Holy shit!!! I know you live close, but now I wish you were my actual neighbor. Mine is a broken down relic that I half want to die, but am grateful I don’t have to replace.
And here, in a nutshell, is the problem with Mill's "On Liberty." His assumption that reasonable, evidence-based argument would drive out illogical, easily disprovable nonsense was based on the good faith exchange of ideas (among white men of means, but we'll let that slide). What he couldn't really imagine was the no-repercussion endorsement of lunacy and violence, and the fact that large chunks of a population would prefer utter stupidity to responsible thought. So you get the possibility of someone (as a political calculation) saying that a statement endorsing political assassination can't be criticized because, while you might disagree, that person's position is as valid as those opposed to murder. Thus "free expression" becomes a defense for moral cowardice, and we're off to the races.
I've only become more left-wing as I've aged. In my youth I accepted the cynical, simplistic explanations for social ills that put the blame on the individual. Poor people are lazy, drug addicts just need to stop doing drugs, etc. I even parroted them to other people (to my shame).
Getting older has given me the chance to learn enough to see through that bullshit. The world is complicated, people are complicated, and trying to assign one simple cause to disadvantage is a fool's errand. Most of it is blatant propaganda, designed to protect the status quo for the advantage of the powerful.
The bastards not only had me believing their poison, but spreading it, which really pisses me off. They made me their useful idiot because I was young and dumb, and I will have my revenge. I debunk their plausible lies and confront their cynical bigotries at every opportunity. I don't know if I've changed anyone's mind, but at least people have learned to keep their -isms and -phobias to themselves in my presence.
Just keep questioning and learning and you'll stay a raging Leftie, I promise.
"The people of her district elected her and that should mean a lot. They elected her and she's going to run for reelection and she'll be accountable for what she said and her actions."
In other words, all that matters is what the voters in her district (who have been brainwashed by decades of right-wing propaganda) are willing to let her get away with.
a bit of a broad brush on your father's part I think.
I was thinking more about Hawley, Cruz, or Cotton. They're evil and intelligent.
The Pfuck, you say!?
Holy shit!!! I know you live close, but now I wish you were my actual neighbor. Mine is a broken down relic that I half want to die, but am grateful I don’t have to replace.
And here, in a nutshell, is the problem with Mill's "On Liberty." His assumption that reasonable, evidence-based argument would drive out illogical, easily disprovable nonsense was based on the good faith exchange of ideas (among white men of means, but we'll let that slide). What he couldn't really imagine was the no-repercussion endorsement of lunacy and violence, and the fact that large chunks of a population would prefer utter stupidity to responsible thought. So you get the possibility of someone (as a political calculation) saying that a statement endorsing political assassination can't be criticized because, while you might disagree, that person's position is as valid as those opposed to murder. Thus "free expression" becomes a defense for moral cowardice, and we're off to the races.
While I disagree with Greene's flat-eartherism, her district voted for her, so the earth must be flat in her district.
It was performed at Dr. God's office but by his medical partner, Dr. Ghost.
Kurt VOnneguts ghost approves this sentiment.
Every time I watch the TV while eating off a tray table, I plop my fat ass on the American flag.
For freedom!
Yup.That is when the crazies finally were allowed to take over and the country hasn't been the same since.
"A little bit different" = Extra-judicial executions (murder).
This guy forgot to read about the rise of the Nazis in history class.
Sounds Pfishy to me.
I just made it up!I like it!Let's spread it around!
GQP!
I've only become more left-wing as I've aged. In my youth I accepted the cynical, simplistic explanations for social ills that put the blame on the individual. Poor people are lazy, drug addicts just need to stop doing drugs, etc. I even parroted them to other people (to my shame).
Getting older has given me the chance to learn enough to see through that bullshit. The world is complicated, people are complicated, and trying to assign one simple cause to disadvantage is a fool's errand. Most of it is blatant propaganda, designed to protect the status quo for the advantage of the powerful.
The bastards not only had me believing their poison, but spreading it, which really pisses me off. They made me their useful idiot because I was young and dumb, and I will have my revenge. I debunk their plausible lies and confront their cynical bigotries at every opportunity. I don't know if I've changed anyone's mind, but at least people have learned to keep their -isms and -phobias to themselves in my presence.
Just keep questioning and learning and you'll stay a raging Leftie, I promise.
"The people of her district elected her and that should mean a lot. They elected her and she's going to run for reelection and she'll be accountable for what she said and her actions."
In other words, all that matters is what the voters in her district (who have been brainwashed by decades of right-wing propaganda) are willing to let her get away with.