The best way to “talk” to someone who “doesn’t believe in climate change” is … don’t. Stay quiet. But if you can’t mind your own business, and you ignorantly (and unwisely) broach the subject, maybe you could at least listen to the reasons why they aren’t in your cult.
Tag: ethics
Hypocrisy Alert: Republicans Agreed with Ocasio-Cortez Until About One Minute Ago
When congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) confessed her personal financial dilemma — “I have three months without a salary before I’m a member of Congress. So, how do I get an apartment? Those little things are very real” — to the New York Times, guffaws broke out on the right.
Ethics 101: Reciprocity
People have been arguing about how to deal with ideas of right and wrong for a very long time. Even now, reasonable people sometimes disagree about where exactly to draw the ethical line on some complex issues. After all, the world is a complicated place. That being said, one idea has emerged over and over again in the quest to understand right and wrong from essentially every cultural, religious, and philosophical tradition: the ethic of reciprocity.
Moral Philosophy and Deer Hunting
Set aside the ethics of hunting itself, and you find that within the act of hunting, there’s a whole world of right and wrong. Tonight I sat in a tower stand for hours without seeing any activity from the deer population. Then, right as darkness fell, three deer came out. All of a sudden I had some decisions to make.
Are We Sure It Can’t It Happen Here?
One runs a risk whenever one cites the 20th century’s great terror states while discussing current ominous developments in the western democracies. Apparent comparisons of the United States or western and central European countries to Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia will inevitably be hooted down with accusations of alarmist conspiracy-mongering and worse, shameful ahistoricity. Nevertheless, that must not keep us from noticing and pointing to contemporary events that bear an eerie resemblance, however slight, to things that went on in those totalitarian terror states.
Why All The Socialism?
I’ve been listening to someone who deeply believes in government. Believes it has the best interest of the people at heart. Believes it has a place in society. Believes it is necessary and usually good, even if it sometimes messes up. It’s painful for me. The mental gymnastics it takes to believe such nonsense staggers my mind. It’s disappointing because I usually enjoy listening to Scott Adams, but his recent socialism kick is extremely misguided and dishonest.
Trump, Spinoza, and the Palestinian Refugees
Trump’s die-hard supporters like to say his extreme measures and tweets are merely opening moves in his art of deal-making. So let’s go with that: he’s holding five million desperate people hostage in order to convince the corrupt Palestinian Authority to take his deal. That’s reassuring.
McSkillet
When will we build a wall to stop the McSkillets of the world? Why didn’t the heightened activity of ICE keep Rivera away from Mollie Tibbetts? (Although McSkillet killed three times as many as did Rivera.) Wasn’t anybody on duty while Manafort stole $ millions?
For the Love of Reason
Far be it from me to divide humankind in two, but were I so inclined, I’d divide it into those who love reason and those who are indifferent if not outright hostile to it. Members of the first group adore the reasoning process and their own reasoning faculties. The others find the process burdensome and discomforting, something that threatens long-held beliefs and intuitions.
You and Your “Laws”
If you claim to honor the Constitution, and you want a law enforced that’s not allowed by the Constitution (which is therefore not a real law even by your questionable standards), you are mixed up.