Reading time – 76 seconds . . .
Long time reader DL offered in a private email that he sees me as an iconoclast and that I help people to realize the obvious. That’s a compliment, right?
iconoclast – a person who attacks cherished beliefs or institutions. – Apple Dictionary, v2.2
I’m not confident that I attack cherished institutions, as I’m not sure that any institutions are cherished any longer. Okay, perhaps that last sentence did attack cherished institutions.
On the other hand, and as you already know, I commonly attack cherished beliefs, like the notion that there is anything of benefit to trickle-down economics, except to further stuff the pockets of the already wealthy. That cherished belief and many other common wisdom, common knowledge notions deserve to be skewered. We need for them to be sliced and diced and dumped into a landfill for ultimate decomposition so that they cannot be brought back and used to harm those in the future who will be sadly unaware of the destructive power of these harmful cherished beliefs.
And there are other cherished beliefs that I stab, like all religious extremist beliefs. People who hold these cherished beliefs are guilty of the murder of hundreds of millions of people and, oddly, people of most major religions are guilty of these atrocities. There is no more effective and motivated killer than one whose cherished belief is that God wants him to kill all who don’t see things in the killer’s delusional way. There are plenty of people who screech the message to kill, literally or politically, doing it from the pulpit and the airwaves and the halls of government.
Another favorite is the cherished and arrogant belief that, “I got it right, so if you disagree, you’re wrong. Maybe bad, too.” For clarity about the ultimate outcome of such thinking, refer to the paragraph above.
Consider the politics of destruction. And the rejection of science and learning. And the refusal to solve problems and instead to allow people to suffer and to die in favor of self-centered jockeying for political advantage.
And allowing big money interests to poison and subvert our democracy. We’ve gone through many iterations of learning this lesson, then forgetting and then re-learning it, then forgetting the lesson yet again. We don’t seem to be able to keep in mind how very harmful it is and to take steps to permanently slay this ruinous beast. There is more.
Like the much-too-human and completely predictable “it’s all about me” attitude of politicians and the certainty of the corruption of politicians by big money.
And the craziness of self-destruction through citizen laziness, sub-consciously assuming that someone else will handle things to our liking. Or that they won’t, but that we’re powerless, so there’s no use in taking action. Or that just being disinterested in broader issues and instead being focused solely on our over-filled lives somehow makes sense.
These cherished beliefs are the things I write about and they are real and they are harmful to us all, but you already realize that, because it’s obvious.
Thanks, DL, for your comments. To you and to all readers, put your thoughts in the “What Do You Think?” section below both today and in response to future posts (freebie subscribe on the right side of this column) in order to help all of us be better informed and to gain a clearer perspective on reality.
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Ed. note: There is much in America that needs fixing and we are on a path to continually fail to make things better. It is my goal to make a difference – perhaps to be a catalyst for things to get better. That is the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people and a robust dialogue.
ACTION STEP: Please offer your comments below and pass this along to three people, encouraging them to subscribe. Thanks! JA
Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
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One Response to It’s Obvious
Jim Altschuler September 30, 2015
With respect to Dl who is definitely entitled to his/her opinion whether anyone else agrees or not, in the United States it is not only every individual’s RIGHT to question others (government representatives, business owners and management, political and religious “leaders”), it is everyone’s OBLIGATION to do so.
Without those who live up to that obligation, the aforementioned people could run completely rampant, performing all manner of immoral, unethical, illegal, and reprehensible acts (consider worldwide actions during the last 50 years).
Many smarter people than we are (no disrespect or disparagement intended), including poets, philosophers, authors, etc., have demanded (or at least requested) action by “The People”, as in “We, The People” to call leaders to task on their philosophies, directions and actions. It started, as I recall, with Mr. Thomas Jefferson — you may remember his actions leading up to the establishment of the “United States”, the Declaration of Independence, and the U. S. Constitution. He was a lot smarter about most things than almost anyone else, except as regards slavery … but that’s a different topic for another day.
Question authority. Question leadership. Question government in all of its manifestations. Question reality! And I agree with Jack, re: DL. Thank you, DL, for your input to the rest of us; it gives one and all food for thought and that is always a good thing.