Normally, I detest folks who kick others while they are down and understanding that aspect of my belief system is necessary to put this post in context. I frequently write about the dire consequences of abuse and neglect that taint our ideas, beliefs and actions throughout life, the unwitting damage we do to successive generations by not getting tot he root or healing our own pain. This is the crux of my message and I want to give the reader a chance to see that there is a pressure relief valve for whatever heat is generated by my words. Know that the pressure relief valve is love before I elaborate further. I have compassion for those who have been lied to, those who have been told that there is no other way to meet the needs of a precariously teetering planet, on the verge of moral decrepitude. The my way or the highway mentality has wrought damage for several generations now and we must confront, aggressively the underlying assumptions that drive our leaders to misunderstand us and their responsibility to the future.
Generations have come and gone understanding cognitive dissonance, the enigmatic process of holding two competing beliefs in our minds simultaneously. Epistemic closure is the act of defining falsehoods as real because they are expedient or prove us right. Against all odds, epistemic closure is like a great comfy blanket which soothes the raw nerves of an addled nation. Once you get on board with this delusion, all sins can be forgiven, because whatever you desire can be mandated predicated on your philosophical starting point.
Recently, Florida decided that drug testing public welfare recipients was essential to stop crack mammas and drug dealers from existing on the public dole. This approach sounds predictably mundane when viewed from the kaleidoscope of bigotry, hate, fear and entitlement that "conservatives" believe in. When the data came back, two percent (2%) of those tested were positive for drugs. Let us assume for one moment that the entire program was free and no money was needed to make this determination. Let us also assume that there were no false positives. Thirdly, let us imagine a world in which TWO PERCENT of the people receiving public assistance were collapsing the system by their sheer weight. Our internal combustion engines, like the ones we have in our automobiles are twenty to thirty percent efficient. If two percent of welfare recipients in Florida are mooching druggies, that is 98% efficiency. Even electric motors, which are between eighty-five and 90 % efficient pale in efficiency when compared to welfare in Florida's welfare expenditures.
Still, facing facts is not in the realm of those experiencing epistemic closure. Pay no heed to the fact that many extremely profitable industries are feeding at the public trough, ignore the fact that many ultra-wealthy welfare recipients are on dope, never to be tested. Turn a blind eye to the boatloads of cash that flow into private trust accounts and overseas tax havens for just one minute and spit another vehement insulting, bigoted curse out into the discussion, it is what Rethuglicans have been doing for more than a generation.
Again, I must return to the fact that I am trying to say this with as much love and compassion as possible. Things are not as we have been told. Political lies, even when believed cannot be made true.
The same minority that dominate the discussion and control the terms of our debate are the ones who, for one reason or another, have enough time on their hands to run their collective mouths rather than have to make a living by their intellect or labor and often when we look more closely have the most to lose if we change things for the better for the majority of Americans. Heck, when I look more closely at any part of the world, the same can be said about their minorities and how they determine much of what the vast majority chooses from. Those who "already know" what to believe have no trouble dismissing certain truths, as long as they run contrary to their world view. It seems that even constraints of physics, economic limits and geology, some are willing to run off cliffs like the proverbial lemmings. When we truncate truth and claim to know it all, certain calamity will be the result. If we are lucky enough to attempt this flight of fancy alone, it might only hurt one person, but when our leaders tarry with the truth, the pain is shared amongst us all.
Generations have come and gone understanding cognitive dissonance, the enigmatic process of holding two competing beliefs in our minds simultaneously. Epistemic closure is the act of defining falsehoods as real because they are expedient or prove us right. Against all odds, epistemic closure is like a great comfy blanket which soothes the raw nerves of an addled nation. Once you get on board with this delusion, all sins can be forgiven, because whatever you desire can be mandated predicated on your philosophical starting point.
Recently, Florida decided that drug testing public welfare recipients was essential to stop crack mammas and drug dealers from existing on the public dole. This approach sounds predictably mundane when viewed from the kaleidoscope of bigotry, hate, fear and entitlement that "conservatives" believe in. When the data came back, two percent (2%) of those tested were positive for drugs. Let us assume for one moment that the entire program was free and no money was needed to make this determination. Let us also assume that there were no false positives. Thirdly, let us imagine a world in which TWO PERCENT of the people receiving public assistance were collapsing the system by their sheer weight. Our internal combustion engines, like the ones we have in our automobiles are twenty to thirty percent efficient. If two percent of welfare recipients in Florida are mooching druggies, that is 98% efficiency. Even electric motors, which are between eighty-five and 90 % efficient pale in efficiency when compared to welfare in Florida's welfare expenditures.
Still, facing facts is not in the realm of those experiencing epistemic closure. Pay no heed to the fact that many extremely profitable industries are feeding at the public trough, ignore the fact that many ultra-wealthy welfare recipients are on dope, never to be tested. Turn a blind eye to the boatloads of cash that flow into private trust accounts and overseas tax havens for just one minute and spit another vehement insulting, bigoted curse out into the discussion, it is what Rethuglicans have been doing for more than a generation.
Again, I must return to the fact that I am trying to say this with as much love and compassion as possible. Things are not as we have been told. Political lies, even when believed cannot be made true.
The same minority that dominate the discussion and control the terms of our debate are the ones who, for one reason or another, have enough time on their hands to run their collective mouths rather than have to make a living by their intellect or labor and often when we look more closely have the most to lose if we change things for the better for the majority of Americans. Heck, when I look more closely at any part of the world, the same can be said about their minorities and how they determine much of what the vast majority chooses from. Those who "already know" what to believe have no trouble dismissing certain truths, as long as they run contrary to their world view. It seems that even constraints of physics, economic limits and geology, some are willing to run off cliffs like the proverbial lemmings. When we truncate truth and claim to know it all, certain calamity will be the result. If we are lucky enough to attempt this flight of fancy alone, it might only hurt one person, but when our leaders tarry with the truth, the pain is shared amongst us all.
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