Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Solon who wrote (13639)	5/17/2001 3:51:02 PM
From: Broken_Clock	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 82486

Solon, We are agree on the benefit of reasoned thought improving one's life. The conclusions we have reached on the validity of the Bible are different. As for the 20th century being controlled by fools and madmen, again, no disagreement. Were they ignorant, stupid, superstitious? No. Leaders of countries tend to be of normal intelligence and education at a minimum. Their motivations, I believe, fall into the category of "sin". Each person generally has the capacity for good or evil. Where conflict can arise is when we have opposite or decidedly different views on what is good or evil. I do question your reasoned conclusion regarding quality of life, or improvement therein, based on scientific advances. For example, the stick in the ground method of farming: How can one say with finality that a survivalist farmer had less enjoyment(if that is your benchmark) tilling his ground with his wife and kids than the parents who fight traffic to get home, to get the kids to soccer, to fight traffic to get home, etc. Jackson Browne's "The pretender" encapsulates our modern-sic- life quite well. Yes, medical advances have extended our lives. Do we lead happier, more fulfilling lives than those 200 years ago? Open question to me. No valid proof one way or the other. As for other parts of the world: Hasn't our own USA benefited along with western Europe most of all by taking advantage of the "third world"? How is that an advancement other than for our own selfish desires? The fact is we are gorging ourselves at the expense of the majority of the world's population. Hardly a validation for our morals. Is science and reason good? No. They are neutral tools. They an be used for good or evil(what is your standard?). "Christians" have done more damage to the message of Jesus than any other source. Mankind's selfish motives are the number one problem we face, IMO. Science nor reasoned thought have dented this problem. I agree with your premise that reasoning one on one is both the beginning and the end of the solution. But, what is the standard? What is the goal of our reasoning? To bring the entire world into alignment with the thought processes of the perverted USA with its violence, inhumanity, selfish indulgence, excesses? What or where is your utopian society? What or where is your reasoned goal? How does logic and reason allow you to have faith that this can be achieved through science? The motives of mankind remain the same, at best, since the dawn of written and recorded history. I believe that a valid case can be made that the increase of knowledge in the last 200 years has simply allowed mankind the ability for greater self indulgence at the expense of others. PK ps. As for Hawaii: The last Hawaiian monarch was the Christian Queen Lilioukalani; by all accounts a generous and kind person. She was violently overthrown by "reasoned" and intelligent men who wanted to further rape and pillage the islands for their own economic benefit. The results of their actions remain to this day. The term ****ing haole is still in wide use.