Hate as Debate

Increasingly, emotions are used in discussions about politics, religion, science, or just about anything. Logic & reason are short circuited with emotional cries.

I believe it is a tactic.. a deflection to avoid dealing with the real issues. Instead of facing human problems, you disparage anyone who disagrees with you by calling them a 'hater'. Some people, to be fair, are more emotionally driven, & tend to see everything through an emotional filter. But in a discussion about ideas, emotion should not be the primary driver of the debate.

If you attempt a discussion about the welfare state, for example, the response is, 'Why do you hate the poor?'
If you question the morality of abortion, 'You hate women!'
Challenge the science of global warming, 'You hate science!'
Bring up problems of crime, injustice, ghetto issues, 'Racist!'

It is an emotional dodge, deflecting from logical arguments, & turning it to passion. It is propaganda tactics, used to avoid criticism or scrutiny of the entrenched power structure.

If you challenge academia with facts of poor quality education, the knee jerk reaction is 'You hate education!' or maybe 'the children', but the tactic is still a dodge.. it is avoiding the issues by injecting emotion, rather than reason. 

There is no evidence of this 'hate', it only needs to be suggested.. accused. Then, in mob rule fashion, the accused is guilty unless he can prove his innocence. Instead of dealing with the issue, whatever it was, he is diverted & spins his wheels trying to defend the personal attribution of an evil emotion as his motivation.

Intelligent debaters should see this tactic as a ruse, to avoid the topic. But we don't. Instead, emotions fill the inter-webs & the media, rendering thoughtful discussion of any sacred cow topics impossible.

Logical fallacies are constantly used in polemical discussions, & have been for millennia. But propaganda tactics are newer.. they took root early in the last century, & have been a favorite of many ideologies. Most totalitarian & oppressive regimes use this kind of emotional appeal to rally their base. Logic & reality are not inspiring, but emotion, fear, & fantasy stir the imaginations of the masses, & are much more effective. So they use them.

“I use emotion for the many and reserve reason for the few.” ~Adolf Hitler
“State propaganda, when supported by the educated classes and when no deviation is permitted from it, can have a big effect. It was a lesson learned by Hitler and many others, and it has been pursued to this day.” ~Noam Chomsky
“The goal of modern propaganda is no longer to transform opinion but to arouse an active and mythical belief” ~Jacques Ellul

It is ironic that the most susceptible to this appeal of emotion are not just in mob dynamics, but with the elite, both the ruling & establishment elite, in whatever institution they are in. Academians, media, religious, entertainment.. all of these seem more susceptible to emotion than the mundane working man.

"Only the mob and the elite can be attracted by the momentum of totalitarianism itself. The masses have to be won by propaganda." ~Hannah Arendt

Humans are emotional creatures. But how much should emotion rule in out collective actions? Would not reason & logic be better tools for our organizations?

Historical Exploitation Contest!

Which ethnic or religious group suffered the MOST persecution or exploitation in history? If your ethnicity wins, you could be the big winner!

Have you been exploited & oppressed by another human being?

Ok, maybe not you, PERSONALLY, but your ancestors? If you can claim heritage to one of the groups in the list, you may have a chance to WIN big prizes!

Here are the qualifications for entry.  You must be a descendant of,
1. Quakers
2. Dutch indentured servants
3. African slaves
4. Native Americans
5. Chinese
6. Irish
7. German Palatinate or Huguenots
8. Scottish or English protestants
9. English prisoners in 17th century justice system
10. Japanese
11. Hawaiian
12. French Cajun or Acadian
13. Inuit
14. Italians
15 Sicilians
16. Jews
17. Russians
18 Scandinavians
19. Polish
20. Gypsy
21. East Indian
22. Middle eastern
23. Southeast Asian
24. Aborigine

There are others, but we don't have room for all the oppressed people of the world in this list. Call or write to see if your heritage qualifies. It probably does!

Now that you've qualified, let's get to the rules of the contest, & what you can win!

1. Write a 1 page description of the atrocities YOUR ethnicity has suffered. You cannot overstate it. Be dramatic & use lots of colorful language.
2. Be specific on what group, culture, or heritage caused your exploitation. This will offset any claims by their side of exploitation.

The ethnic group, religion, or culture that suffered the most, & had the least exploitation against others will win the prize as the Most Exploited, whiniest & most wretched people group ever!

Your prize, should you win, will be to take your rightful place as the Most Likely to become extinct, & your people group will be given reparations. For up to 1 full week, you will be given food & housing in a state of the art facility, after which you will be cleansed from humanity as unfit to reproduce.

But wait! There's more! The top essay writers will be published & their stories displayed for all to read. Your pathetic whinings will be there as a warning to all humanity on what NOT to be, if you want to survive in this world.

Now, you may say, 'Why would i want to be 'cleansed' from humanity?' Why, this is an opportunity of a lifetime! You get to save humanity from unsuitable genes, as well as cutting back on the damage to the earth from irrelevant, useless lives. You will save the planet & humanity through your cleansing! This is an opportunity that no responsible inhabitant of earth can pass up.

Enter now! Don't delay! Win big! Your ancestors are depending on you to eulogize them as the most pathetic people group, ever!

Teenage Wasteland

The most profound mysteries of life are condensed for teenagers by their parents. This list has what they say, first, then what they are trying to teach.

1. The world doesn't owe you a living.
Reality perception.

2. Close the door.. did you grow up in a barn?
Conservation of resources.

3. Because its my house & while you live here you will do as i say.
The golden rule.. those who have the gold make the rules. Reality perception.

4. If you can't say something nice, keep your mouth shut.
Interpersonal socializing. The original golden rule.

5. Money doesn't grow on trees.
Reality perception. Conservation of resources.

6. Eat your food.. there are children starving in India who would be thrilled to have what you do.
Conservation of resources.

7. So if your friend jumps off a cliff, you will too?
Independent thinking, interpersonal socializing. Resisting peer pressure.

8. Be nice to your sister.
Blood is thicker than water. We are family. Interpersonal socializing.

9. Wait until you get to the real world.
Perception of reality.

10 When are you going to grow up?
Perception of reality.

These are just a few of the more common sayings that parents say to their teenagers. Most kids roll their eyes when they hear these things, but then when they become parents, say the exact same thing!

But for the past few decades, some of the 'teenage truths' have been lost. Young people start to believe the opposite. Schools TEACH the opposite. They teach entitlement, pleasing peers, & a distortion of reality. We are becoming caught in a vicious circle of puberty as a nation, unclear about reality & how life really works. Now, we have this list being promoted as 'truth'.
1. The world owes you a living.
2. You deserve to have fun, play, & do what you want, with no repercussions.
3. 'Repercussions' is too big of a word. 'no one giving you any shit' is more adolescent.
4. Education, knowledge, & hard work is for nerds, not cool hipsters. We are here to party, not work.
5. Money grows on trees. The govt can just print it & hand it out.
6. Mob rule is cool. Together the hip can rule the squares.
7. Teenage angst & insecurity is a lifelong condition.
8. Knowledge, logic, & common sense is boring. Emotion, hysteria, & drama is the bomb.
9. Life is a party. Live it up. Now is the time to have fun.
10. Reality shows portray reality.

Do these smell like teen spirit? While teens have always been self absorbed, confused, & ravaged with hormones & conflicting messages, the new role models of permissivism take them down a path of entitlement & selfish pursuit. Consideration, respect, & other traditional human virtues are largely forgotten by the new progressive parent. The governmental 'village' has taken charge, & has emasculated fathers & promoted the destruction of the nuclear family. Social policy has nuked the family, & we are building a generation of spoiled dependents, who think the world owes them a living. There are many exceptions, but the sociopath used to be the exception, & the hard working young person was the norm. It is becoming reversed, fueled by taxpayer funded propaganda centers.

Christianity & Jihad

Christianity is at the core of modern civilization. Any peace, harmony, tolerance, & individual liberty has come from the christian influence on the culture they rootede in.

Slavery, oppression, genocide, war... these are typical human activities, that have been typically practiced for all of human history. But the influence of christianity brought a new world view.. that of an orderly God.. a universe of Morality. Natural Law & a systematic quest for truth, rather than indoctrination found the christian world view at its center. Modern science was born with christian roots. Record keeping, education, hygiene, the scientific method.. christians were at the beginning & carried the torch of this new trend. Voodoo & witch doctory gave way to scientific evaluation. LAW was esteemed over individual mandate. The equality of man is rooted in christian ideology.

Christianity brought consideration, tolerance, & an elevation of respect for our fellow man. Any good in western culture has at it root christian principles that run contrary to the base nature of man.

Many other religions elevate this base nature. They either deny it, or they use it to rally the faithful to kill their enemies. Islam at its core is a war mongering ideology. They spread by conquest & force. It is antithetical to civilization, & takes us backwards to dark age practices & mindsets.

Christianity CHANGEs the culture it is in. It promotes tolerance, love, freedom, & justice.. the rule of LAW over human lordship. A cosmic watcher would conclude that the rise & spread of christianity was the best thing that ever happened to humanity. These changes are made slowly, as the 'salt' of individual christians permeates the culture. Violent, forceful intimidation by islam uses forced conformity to elicit change in the culture. All must 'submit' or die. That is the core of islam.. 'submission'. That is what 'islam' means.

The godless left & the intolerant jihadists are strange bedfellows, to be sure. I'm still trying to find the common ground that draws them together. The only thing i see is their common hatred for christianity. Their tactics are similar. They both use intolerance, bigotry, forced conformity, & indoctrination. Both of them are leading us back to the dark ages, squashing the holy curiosity of inquiry, & demanding compliance to mandates. Neither use logic, & both rely on fickle decrees.

The christian thread can be seen weaving its way through human history; mending lost souls, making a tapestry of healing in interpersonal interactions.. building bridges of hope & harmony that overcome the violent, brutal nature of man. The stupidest thing a culture could do is despise the positive influence that christianity has brought to this earth.

Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants. ~William Penn

The pop religion of the day tries to ridicule & diminish the contribution of christianity in modern culture. The base nature of man is elevated, & the correlation of decline in our society follows. A godless, secular society is not a prosperous successful one. Neither is one based on fear & forced compliance. Individual freedom is a gift of christianity.. you can see the rise of it through history, with a few setbacks from anti christian movements. And as the influence of christianity has waned, so has the return of human oppression, violence, & intolerance. American liberty is rooted in christian principles. If we abandon the latter, we will lose the former.

How to be a human being

How to be a human being

Say you were a detached spirit floating through the universe in infinite time & space. Then one day you decide to become a human being. How would you do it? Here is a step by step process for any disconnected souls drifting through eternity.

1. Become conceived, get born, & develop physically & emotionally.
2. Find a way to survive. Get sustenance, sleep, & protection.
3. Reproduce, raise your offspring, then die.

That is pretty much it. You'll have to dodge abortion in modern western civilizations, & it would also be a good idea to avoid 3rd world birthing, as this makes development & survival more difficult. Also, if you can pick a nuclear family it helps in your development & maturing process. Avoid inner cities, anti social parents, & oppressive nationalities. Those things make it tougher to be a human being.. at least your life will likely be much shorter & harder in those situations.

If you make it past the birth step, congratulations! You have begun the process of becoming a human being. The survival part is tricky.. people have been struggling with that for millennia. There are 3 basic ways to survive as a human:

Produce, mooch, or loot.

You either work for your own survival needs, depend on someone else to provide them, or take them from someone else. Here is where life includes another factor: Social interaction. Most people are born & live among other people. When that happens, there is some kind of socializing that has to happen. You have to get along with other people, & deal with all of their foibles & problems. Over the centuries, we have formed societies & have evolved social standards of behavior, some of which are written & codified into civil law, & others are just manners or expected behavior patterns.

If you are a responsible producer, you will have a constant battle fending off moochers & looters. Hopefully, you will live in a time & place where you can protect yourself & your labors with sound collective agencies, provided for that purpose by all the producers.

But, if you are born into a time where mooching & looting is esteemed as a socially acceptable method of survival, you may have it easy for a while. Unfortunately, mooching & looting takes its toll on the producers, & they eventually rebel, kill the looters, & cut off the moochers. So taking charge of your own survival needs is a better, longer term strategy for survival, rather than relying on mooching or looting.

Part of the survival process is in preserving our resources, to defend them from looters. We have evolved systems of justice & national defense to accomplish this. These systems require us to support them, as the people involved do not produce anything necessary for their own sustenance. It is a fair trade, as they protect those working for food & other necessities, & enable prosperity in the culture. But if too many of these 'defenders' accrue, they become indistinguishable from the looters, as their demands begin to overwhelm the producers. So organizing an efficient, fair, & effective justice system is very important to a society of humans. We call this 'government'. This is a collective action to protect ourselves from looters who would take what we have worked for. Here is the ideal government:

1. Cost effective. Minimal demands are made upon the producers, so they can keep more of what they work for.
2. Just. Corruption & graft are minimal, so that govt doesn't become just another looter.
3. Non invasive. The more free people are, the happier & better adjusted they are. This seems to be a goal of humans.

The problem we have had over the millennia is in crafting such a system. Most of the time, scoundrels & power hungry exploiters are attracted to positions of power in govt. They become looters & moochers, & are not protectors of society's producers. Even in a system of self rule, where the people elect public servants to manage the justice system, they become drunk with power & act like elite lords, fleecing the producers.

But living in an ideal system of governance is not essential in being a human being. Most humans throughout history have not had that luxury. It is fairly normal for the exploiters & looters to lord it over the working producers.

Anyway, after you are born & develop into a mature adult, the only thing left is for you to reproduce & die. Those are also pretty easy things to do, & seem to come naturally. If we were smart, we'd want to prepare our offspring to live in & assemble a social system that meets the above criteria, & minimizes looting & mooching. Older people seem to be happier & live longer if they have hope for their progeny. Long life & happiness is not essential to being a successful human being, but it seems to be preferred.

There is another caveat for prospective humans. Many people believe that there are consequences for violating social standards. They believe that moochers & looters will suffer eternal torment for their anti social behavior. They will not be 'successful human beings', but are evil, anti human entities, destined for hell. They believe that only sincere, productive humans, who do not steal, lie, murder, or commit other anti social crimes are successful humans. This concept is beyond the scope of this article, but i include it as another ingredient in how to be a human being.

There is no free lunch

Another Mystery of the Universe: There is no free lunch

For some reason, the most obvious truths become obscured. What once was plain, common sense.. obvious to anyone with a brain, suddenly becomes lost in the noise & confusion of razzle dazzle. Education does not always impart wisdom & knowledge.. much of the time, it preaches deception & propaganda.

Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned. ~Mark Twain 
How can something so plainly obvious get lost in the confusion of modern education? Like this:

There is no free lunch.
Something for nothing scams are as old as humanity. Con men & scoundrels have pitched them for millennia. Perpetual motion machines, free food, free housing, free stuff... we are led by marketeers from one illusion of free stuff to another. Most people follow the 'buyer beware' principle. But somehow, when it comes to government, our skepticism ends, & we jump on the gravy train.. free stuff for everyone! Politicians promise it to get votes. Easily led, low information voters nod like bobbleheads & pull the lever, hoping to win the lottery on the promises from the hucksters.

If a used car salesman was promising something for nothing, most people would shrug it off as a sales tactic. Or, if a timeshare salesman or carnival huckster was pitching something too good to be true, most people would dismiss it as a con. So why do people suddenly become gullible when a politician with an agenda, obvious self interests, & at no cost to himself, begins to promise pots full of chicken, & acreage with mules? Can anyone explain to me how an intelligent, skeptical electorate suddenly become willing dupes to huckster promises?

Once again Bastiat shows up with timeless truths to explain our delusion:

"Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else." ~Frederic Bastiat

So when govt is involved, we somehow suspend our cynicism, & become marks for the con. I admit that they do present an attractive package. Opulence drips from them, & it seems like they can deliver on the promises. But all they can do is use the force of govt to TAKE from someone else, in order to give to another. They are not philanthropists, but thieves. They steal from the workers, & give to those who have not worked. They distort the purpose of law as a provider of justice, & twist it into an instrument of plunder. It is a scam.. a ponzi scheme, where the con men dribble some returns to keep the illusion alive, only to see it collapse later on, with many victims.

Something for nothing is a scam. There is no free lunch.
I offer these profound insights as 'Mysteries of the Universe', since they seem so deep & complex as timeless truths.

Men naturally rebel against the injustice of which they are victims. Thus, when plunder is organized by law for the profit of those who make the law, all the plundered classes try somehow to enter -- by peaceful or revolutionary means -- into the making of laws. According to their degree of enlightenment, these plundered classes may propose one of two entirely different purposes when they attempt to attain political power: Either they may wish to stop lawful plunder, or they may wish to share in it. ~Frederic Bastiat

Producers, Moochers, & Looters

Produce, mooch, or loot.

These are the basic ways humans survive. We either produce our own necessities of life, by working for them, or we leech off of someone else's labors, or we take them from others by force. When we are young, we are dependent on our parents to provide for us. We are moochers off of their labors. But they do this willingly, & usually make it clear we have some accountability to them.
'While you are living in my house, you will do as i say!'
This is a commonly heard sentiment in most family units. So while the progeny of humans are technically 'moochers', they tend to be a dependent of choice. You made the decision to reproduce & you take on the responsibility to raise the child.
But this is not about voluntary dependents. It is about society. A healthy society must have a large number of industrious, hard working producers to provide the network of necessities: sustenance & protection. When a society breaks down, & too many moochers or looters run rampant, the producers cannot work hard enough to provide for them, or they become tired of being exploited & rebel against the system (or lack thereof) that has arisen.

1. If you are a responsible producer, you will have a constant battle to fend off moochers & looters. Hopefully, you will live in a time & place where you can protect yourself & your labors with sound collective agencies, provided for that purpose by all the producers. But, if moochers & looters gain control of the protection agencies, they will use them against you, & you will be exploited until you & the other producers revolt & cast out the moochers & looters. This is a constant pattern throughout human history, & will no doubt continue in the future.
2. If you are a moocher, you run the risk of wearing out those you mooch from. It is not a dependable method of survival, as you rely on the generosity of the producers you mooch from, or the benevolence of the looters to share with you from their plunder.
3. If you are a looter, you rely on having superior power or deception to intimidate & fleece the working producers. But if they pool their resources & defeat you, you might be killed in the struggle. It is also an unreliable way to survive.

Producing, with the force of law to protect your labors, has traditionally been the best & most reliable method of human survival. When a culture has a strong base of producers, they tend to be stronger, wealthier, & better suited to survive. Moochers & looters tend to be short lived, as the working producers tire of the excess, useless baggage, & reorganize the system to better serve them.

The challenge is for the producers to craft a system of protection, but not let it be controlled by moochers & looters, as they will use the system to plunder the producers. Typically, the producers just stage a revolution from time to time, and the leaders of the revolutions promise to provide peace & justice for the working producers to live & raise their families.  They promise to make minimal demands on the property of the producers.  But they always degenerate back into a mooching, looting system where law becomes an instrument of plunder, not justice.

The only solution is for the producers to keep a tight rein on the system, provide checks & balances, & a rotating workforce of public servants, so none of them become entrenched & entitled in an elite power structure. This was the attempt of the american experiment, & it worked for a while, until those who became entrenched in power used said power to plunder the producers, as they have been doing increasingly for the last few decades.

So an ideal system for a productive, healthy society is this:
1. Minimal demands for an agency of justice.  Minimal taxes so the producers keep more of their labors.
2. Swift, efficient justice to deter looters, foreign or domestic.
3. Maximum freedom for the producers to enjoy the fruits of their labors, which provide the most opportunity, prosperity, & abundance for all.
4. Checks & balances in the justice system, so that moochers or looters do not gain control.
5. Rotating citizen representatives, managing the system so moochers or looters do not gain control.
6. Strict laws to punish corruption in the collective agencies.

These things will cost the producers the least, while maximizing what they have earned & worked for. This is a recipe for a healthy, prosperous culture. But whenever moochers & looters gain control of the collective institutions, they use govt power to plunder the producers, & build a system of dependency & injustice, until it collapses under its own corruption.