When Republicans (and people more generally) are confronted about their uninformed opinions, they react with a condescending laugh as if having ideals is naïve or somehow we just don’t get it. This is coming from the same people who believe that the defense budget is more than every other country combined because we need to “spread freedom throughout the world.” And even when Republicans concede the point that you are smarter than them, they are still unwilling to budge on positions they can’t clearly explain much less substantiate. At the very least, this means they do not have sound reasoning behind their stances, and most of the time they know they are wrong but are afraid to face reality lest it inconvenience them in some way. People prefer “truthiness” to truth, where truthiness is truth through the lens of self-interest. Adam Miller writes:
“What tends to matter most to us, whatever our political persuasion, is simple self-interest […] self-interest is the lens that warps our perception of truth, bends facts to meet our preferences, and disconnects us from the possibility of creating good that is genuinely shared in common. Only that which is shared in common can center us in a truth beyond truthiness […] We no longer see things as they are, and so we are no longer able to connect meaningfully with other people or truthfully with ourselves.”
The ironic thing is that truth isn’t hard to discern. Most so-called political issues can be boiled down to a simple question: Do you care more about money or people? That’s really it. I would much rather Republicans looked the American public in the eyes and said they don’t care about poor people than simultaneously claim benevolence while pushing for policies they know will crush them. If they tell the truth, we will know they’re bad people, and if they don’t, we'll know they're frauds. Worse yet, if they don't believe the truth, then we’ll know they’re delusional and at the very best, mildly retarded. In short, they continue to make the case for ignorance or plain stupidity as the overriding American “values.” As the old adage goes, “Ignorance is bliss.” But like Bill Maher said in Milwaukee last week, “Ignorance means you’re in the dark, and when you’re in the dark you’re scared.” I would take Maher’s line of reasoning a step further and say that when you’re scared, you make irrational decisions (believing in religious superstitions, or supporting Republican hawks like Bush and McCain).
Shedding ignorance and picking up a book can be “inconvenient.” The fact is, the status quo is depressing, and with knowledge comes the responsibility to act. People often ridicule me for my views (if not just for having them), and to a person their reaction is more or less the same: “One person can’t make a difference, so have fun changing the world.” This patronizing attitude is endemic in America from those whose political stance (conservative, corporatist, nationalist) or lack of one, is already the status quo, which implies a kind of socio-political inertia. But if Republicans can support jingo-nationalistic fascism, and believe that Noah built an ark and Jonah lived inside a whale, I can believe in liberty and equality, no matter how "naive" that vision might be.
Morning Prayer
12 years ago
1 comment:
Not that you need any patting on the back, especially from me, but you have hit the nail right on the head, so to say. Obviously we know that we have mirroring beliefs in most cases but this was such an eloquently written post. It is really funny to read the part, it is a choice between caring about people or money, but that is a reality. Someone who who leans to the right is either clouded by the smokescreen that is religion, or they care only about their own checkbook, and the checkbook of people like them. The problem is not that they want to have financial security though, the problem is that they are willing to trample the poor just so that they can afford to buy a bigger tv, or a bigger house, or another car, or another fill in the blank toy. And how do they justify their right to have these luxaries when there are people that do not have enough money for an adequate amount of food or good health care; it is very simple hard work. Because people that are in poverty obviously are not hard workers. None of them. If you believe this, you have a lot of growing up to do.
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