In an act of integrity that also proved to be politically shrewd, future President John Adams served as defense counsel for British redcoats involved in the Boston Massacre of 1770.
Adams was a prominent advocate of the Patriot cause. His cousin Sam was one of its top leaders. Still, John Adams insisted that the soldiers deserved legal representation. He also recognized that if they didnât get a fair trial, whatever âjusticeâ got meted out by a Boston mob would harm rather than help the Patriotsâ case for self-government.
During the trial, Adams offered a defense not only of the presumption of innocence and the right to counsel but also for seeking truth wherever it may be found.
âFacts are stubborn things,â he said, âand whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.â
Modern politicians sometimes quote this passage solemnly before making a political point. But do they really practice what Adams preached? Or, if I may be so bold, do you?
Politics is a team sport. It always has been. As another American founder, James Madison, famously explained, the origins of political faction are âsown in the nature of man.â Humans can approach the same question with wide varieties of information, perceptions and objectives.
âAs long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it,â Madison observed, âdifferent opinions will be formed.â These differences, in turn, have âdivided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to cooperate for their common good.â
Neither Adams or Madison thought it possible to wish political factions away. Nor do I. As regular readers surely know by now, I have strong opinions on political questions.
I want government at all levels to be smaller, less costly and less intrusive. I think competition is superior to monopoly in both the private and public sectors. I donât think government should try to engineer âsocial justice,â whatever that means, because it requires inflicting injustice on specific individuals.
Regardless of whether you agree with me on these and other political propositions, however, it ought to be possible for us to come to some level of agreement on basic facts. We may well continue to disagree about what these facts mean, of course. But at least weâd be talking about the same thing. Weâd truly be arguing rather than just bickering with each other.
This is, alas, much harder to do than to describe. When trying to answer a question of fact, we tend to follow the lead of sources, of âexperts,â whose political views we share. When someone from the âother teamâ offers a factual proposition, we frequently discount it. Indeed, we donât just tend to discount their factual claims about political issues. As the authors of a new study in the academic journal Cognition discovered, thereâs a strong tendency to let politics influence judgments on matters far afield from public policy.
The researchers called this effect âepistemic spillover,â which they detected in a creative set of online experiments that blended political questions with a geometric-puzzle test. They found âparticipants falsely concluded that politically like-minded others were better at categorizing shapes and thus chose to hear from them.â
Cognitive biases are tricky things. Be honest: when you hear about the kind of behavior I just described, do examples from the âother teamâ come more quickly to mind? If you are a Trump critic, do you see MAGA hats on those subjects? If you are a Republican, are social-justice warriors making the mistake?
The truth is that we are all prone to the same errors. We face the same temptations. I believe being a good citizen requires that we lean against our biases â that we do our own homework and be skeptical (though not cynical) when listening to political leaders. If you agree, perhaps that gives us a good place to start.
Dark times are coming.
Americans seem to be dealing with the US collapse by having cognitive dissonance. Watching Americans use mental gymnastics to explain their hypocrisy and narratives is difficult to watch.
The very same Americans who scream Obama was an evil monster for embracing wars, debt, and tyranny then turn around and insist Trump is a holy god for supporting wars, debt, and the police state.
Nazis who insist they love freedom then swear unconstitutional NSA wiretapping is just fine.
Americans say that they love free speech, but then become batshit insane when anyone suggests flag burning and protests should legal.
Americans who scream that they love the free market say the US needs a trade war.
Fascists who insist that they love gun rights say they would immediately surrender their firearms when Trump bans guns because Muslims are dangerous.
Nazis and Commies scream no one died during WWII.
Americans also seem to be dealing with the collapse by changing history to meet their point of view.
Americans either say the USA was always a police state or is the most free country in the world. No one says the US used to have freedom, but lost it.
Americans insist that the US always had seatbelt checkpoints and food stamps.
Racists scream that the US never had negroes before today.
Nazis say that the Jews started the Revolutionary War to divide up white people, but even if the UK and the US were united now the USA and the UK would still be Socialist shitholes with fags and illegal immigrants.
As the US declines, Americans will need to chose what roles they will play.
Will you be one of the enemy globalists who is destroying the USA?
Will you be a traitor who is trying to become of the elites by giving campaign donations to politicians so you can get a bailout, subsidy, or grant to start a business?
Will you be a traitor who becomes a puppet for the elites as a politician, reporter, actor, government worker, soldier, or joins the Gestapo?
Will you be a coward who keeps your head down, works, and pays taxes that fund wars, debt, and tyranny?
Will you dropout and become dependent on government welfare?
Will you be a hero and risk being arrested or killed to become a dissident educating others on freedom and how to resist or fight the elites by firing on checkpoints and flying planes into government buildings?
Will you dropout and buy a sailboat or travel the world as a nameless and stateless nomad?
Will you dropout and start a commune or join a monastery?
Those who are able, do what they can.
Those who can't, do what they must.
Economically, politically, and socially, the United States seems to be headed down a path thatâs not only inconsistent with the founding principles of the country but accelerating quickly toward boundless decay.
The word âdecadenceâ is often associated with the fall of the Roman Empire, which became morally corruptâits people lazy, wasteful, and lacking discipline. Many observers have pointed out the US is similarly becoming decedent.
All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
Libertarian
boosted
@dcjogger Fascist here. Giving up my arms is the last thing I'd ever want to do.
"I'd rather have 50 thousand rifles than 5 million votes."
- Mussolini
"I'd rather have 50 thousand rifles than 5 million votes."
- Mussolini
Tyranny might sound nice in the short term, but tyranny ends in slavery.
Living in a police state is like living in a prison. The education, healthcare, clothes, food, and housing are free and prisons are safe.
The problem is that the hardworkers quit and the police state becomes a real prison with slavery.
Some say the civil war will start when the economy crashes and Americans are starving in the street, but what if the elites are not going to wait that long?
The USA is already a police state.
What if the ruling class will use some kind of real or fake emergency like Russia or Ebola to force Americans to willingly go to the concentration camps?
What if Fargo is liquidated by the US Army? Will Americans revolt or will they just shrug?
If the US armed terrorists to overthrow Assad then why doesn't the USA arm the French so that they can overthrow Macon?
Who will supply American rebels when the US Civil War 2.0 starts?
The elites always sell tyranny as something that benefits you and only punishes others.
Checkpoints were sold as a way to stop evil drunk-drivers, but now checkpoints are for everyone.
TSA groping, CIA torture, kill lists, and NSA wiretapping were sold as a way to stop Muslims, but now they are for everyone.
Forfeiture was spun as a way to stop drug users, but now is used for everyone.
Gun bans will be sold as a way to stop negroes from shooting people, but they will soon be for everyone.
Free speech will be banned to stop flag-burning, protesting, porn, reporting, advertising, prostitution, and hate speech.
Concentration camps and the wall are sold as a way to control illegal immigrants, but they will soon be for everyone.
Americans will never learn.
The US is no longer a democracy and voting doesn't work when your only choices are either a Nazi or a Commie.
Do Americans fire the first shot on soldiers and the Gestapo now or will Americans just cowardly tolerate tyranny like the Chinese, Cubans, Cambodians, Vietnamese, and North Koreans do?
Americans today should either be leaving the USA or planning for the collapse.
This tyranny cannot go on forever. What kind of life is this?
Dark times are coming.
Americans seem to be dealing with the US collapse by having cognitive dissonance. Watching Americans use mental gymnastics to explain their hypocrisy and narratives is difficult to watch.
The very same Americans who scream Obama was an evil monster for embracing wars, debt, and tyranny then turn around and insist Trump is a holy god for supporting wars, debt, and the police state.
Nazis who insist they love freedom then swear unconstitutional NSA wiretapping is just fine.
Americans say that they love free speech, but then become batshit insane when anyone suggests flag burning and protests should legal.
Americans who scream that they love the free market say the US needs a trade war.
Fascists who insist that they love gun rights say they would immediately surrender their firearms when Trump bans guns because Muslims are dangerous.
Americans also seem to be dealing with the collapse by changing history to meet their point of view.
Americans either say the USA was always a police state or is the most free country in the world. No one says the US used to have freedom, but lost it.
Americans insist that the US always had seatbelt checkpoints and food stamps.
Racists scream that the US never had negroes before today.
Nazis say that the Jews started the Revolutionary War to divide up white people, but even if the UK and the US were united now the USA and the UK would still be Socialist shitholes with fags and illegal immigrants.
As the US declines, Americans will need to chose what roles they will play.
Will you be one of the enemy globalists who is destroying the USA?
Will you be a traitor who is trying to become of the elites by giving campaign donations to politicians so you can get a bailout, subsidy, or grant to start a business?
Will you be a traitor who becomes a puppet for the elites as a politician, reporter, actor, government worker, soldier, or joins the Gestapo?
Will you be a coward who keeps your head down, works, and pays taxes that fund wars, debt, and tyranny?
Will you dropout and become dependent on government welfare?
Will you be a hero and risk being arrested or killed to become a dissident educating others on freedom and how to resist or fight the elites by firing on checkpoints and flying planes into government buildings?
Will your dropout and buy a sailboat or travel the world as a nameless and stateless nomad?
Will you dropout and start a commune or join a monastery?
Those who are able, do what they can.
Those who can't, do what they must.
Libertarian
boosted
Libertarian
boosted
Libertarian
boosted
Tyranny might sound nice in the short term, but tyranny ends in slavery.
Living in a police state is like living in a prison. The education, healthcare, clothes, food, and housing are free and prisons are safe.
The problem is that the hardworkers quit and the police state becomes a real prison with slavery.
Some say the civil war will start when the economy crashes and Americans are starving in the street, but what if the elites are not going to wait that long?
The USA is already a police state.
What if the ruling class will use some kind of real or fake emergency like Russia or Ebola to force Americans to willingly go to the concentration camps?
What if Fargo is liquidated by the US Army? Will Americans revolt or will they just shrug?
If the US armed terrorists to overthrow Assad then why doesn't the USA arm the French so that they can overthrow Macon?
Who will supply American rebels when the US Civil War 2.0 starts?
The elites always sell tyranny as something that benefits you and only punishes others.
Checkpoints were sold as a way to stop evil drunk-drivers, but now checkpoints are for everyone.
TSA groping, CIA torture, kill lists, and NSA wiretapping were sold as a way to stop Muslims, but now they are for everyone.
Forfeiture was spun as a way to stop drug users, but now is used for everyone.
Gun bans will be sold as a way to stop negroes from shooting people, but they will soon be for everyone.
Free speech will be banned to stop flag-burning, protesting, porn, reporting, advertising, prostitution, and hate speech.
Concentration camps and the wall are sold as a way to control illegal immigrants, but they will soon be for everyone.
Americans will never learn.
The US is no longer a democracy and voting doesn't work when your only choices are either a Nazi or a Commie.
Do Americans fire the first shot on soldiers and the Gestapo now or will Americans just cowardly tolerate tyranny like the Chinese, Cubans, Cambodians, Vietnamese, and North Koreans do?
Americans today should either be leaving the USA or planning for the collapse.
This tyranny cannot go on forever. What kind of life is this?
Tyranny might sound nice in the short term, but tyranny ends in slavery.
Living in a police state is like living in a prison. The education, healthcare, clothes, food, and housing are free and prisons are safe.
The problem is that the hardworkers quit and the police state becomes a real prison with slavery.
Some say the civil war will start when the economy crashes and Americans are starving in the street, but what if the elites are not going to wait that long?
The USA is already a police state.
What if the ruling class will use some kind of real or fake emergency like Russia or Ebola to force Americans to willingly go to the concentration camps?
What if Fargo is liquidated by the US Army? Will Americans revolt or will they just shrug?
If the US armed terrorists to overthrow Assad then why doesn't the USA arm the French so that they can overthrow Macon?
Who will supply American rebels when the US Civil War 2.0 starts?
The elites always sell tyranny as something that benefits you and only punishes others.
Checkpoints were sold as a way to stop evil drunk-drivers, but now checkpoints are for everyone.
TSA groping, CIA torture, kill lists, and NSA wiretapping were sold as a way to stop Muslims, but now they are for everyone.
Forfeiture was spun as a way to stop drug users, but now is used for everyone.
Gun bans will be sold as a way to stop negroes from shooting people, but they will soon be for everyone.
Free speech will be banned to stop flag-burning, protesting, porn, reporting, advertising, prostitution, and hate speech.
Concentration camps and the wall are sold as a way to control illegal immigrants, but they will soon be for everyone.
Americans will never learn.
The US is no longer a democracy and voting doesn't work when your only choices are either a Nazi or a Commie.
Do Americans fire the first shot on soldiers and the Gestapo now or will Americans just cowardly tolerate tyranny like the Chinese, Cubans, Cambodians, Vietnamese, and North Koreans do?
Americans today should either be leaving the USA or planning for the collapse.
This tyranny cannot go on forever. What kind of life is this?
Libertarian
boosted
If 50% of the US is Fascist and 50% is Communist, then who will speak up for freedom?
- Libertarian
- https://neinchan.com/pol/
Joined May 2019
