to do anything. I'm not worried about what we're going to do to get us out of the current recession, I'm worried about what we can do to finally free ourselves from the burden that money has us under.
5. Prisons. Due to the irrefutable success of any politician who campaigns under a "Tough on Crime" slogan, we have criminalized and incarcerated a greater percentage of our own population than any other society on earth. This criminalization process is now turning towards our youth. Before they have a chance to enter society, they are being derailed into institutionalized life: school-->prison-->welfare-->prison.
4. Anti-Homosexual Laws. The only way to safeguard my freedoms is to vigorously defend the freedoms of my fellow citizens. I don't really care about any moral, legal, or religious arguments, since none of them get around this implacable fact. If I allow my neighbor's rights to be violated or diminished, I allow the same to happen to my own.
3. Anti-terrorism. This is nothing but a shell to mask civil rights violations. Yes, terrorists are real. No, they cannot hurt us. They could blow up the equivalent of The World Trade Center every year, and the U.S. could shrug it off. You want damage? You want devastation? 3,000 casualties is not it. We lose more to tobacco companies. I bet, if Al-Qaeda spent its opium profits in our malls, we wouldn't have this war.
2. Education. Our education system is in the hands of those who do not know how education works--the voters. The experts have all been saying the same thing: smaller class sizes. Instead, we give them longer hours and more tests. As if a test has ever taught anyone anything in the history of mankind. As an assessment of static knowledge, a test performs adequately. I'll tell you when a test would be most useful: at the beginning of a class. At the end of a class, all it makes is a record of what the student memorized that day.
1. News. Literally no issue that I have heard about or read from the 4 or 5 different* news sources I track has shown any knowledge about the issue. If I wanted to know even the basic facts, I had to do my own research. The facts are available. Few sources are delivering them. I think capital "N" News has finally completely accepted its unofficial role as "the fourth branch" of government. Fox led the way. Now they are political entities, and they are seeking political goals. That is the end of fact-checking.
*I do mean different. I watch Fox News Sunday, and read BBC news as my primary sources. From there, I visit The Washington Post, The New Yorker, The Economist, and whatever news outlet Google points me to. Then I still have found no factual information. I have gotten to the point where I barely notice the title on the page anymore. The information within all bears a striking resemblance: it is opinion. No one, with the exception of the very rare blog, is offering what news sources used to offer: an investigation of the facts. And those few blogs are good for only one subject. Not to mention, it is easy to be mislead about the "investigation" done by the blogger. Yes, I watch The Daily Show, but that is not, and does not intend to be, a news source.
(Please bear in mind that this is a list of worries, not a list of sound rational arguments)
10. There are people still listening to their pastors. I know a few pastors. Overall, I like them. But the real problem is, they are pretty much just like anybody else.
9. Creationism. It isn't a theory. It's a collection of ineffective attacks upon a different theory. Even if the attacks prove effective, they do not establish the idea that the universe was created.
8. Cold-Earthers. Basically, the same is true here, except it more pertains to extremism. If you're going to believe a single doubt, mistake, or incorrect bit of data is going to suddenly reverse the laws of physics, then you are going to wind up "disproving" the entirety of scientific knowledge. Stop blindly accepting people at their word. I don't trust scientists any more than I trust politicians, bankers, lawyers, or you. (And I damn sure don't trust an anonymous hacker.) That's why I investigate an issue before, say, calling Global Warming a hoax.
7. People. People are a menace. They are without a doubt, the most important thing in my life, and yet they act just about 5% or 6% rationally. I like to think of myself as maybe two or three percent more rational. Therein lies the problem. I used no statistics, gathered no data, and I still believe in the numbers I just used. Non-rational.
6. The Economy. Anyone can tell at a glance that money is not distributed evenly. Perhaps this proves that all men are not created equally (It doesn't. Remember Social Darwinism? Instead, biology proves that.) Perhaps it shows that monetary value does not equal inherent value. It is often interpreted as such, regardless. Socialism is a joke. Capitalism is not ideal. Our current recession is clear evidence of this. Government has to intervene in order to even make it sustainable. (I'm talking about child labor laws, freedom from slavery, anti-trust laws, laws regarding the length of the work day--stuff we take for granted.) Yet without money, people lose their motivation to do anything. I'm not worried about what we're going to do to get us out of the current recession, I'm worried about what we can do to finally free ourselves from the burden that money has us under.
5. Prisons. Due to the irrefutable success of any politician who campaigns under a "Tough on Crime" slogan, we have criminalized and incarcerated a greater percentage of our own population than any other society on earth. This criminalization process is now turning towards our youth. Before they have a chance to enter society, they are being derailed into institutionalized life: school-->prison-->welfare-->prison.
4. Anti-Homosexual Laws. The only way to safeguard my freedoms is to vigorously defend the freedoms of my fellow citizens. I don't really care about any moral, legal, or religious arguments, since none of them get around this implacable fact. If I allow my neighbor's rights to be violated or diminished, I allow the same to happen to my own.
3. Anti-terrorism. This is nothing but a shell to mask civil rights violations. Yes, terrorists are real. No, they cannot hurt us. They could blow up the equivalent of The World Trade Center every year, and the U.S. could shrug it off. You want damage? You want devastation? 3,000 casualties is not it. We lose more to tobacco companies. I bet, if Al-Qaeda spent its opium profits in our malls, we wouldn't have this war.
2. Education. Our education system is in the hands of those who do not know how education works--the voters. The experts have all been saying the same thing: smaller class sizes. Instead, we give them longer hours and more tests. As if a test has ever taught anyone anything in the history of mankind. As an assessment of static knowledge, a test performs adequately. I'll tell you when a test would be most useful: at the beginning of a class. At the end of a class, all it makes is a record of what the student memorized that day.
1. News. Literally no issue that I have heard about or read from the 4 or 5 different* news sources I track has shown any knowledge about the issue. If I wanted to know even the basic facts, I had to do my own research. The facts are available. Few sources are delivering them. I think capital "N" News has finally completely accepted its unofficial role as "the fourth branch" of government. Fox led the way. Now they are political entities, and they are seeking political goals. That is the end of fact-checking.
*I do mean different. I watch Fox News Sunday, and read BBC news as my primary sources. From there, I visit The Washington Post, The New Yorker, The Economist, and whatever news outlet Google points me to. Then I still have found no factual information. I have gotten to the point where I barely notice the title on the page anymore. The information within all bears a striking resemblance: it is opinion. No one, with the exception of the very rare blog, is offering what news sources used to offer: an investigation of the facts. And those few blogs are good for only one subject. Not to mention, it is easy to be mislead about the "investigation" done by the blogger. Yes, I watch The Daily Show, but that is not, and does not intend to be, a news source.