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Wish I was half the philosopher
azstrummer — (archived)

Oh ER, I couldn't agree with you more as to the underlying brain actions that cause this unwavering faith of convictions. My problem with ignoring it is that, often these ideologues gain power and influence over others and there's a tendency for their flocks to build rapidly.

We're not talking people that just sit around rambling to themselves all day long. They interact with others constantly and seem to insist upon foisting their distorted world views on the weakest of the pack. Bullies build armies and eventually physically threaten us all.

Naturally, if I value something in their lives (and I'm not talking about simple familiarity on an internet blog), I'll be more accepting of their weakness and pick my battles gently. Even though I have a warm feeling for the philosophies of many of the posters on here, for all I know you could be ax murderers in your spare time. I'll never lose sleep for offending any of you. I'd prefer not to but, until I look someone in the eye and talk to them with all the nuances of body language and without the anonymity afforded by communicating by the written word, my fondness is greatly limited.

I have the feeling I know which individuals you're talking about on our forums and it would be easy for me to just let them go on but I can't help but getting the image of what political discourse was like in the days before the Nazis took charge in Germany. My guess is that intellectuals like yourself found ways of rationalizing the abhorrent behavior building around them. They somehow rightly analyzed the underlying fears and weaknesses of the growing cliques and felt that they were so far out of the mainstream that they'd eventually just marginalize themselves. By the time it got alarming, it was too late. The numbers and physical strength was simply too great to stand up to.

Were I a betting man, I'd guess our country with it's vastness, underlying pioneer spirit, and divergent cultures would never sprout the same type of fascism but I don't want there to ever even be the tiniest chance. Think of how the founding fathers of our country, specifically Adams and Jefferson, would've reacted to a typical post by Scott Evil or Lee or even our eloquent TB. Somehow I doubt they would've sat back and laughed at the absurdity.

Art

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