The Earth is dying. Will it die with some dignity? I doubt it.
Humanity is acting like a parasite determined to kill its host. We’ve known that for 20 years and have blissfully ignored it.
So, in the ignoring of it we have two (some will say three*) choices.
1) Draw lines, and build walls around our dwindling resources and declare war on anyone who looks at our clean water longingly.
2) Figure out that we need to cooperate like we’ve never cooperated before, and thereby salvage a little bit of dignity before the end.
The first is the choice of Republicans and other Morlock racist nationalists movements. They are openly spoiling for an end times throw-down that leaves 2/3rds of the world’s population dead with a bedraggled remnant enslaved as they enjoy the fruits of being on top where they belong.
The second choice is the choice of Eloi egg-heads and liberals who somehow manage to still view humanity as The beauty of the world, (so noble in reason, infinite in faculty. In action how like an Angel, In apprehension how like a god).
*The third choice is a mirage. It is a worldview that says the Morlocks can be reasoned with. This is the worldview of time travelers from the year 1969 who don’t understand the events of the past 50 years. Joe Biden, for example.
Full disclosure – I’m one of those Eloi who thinks that human genius and compassion is so great that it can defeat the Morlock’s (who are a minority among humans BTW).
The key part in that is “defeat”, because the clueless dopes who think the Morlocks can be reasoned with are just being dumb.
And you don’t see any irony at all in the proximity of “human genius and compassion” to “clueless dopes” in the above post? It doesn’t at all seem to you like killing in the name of peace or fucking in the name of chastity?
Are you saying we should have compassion for the clueless dopes? Because we already tried that and it doesn’t work.
I was actually just asking questions. But since you asked ME a question, I’ll try to answer as best I can – I feel that compassion is a personal choice. Have it or don’t, that’s your call. I find that often I do not. But I know that my reaction as a voter (and a human) is not to trust anyone who demonstrates that level of vitriol. And certainly not to be persuaded to see things their way.
It seems to me that the more progressive candidates certainly want to “defeat” their opponents in terms of ideas, policy, etc. But I don’t think that Bernie or Warren, for instance, would be nearly as persuasive if they just laid out that anyone who sees things differently is a moron. When you argue directly with a specific person and get to know them, certainly you can begin to develop that opinion and even express it at times. But I’m wary of anyone who asserts that everyone different from them is inferior. Be in intellectually inferior or inferior as a human being.
My father has passed away. He was an avid Fox News viewer before he died and certainly drank the Kool Aid. I couldn’t find much to agree with him on by the end. But he wasn’t clueless. He wasn’t a dope. He was a highly intelligent man with very different life experience than I’ve had and different priorities. And he never once got me to agree with him by telling me what a dumbass I am.
And as deplorable as many of them actually are, deep down, I don’t remember “Basket of Deplorables” winning Hillary any votes she didn’t already have locked up either.
“Hate – the price you pay for thinking you’ve got the only way” – John Popper
They’re politicians. They can’t say that people are morons. But it’s a fact that, no matter how you measure intelligence, half the people will be below average. And we get a lot of morons who visit this site to post moronic things. I have no time to, or interest in, persuading people by being nice to them. If facts won’t convince them, they can fuck off.
So I guess you’ll just have to be wary of me.
If the particular average you are referring to is the mean and your test is accurate then that statement is factual. But it also implies that anyone below the halfway point is …. a moron? Someone whose vote and preferences aren’t to be counted? Or at the very least inferior? HALF of all people. Unless you have a very different working definition of the word liberal or the word progressive I fail to see how your statement qualifies as either.
In any case, I think I get the point. You’re the cool kids. You’re better at bitching and whining and condescending than everyone else. And I’m probably just another moron who should fuck off rather than participate in the discussion. Roger that. I’m glad you’re on the case and making the world a better place.
No, it’s accurate no matter what test you use. It implies that half of all people are of below average, except for the kind of exceptions you want to make because you’re apparently a very good hair-splitter.
Of course their votes are counted. There’s no reason for me to be happy about that.
Yes, I have a very different definition of liberal than you do. My contempt for the ignorant and stupid has no bearing on the policies I espouse, most of which would help the ignorant and stupid more than they would me.
Cool kids? None of us is young enough for that. And your persecution complex is not my problem.
You’re perfectly welcome to participate in the discussion, but if you can’t take people calling other people morons, you’re probably better off elsewhere.
There was, back in the ’60s or ’70s, a spoken-word record that was played on the radio called “Desiderata.” It contained the line “Listen to everybody, even the dull and ignorant, for they too have their story.”
I spent 35 years in journalist listening to the stories of the dull and ignorant, and guess what? They tell dull and ignorant stories.
I wish it weren’t so, but I’m not going to pretend it isn’t to protect your tender feelings.
It’s actually not accurate at all. Almost all recognized measures of intelligence use a range as opposed to an exact value. And based on the commonly accepted ranges of “average intelligence” only a quarter of all people fall below that range. That’s not splitting hairs. But it’s also not dismissing the opinion of everyone less intelligent than you.
I do think it’s egotistical to assume that you have the power to hurt my feelings though or that they are tender. Allow me to disabuse you of that notion – I’m managing to get through my day just fine despite your disdain. I may have even managed to crack a smile or two.
I remember Desiderata as well. But I prefer Bill Nye’s quote that “Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t.” to that excerpt.
I don’t expect any honest reflection at this point, but I’m going to remind you that I only asked questions in my initial post on this thread. I wasn’t making accusations. I never got direct answers and certainly nothing that demonstrates any real thoughtfulness abut what I asked. But I think I can piece together my own answers based on your replies, so thanks.
You’re welcome.
They were leading questions. Play innocent somewhere else.
Ah, so you want to use error bars. Do you really think that “moron” was meant as an accurate scientific term rather than hyperbole? If so, you’re not as smart as you think.
Nope. Compassion is for the willfully ignorant is compassion misplaced.
Extinction Rebellion
“Extinction Rebellion”. Way Cool Band Name!
Even cooler worldwide environmental movement!
Brief aside. I love that photo.
Biden just endorsed the Green New Deal. Even with the need to check him on the details, I did not see this coming. A net plus for Biden and Dems.
Pandering.
He had to do something after that D- on the environment.
I don’t view pandering to the left, in any way, as a problem.
I do, because he’s not sincere. He says what he thinks he has to say and always has. Do you think he’ll back the green new deal once he’s in office? Fool you twice, shame on you.
If we put up windmills it will kill migratory birds.
But if you don’t put up windmills sea levels rise and migratory birds have no where to nest?
yeah, but wind mills kill birds.
Oh shoot hang on a sec, I have to feed this feral cat that roams our neighborhood and kills birds
I think the approximate number of birds that die at the claws/jaws of cats is greater than the number that die in windmills by a factor of like 1,000. I remember the estimate of windmill kills is around about 225,000. The cat ones are in the hundreds of millions.
Doesn’t matter.
Nobody likes me.
Not true. Many people don’t like you.
It’s all the right people though. That pleases me.
Environmental Protection Agency administrator Andrew Wheeler on Monday blamed the media for the public’s growing concern over climate change.
While Wheeler was giving a speech at the National Press Club, he argued the press needs to help “fix” Americans’ “perception” that the environment is getting worse.
“The media does a disservice to the public by not informing the public of the progress this nation has made,” the EPA chief said as he rattled off some statistics indicating that the U.S. has decreased its pollution levels over the past several decades.