Step back from the fray, if you will, and try to view the political landscape through a different lens.
It will take some doing, but once you do this you will see the point I'm trying to make and in doing so will allow yourself a bit of respite and a happier life.
If you think about it, the primary or "main" political debates of our time could be summarized as such:
Global warming
The redistribution of wealth
The individual vs the commune
Facts over feelings
Race/Diversity/Sex over character and accomplishment
Federal Reserve monetary policy of increasing the money supply
I'm sure there are more, but I just have one question about the above-mentioned debates:
Why in the Patron Saint's Name of Frick are we even debating these things?
I'm serious, WHY are these even debates? Why are they up for discussion? Any intellectually honest individual, let alone a commonsensical 8 year old can resolve them and knows the adult, real world answer to them. But there they are, every day at the forefront of political debate.
The reason I point this out is because if THESE are the major and unresolved political debates of our time, it only shows you just how far to insanity society has moved and just how doomed we really are.
For example, take global warming.
Has it been proven? No, not by a long shot. There's just as much counter evidence as there is evidence that it there is global warming, that it's caused by humans, and that it will have serious consequences. To the slightly experinced and adult mind, you can see it for what it is (a scam), but for people on the left, it is a veritable religion. The irony, of course, is that the left will ridicule and mock people for believing in a religion, but (because global warming serves their political aims as well as provides them a convenient way to self-abscribe worth) they will never forfeit it. This forces us adults on the right to come down to their level and debate something as amorphous, intangible and irrelevant as a religion.
Another example, the redistribution of wealth.
The finances and economics of the country are such that people really expect and feel entitled to a life paid for by other people. The CHILDISHLY SIMPLE concept that everybody needs to be self-supporting and independent, otherwise society collapses, is lost on a majority of "adult" leftists. The fact the merits of independence and not being dependent on others is even being debated, again, shows just how desperate, pathetic and sad the situation has become.
And federal reserve monetary policy? OH, THIS TIME IT'S DIFFERENT???? Right, because flooding the economy with currency JUST THIS ONE MORE TIME will work.
Hell, Minnesota voted AGAINST requiring ID to vote, earning it the all-time greatest "WTF???"
Ergo, I ask the question - why even debate?
Along the lines of enjoying the decline, how precisely do you fight or argue such stupidity, childishness, naivete and brainwashing? If I can't convince a woman that she is different than a man both physically, mentally, and sexually,
and that it is in her best interests to acknowledge and adhere to these facts
AND I run the risk (shoot, guarantee) of being accused of sexism
then why even bother? They are so childish, so intellectually dishonest, so hopeless and so brainwashed, you are merely wasting your breath, achieving nothing, and alienating political classes who will do you no good if you dare to do so.
The larger point I'm trying to make is that if our debates have degraded to this level of stupidity and idiocy, it proves there is a critical mass of massively stupid and ignorant people and there is no point in trying to debate them. Additionally, there is no point in getting worked up about the dismal outcomes of elections as it is Idiocracy electing its own demise. It is just all the more reason to not waste what precious life you have arguing with leftists, worrying about the future, and proof you should be out enjoying the decline instead.
12 comments:
What's needed is less just 'walking away in disgust' than 'coming back with a posse of like-minded dudes with rope.
For only a monarchy can beat an oligarchy.
It really is pointless arguing with them. Man made global warming is really my pet peeve.
I have a degree in atmospheric science...so I know more than your average leftist how the Earth warms up. Leftists don't want to hear it...they would rather believe a former VP blowhard who got D's in science.
Religion is a another volcano of pointless arguing too.
I bought "Enjoy the Decline" over the weekend. I look forward to reading it.
I don't see how our society can ever come back from this level of insanity. I might as well find a way to enjoy the show.
An intrinsic part of human nature is the tendency to conflate reality and fantasy. We want what we think should be to be what is.
My reasons for still debating lefties are threefold. First, as nonsensical as most leftist views are, those who disagree have done an absolutely pathetic job at pointing that out. We've surrendered just about every institution, and most people have no clue how we think. I've found that when my views are presented well, people respond. I have changed minds.
Second, for better or for worse, we're in a democratic republic, and the vote of a dillhole counts just as much as mine. It's self-defense.
Third, if things break down and it's all Mad Max (I will read your book soon), the more people I've got shooting alongside me the better. Or, if I can't convince them I'm right, maybe I can convince them that they're wrong, which means that even if they're not an ally, they won't be pointing a gun at me. And it'll save some ammo.
It's probably too late, but it might not be. Things looked pretty hopeless in late 1776 and it worked out. Naive? Perhaps, but I'm gonna give it everything I've got.
On one of my visits to Russia (1998?), I saw a tiny group of elderly on the sidewalk, not more than a dozen, each holding a pole with a Soviet flag. No one paid the slightest attention to their pathetic protest.
That'll be today's leftists one year after the USA collapses. Expect to see feminists dolling up their aged faces and throwing themselves at any guy who looks like he might have a silver eagle in his pocket.
The Captain will be enjoying their decline very much.
If there is a point to entertaining debate, I think it'll be to highlight certain politically accepted absurdities in a way that makes people more likely to reject them.
Given that snark already overshadows truth in some arenas, clever mockery in the name of truth is at least worth a shot.
If only we had commonsense 8-year olds, instead we have commissioned 48 year olds.
Regarding your remark on global warming, it is important to distinguish between global warming and climate change. Global warming is exactly that, the Earth increasing in temperature. Climate change means a changing climate. The relationship between the two is FAR from completely understood.
There is an overwhelming agreement within the scientific community that the Earth is in fact warming. Why? We're depositing gigatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. Carbon dioxide is a chemical known to absorb light in the infrared region. There is no evidence to suggest that nature has found a way to sequester this excess carbon dioxide we put into the atmosphere in addition to other natural sources (e.g. forest fires, volcanoes, animals, etc.). This is also backed up by the fact the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been increasing rapidly throughout the 20th century. This is a fact backed up by hard data.
The less certain aspects of climate change emerge because the degree to which temperature will affect Earth's climate and how fast it may occur has not yet been conclusively determined. Will the effects of global warming be seen in 100 years? 500? A 1000? It's difficult to say.
Actually there's a few things certain due to global warming. Sea levels will rise. No, not because of melting ice caps, but due to thermal expansion of the oceans (i.e. warm liquids are less dense than cold ones). Yes, it's a very small change but it is observable. Also the oceans will become more acidic as increasing amounts of carbon dioxide dissolve in water.
"Has it been proven? No, not by a long shot. There's just as much counter evidence as there is evidence that it there is global warming, that it's caused by humans, and that it will have serious consequences."
Firstly, Caps, science does not have "proof" - only evidence. Proof is for math and logic.
Secondly - the hard facts are that around 95% peer reviewed scientific articles support anthropocentric climate change.
Whether you agree with them or not is up to you, but most climate scientists are in agreement. Evidence comes from divergent sources such as ice core samples, understanding of chemical and physical processes behind the greenhouse effect, and direct evidence from modern data collection centers.
To just call it all a scam when your expertise is in a completely different field is crazy.
The fact that liberals use climate change as an excuse to browbeat a dummed-down population into accepting all sorts of crap does not change the science. In fact, the proper response from conservatives should be discussing how free market incentives and increased budget for scientific and engineering research is the best way to mitigate human-caused climate change. To just deny it causes scientifically literate people to laugh and not take the right seriously.
"There's just as much counter evidence as there is evidence that it there is global warming"
That's an outright lie.
In the scientific community (ie people who have actually attained degrees in sciences pertaining to climate) there's a 97% consensus that global warming is caused by fossil fuels.
If a football game ended 97 to 3, you would have to be completely blind to call it an even game,
All these "issues" boil down to two things - money, and POWER.
All the rest are mere rationalizations and turd polishing.
The good news about socialists and leftists are that they are the 'King Midas' of chit. Everything they lay a hend to turns into crap: the schools, the media...and now, the gov't.
Empires rise and fall. The deal is that you don't want to go down with this one when it finally collapses.
@ Anonymous: Scientific analysis is not a football game, nor a democracy. There have been times in which the "score" was 99 to 1 in favor of bleeding people for damn near every ailment.
Also, the "scientific community" to which you refer includes scientists who are NOT just climate scientists.
This goes to the point I make here: http://alphaisassumed.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/the-bridge-to-nonsense/
We're inclined to believe the studies that support our worldview and ignore those that don't.
I don't know if the planet's warming, and neither do you. However, I've noticed that there's a contingent of folks that are always advocating government solutions, even when there aren't problems. Many of these are the same folks that warned us of an impending ige age 30 years ago and of worldwide mass starvation by 1990 because of overpopulation.
If somebody's inclined to believe that we need the world to "cooperate" to keep unfettered capitalism from destroying us, then "climate change" (a much more flexible phrase than "global warming") perfectly fits the bill. It's a great way to convince people that only governments can keep us from destroying themselves.
In the meatime, to paraphrase Glenn Reynolds, I'll take "climate change" seriously when the people who tell me I should take it seriously start acting like it themselves. If Al Gore's really so damn concerned, he should reduce his own damn carbon footprint and not sell his TV station to oil barons. That UN Pakistani dude also shouldn't fly around the world to watch cricket PRACTICE, and Hollywood celebs should give up their private jets.
Until I see the global warming crowd start acting like there's a crisis and changing their OWN behavior accordingly, I'm calling bullshit.
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