I think it put a lot of people over the edge. No matter how hard we try, we cannot be tolerant enough. Then the left comes up with one of the most racist terms in the history of racism “White Privilege”. A term that means, simply by virtue of the color of your skin, you are completely incapable of understanding anything about anybody but whiteness. That you are inherently racist and are defacto unable to speak in any kind of intelligent matter on race or gender and hence are encouraged to shut up and let the adults talk and solve the issues.
The PC terminology put me over the edge a long time ago… Mansplaining, white privilege, trigger warnings, safe spaces. It’s utter madness! That people actually think this way is an utter lack of reason or logic at it’s most elementary level. It’s an insult to the most moderate intelligence. Hell its an insult even to stupidity.
When you try to shut people up and treat them like children, they get pissed and the find the biggest “Fuck You” they can find and they implement it.
That’s why I said this election result is solely the fault of the left and the left alone. They had everything going for them except for the truth. People figured that out all on their own and they were sick of it.
In the PC religion of the secular left, Trump was a blasphemer. Really. He said not nice things about some protected groups. I’m not excusing him, but it’s amazing to me that we’ve brought blasphemy back. They don’t think it’s a religion, but it is. Straight out of the dark ages.
The left’s attitudes on GMOs are the equivalent of not eating pork. It’s a purity ritual, with no real basis in science. Listening to celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow testify about GMOs is the equivalent to Miley Cyrus talking about politics. It’s a religion for her, just like being against immunizations became part of the religion for some of the lefty celebrities. Whole Foods is the new church, and they are trying to keep themselves pure from pesticides and preservatives. They’re taking the moral high ground, keeping their bodies free from sin/ impurities. I’m not saying we shouldn’t care about any of this, but it’s taken on a religious fervor.
Funny stuff. “In a survey this year, 84 percent of respondents said they support GMO labels. But a nearly identical percentage—80 percent—in the same survey said they’d also like to see labels on food containing DNA. The study, published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal, also found that 33 percent of respondents thought that non-GM tomatoes “did not contain genes” and 32 percent thought that “vegetables did not have DNA.” So there’s that.”
This is what happens when we care about what celebrities think about science, politics, etc…
You are growing on me. I’ve been watching this religious-like zeal grow for 30 years with some concern, and you hit the nail on the head. It will be interesting how far it goes before the tide turns. I keep seeing witches burn.
Cool. I’m just getting to know you a little bit since I started posting more in this forum just before the election, but I think we both are on the fiscally conservative but socially liberal side of things? I’m a religious conservative in my personal life, but I take a more Libertarian stand on social issues, because I put a really high value on personal freedom. I think there are quite a few of us here who have that in common.
Blushing a little. Thanks, but lets hope it doesn’t come to that! Ha! I’d have to write someone else in. I have a pretty superficial grasp of anything related to money or foreign policy, but I’m going to try to get up to speed a little bit this year.
I think it’s a good goal and I certainly recommend gaining knowledge, but keep in mind it’s just a forum, nobody here is an expert (some think they are but they are not). A well informed opinion is good enough.
I am a product of international affairs. My parents literally, actually and for real escaped the communist governments of Czechoslovakia and Cuba. Literally declared asylum right in front of communist police and escaped with the clothes they had on and nothing else but a few Czech crowns which were basically worthless. With my brother en utero. So international affairs have always been a part of my life.
All we had was each other. No grand parents, no uncles or aunts, no cousins. Couldn’t see them. We were not allowed to travel to see them and they were not allowed to see us.
An event that means a tremendous amount to me, half the people on this forum weren’t even born when it happened. When communism fell, it was unbelievable. We never dreamed it possible. I still get goose bumps from reminders of it. It was everything to us. I finally got to meet my family, something that was completely prohibited to us.
We could not go even where regular Americans could go because of the circumstances of my parents escape. We were forbidden, could not get visas.
Then, out of the blue Communism fell and the world was a completely different place. And it was literally out of the blue. 1990 was a really happy year.
No I wouldn’t. I have been doing this a while, I have met quantum physicists, doctors, scientists, etc. I am not saying there are not brilliant people out there. I have met lots of interesting people.
Politics is a little different… everybody has opinions but nobody is an expert, not even the politicians.
Thanks. I’ve been a subscriber of the WSJ for many years, but I tend to skip over the sections that are hard for me to understand, or are less interesting. I know I have a mental block about things related to math. I had to have a couple of graduate level classes in statistics, and stats are a little more intuitive to me, but the kinds of things I deal with in my field are pretty basic. I’m trying to listen to some economics lectures, and just read more. Thanks for the suggestions.
I [quote=“pat, post:230, topic:222723, full:true”]
I think it’s a good goal and I certainly recommend gaining knowledge, but keep in mind it’s just a forum, nobody here is an expert (some think they are but they are not). A well informed opinion is good enough.
I am a product of international affairs. My parents literally, actually and for real escaped the communist governments of Czechoslovakia and Cuba. Literally declared asylum right in front of communist police and escaped with the clothes they had on and nothing else but a few Czech crowns which were basically worthless. With my brother en utero. So international affairs have always been a part of my life.
All we had was each other. No grand parents, no uncles or aunts, no cousins. Couldn’t see them. We were not allowed to travel to see them and they were not allowed to see us.
An event that means a tremendous amount to me, half the people on this forum weren’t even born when it happened. When communism fell, it was unbelievable. We never dreamed it possible. I still get goose bumps from reminders of it. It was everything to us. I finally got to meet my family, something that was completely prohibited to us.
We could not go even where regular Americans could go because of the circumstances of my parents escape. We were forbidden, could not get visas.
Then, out of the blue Communism fell and the world was a completely different place. And it was literally out of the blue. 1990 was a really happy year.
[/quote]
I must have hit a button. I did not intend to delete the post…keep it!
That’s such a great story, Pat. Thanks for sharing. I knew about the former Soviet Union connection. As I recall, this came up talking about religious freedom and persecution under communism. I didn’t know about your Cuban family. I remember how amazing it was when the Berlin Wall came down. I never thought we’d see that in our lifetimes. Such dramatic change.
I have branches of my family that have been here since before the Revolutionary War, but my mom is the first generation in her mom’s family to be born in America.
With regard to foreign affairs, I read a short book about Muslims last year. I think history and politics related to the Middle East is where I want to start.
Most people talk about politics in super general terms. A lot conversations involve some kind of belief statement, or emotional caveat. I believe we should raise the minimum wage so that nobody who works full-time lives in poverty. I’m worried about climate change. I believe the rich should pay more taxes. Really general statements.
If it’s a topic you’ve actually studied and know something about, it becomes apparent very quickly that most people have opinions that aren’t based on any real understanding. I want to be less like that.
I could illustrate this with a conversation I recently had about climate change. I will come back to it. Some of this is caused by our politicians misusing numbers, and misquoting studies to drive their own agenda.
There are people who truly understand politics and specialize in staying abreast of what is going on. They’re often very well paid by large financial institutions and others who have money on the line. While predictions are forward looking, and often in error for that reason, these people are focused on data and have the experience to interpret it. The business of understanding politics isn’t just opinion.
Two reading assignments in one thread? How dare you.
On the bright side, I bet that those Intersectional Feminism classes glossed over the oppressive matrix of unemployment lines. It’s probably easier afford a measure of outrage against nameless, faceless, shadowy institutions operating just beyond the periphery of societal awareness when one doesn’t also have to afford a measure of cash for, you know, rent and stuff.
Facebook asked me to submit my license for identity confirmation a little while back (I travel a lot for work, so maybe the geographic jumps set something off?). The feeds are one of the main reasons I decided to use that request as an opportunity to wean off.
Putting aside the inherent absurdity of the request, I’m not paying a cover charge to stick my head in a trash can.
x2 on the booze. I’d rather spend my free time sipping an IPA than being waterboarded for my search history. Besides, with all this homework PP is handing out, my hands aren’t idle enough for any devil work.
