” In America, justice is administered in the name of the, ‘the good people’ etc. etc.; the sovereignty residing with them.” 1
“The good treatment of their women is the surest evidence that a people can give of their civilization; and there is no nation which has more to boast of, in this respect, than the Americans.” 2
Based on the activity of the Republican Party and their minions, I am not so sure!
It is obvious that our social and political structure in the United States is fractured. Our reliance on tribal vocabulary and communication is restricting the use our brains and critical thinking. Keeps us from taking note of what is happening and what we are creating or destroying. We like to believe we are intelligent. I am not so sure, at least not as a group, maybe individually.
“Once people join a political team, they get ensnared in its moral matrix. They see confirmation of their grand narrative everywhere, and it’s difficult – perhaps impossible-to convince them they are wrong if you argue with them from outside of their matrix.”1
“Morality binds and blinds. It binds us into ideological teams that fight each other as thought the fate of the world depended on our side winning each battle. It blinds us to the fact that each team is composed of good people who have something important to say.”2
As F. Scott Fitzgerald noted, ” The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”
Founding father John Jay noted in 1795 during a particularly divisive period in our history involving publications of false information and vicious public attacks, a belief in the American people. He stated that “the American people” had “a greater portion of information and morals than almost any other people”, and that “although they may for a time be misled and deceived, yet there is reason to expect that truth and justice cannot be long hid from their eyes.” [1]
Although Jay may be correct, it is obvious that the time under which citizens continue to believe in misconception(s) can be painfully long. The “Trump/Republican” era of misinformation and bullying continues to promote obvious un-American ideas on freedom and respect.
You would think that with current technology and access to information that we could quickly ascertain the difference between truth and lie. Unfortunately, the desire for power and winning at any cost is overriding common sense.
[1] Stahr, Walter, John Jay Founding Father; Hambledon and London, New York, 2005, Pg. 337.
“Can’t We All Get Along?” ¹
Does any of this describe current state of affairs in relationships?
Just because we have different opinions should not be the basis for not getting along.
Gender in sports
“People often get confused between the terms sex and gender. Sex refers to biological differences between males and females. Gender refers to the cultural differences expected (by society / culture) of men and women according to their sex. A person’s sex does not change from birth, but their gender can.” [i]
Therefore, there are only 2 biological genders!
What a minute it is more complicated than that! “… Sexual differentiation of the genitals takes place before sexual differentiation of the brain, making it possible that they are not always congruent. …” [ii]
There could be “81 Types Of Genders & Gender Identities” [iii]
If we are no longer willing or able to discriminate on the basis of nature’s biological gender in sport, then common sense dictates that one of two options exist:
[ii] Neurobiology of gender identity and sexual orientation – PMC (nih.gov); Neurobiology of gender identity and sexual orientation; By, C. E. Roselli 2018.
[iii] 81 Types Of Genders & Gender Identities (A To Z List), By Chris Drew, PhD / April 2, 2022; https://helpfulprofessor.com/types-of-genders-list/
The mass shootings continue happening in the USA; 229 in 2022 to date [i].
Many mass shooters are armed with military grade weapons. However, the police are likewise armed as in the military. You would think ok, we’re even.
Yet in the recent mass shooting in Uvalde Texas, both the shooter and the police were armed to the hilt. The event should have been dramatically restricted, and yet 22 died and 17 were injured, as the police failed to act.
The Texas incident draws into focus the absurd dichotomy of our national obsession with guns.
⇒We arm the police with tremendous firepower to protect us.
⇒We arm private citizens with tremendous firepower to kill us.
Irrespective of the 2nd amendment, it is obvious that we cannot rely on ourselves or our elected representatives to make constructive common-sense changes.
>>>>>> Maybe the time has come to outlaw guns <<<<<<
There is a growing challenge to free and democratic forms of government and economically based societies. The rise of nationalism and authoritarian based rule is a result, in part, of the failure of free market systems and democracies to address the fundamental needs of their citizens. In the U.S. “… liberal governance has developed a puzzling preference for legitimating government action through processes rather than outcomes. …” [i]
According to the World Values Survey Association “…there has been a growing divergence between the prevailing values in low-income countries and high-income countries.” [ii] I believe the same divergence between prevailing values of low- and high-income citizens is occurring in the U.S.A. It is difficult to agree on basic values of life when you are excluded from the ability to fairly participate. As David Brooks notes in his recent article, “…only democracy and liberalism are based on respect for the dignity of each person…” [iii] We are not respecting the dignity of each person politically, socially and by government actions.
As a capitalist I believe in free markets, limited government, and limited regulation. I also believe that the human resources are our most important capital. We are failing to invest in our human capital. We are not creating the economic opportunities for all citizens to participate in our economy and become productive.
“…What is needed most is a change in ideas: namely, a reversal of those intellectual trends of the past 50 years or so that have brought us to the current pass….” [iv]
[i] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/29/opinion/biden-liberalism-infrastructure-building.html; What America Needs Is a Liberalism That Builds, by Ezra Klein & https://www.niskanencenter.org/the-procedure-fetish/; by Nicholas Bagley, December 7, 2021.
[ii] World Values Survey Association.
[iv] State Capacity: What Is It, How We Lost It, And How to Get It Back, by Brink Lindsey November 2021; https://www.niskanencenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/brinkpaper.pdf
The Religious Abortion of Life
Religions of the world have been responsible for more killing and death than any other human action.
Religions have been aborting life through crusades and religious wars for centuries.
When religionists stop forcing others to believe life begins and ends as you dictate, maybe, you will have an ethical basis from which to preach.
That stated, religious belief and philosophy are personal, and not to be used for creating government policies. As I previously questioned, why do so many people feel they need to force their religious beliefs on others? Isn’t faith supposed to be enough?
Government policies should only be used to protect religious freedom and personal choice, not dictating beliefs.
EU Law Against Misinformation
The European Union has passed a new digital information law designed to provide restrictions against misinformation and terrorist comments and hate speech. The new law would also impact on some sort of online ads.
… “The law, called the Digital Services Act, is intended to address social media’s societal harms by requiring companies to more aggressively police their platforms for illicit content or risk billions of dollars in fines. Tech companies would be compelled to set up new policies and procedures to remove flagged hate speech, terrorist propaganda and other material defined as illegal by countries within the European Union….” [i]
When European Union countries have the power to define what opinion, speech and thought is illegal, how is this different from what Putin is doing in Russia?
[i] Satariano, Adam; E.U. Takes Aim at Social Media’s Harms with Landmark New Law; NY Times, Technology, 4/22/2022.
Stop the Steal! Which One?
Mr. Trump’s supporters and the Republican Party have continuously promoted the unfounded claims that the election has been stolen.
Which election is that?
The Republicans gained seats in the House of Representatives. “…Republicans had flipped fourteen, including one held by a Libertarian in 2020…” 1
Just a reminder that ballots have all the choices, all candidates, on the same ballot!
Oh, that cannot be correct, because the election was stolen. That being the case I can only assume that the Republicans were the ones who stole it!
Excuse me for forgetting my common sense. The Republicans only believe the election results were stolen when they do not like the result. Ok, that makes sense!