“Abraham Lincoln said it best when he spoke “A house divided against itself cannot stand”. We are amid that historical lesson now my brothers and sisters, do we need to take it to the extremes of “Civil War” to relearn that lesson.
Republicans are not the enemy! Democrats are not the enemy! People of different religions are not the enemy! People of different races are not the enemy! Honesty and fair dealing are not the enemy!
Ignorance is the enemy! Intolerance is the enemy! Hate is the enemy! Lies are the enemy!
It is a false notion that in Democracy that false beliefs are as good as the truth. Democracy demands truth. Conspiracy theories and lies will simply abuse the freedom of speech and tear a country apart. For our system to function it is everyone’s responsibility to educate yourself and vote accordingly.”
― Michael Marcel, Sr.
“People who mock incidents in history such as 9/11 or the Holocaust, referring to it all as a hoax or stirring up crazy conspiracy theories about it, should really stop and think about their words first, both because it shows flaws in logic and rationality to deny the obvious, and because to play pretend with incidents which killed innocent people, well, that's just like laughing in the face of tragedy. It's as if to say, "no, it's not horrible enough that these people were killed, oh no, we have to drag on these incidents by indulging in melodramatic fantasies!" In essence this means that those who lost loved ones not only have to live with these losses forever, they also have to live with the people who deny that any of it ever happened. It does no good to forget history or to deny it. All it does is desensitize people; it tells them that it's all just a game, which then risks the possibility of nobody taking it seriously enough to prevent something similar from happening again.”
― Rebecca McNutt
“You can’t fix stupid”
- Ron White
Last night I watched something disturbing. It is a pseudo documentary show in which a clever filmmaker and comedian interviews odd people for entertainment purposes. It is sort of like a cheap version of “Borat” except the interviewer is a straight man and lets the subject dig his own hole in real time.
In this episode he interviewed a man who sells products on line to reverse the effects of male circumcision. He attributes the common childhood procedure to the cause of a broad range of ills in his life and if he could just reverse it, then life will be better.
The film graphically depicted the device which involved placing free weights on his genitals and wearing them through the day. The hope was the skin would stretch to its original position and thus reverse the traumatic amputation of foreskin. What would follow would be a reversal of life’s misfortunes for you. You would be a “complete” man.
You laugh. I did.
Except, he has customers who have purchased the product. A lot of them. That is what was so disturbing that people actually believed such a medical device would improve their lives and paid money for it.
Yesterday I was watching the news while eating dinner. A reporter attended a Pro Trump Rally in Washington DC. Thousands of people were shoutings “Stop the Steal” and “Rigged election”. Almost all of them were not wearing masks. The reporter asked a protestor what was the evidence they have that such fraud occurred?
“Isn’t it obvious?”, she replied. “The democrats have been planning this for a long time. Around midnight a pipe ‘mysteriously’ breaks in Georgia and they had to stop the count. Then when it resumed all of a sudden there were all these votes for Biden. Then the voting machine changed all the votes from Trump to Biden”.
She went on, “All through his presidency they have been plotting to get an innocent man. The ‘Russian Hoax’, The ‘Impeachment Scam’, ‘The Corona virus’, it’s all part of a plot of the ‘Deep State’ and the media just lies about it. The only truth is on social media”
You laugh. I did.
But she was serious. And she was surrounded by thousands who agreed with her.
Even though there is demonstrable evidence that shows these assumptions are false, her response is “You are lying, everyone in the media is lying….except my media”
How can this be?
William of Ockham was an English Franciscan Friar and philosopher that lived in the 13th century. He proposed a problem solving principle that states “The simplest explanation is usually the right one. The principle became known as the “Law of Parsimony’ or more exotically “Occam’s Razor”.
When trying to explain an event, the more complicated your reasoning, the more unreliable the conclusion. The law of probabilities weighs you down and your construct falls.
To wit - in the case of the election you are presented with two options.
The first is there was a vast conspiracy involving thousands of people across the country, a computer company, all of the media, in front of world wide view, that put illegal ballots in place to void Trumps’ “rightful” victory. The plot was so vast that it spread as far west as Nevada all the way to Pennsylvania. The "Fake Moon Landing Plot" has more plausibility and less moving parts.
Or, Biden received more votes and won the election.
Pipes burst.
Occam’s razor is sharp.
Gerald Posner, in his best selling book on the JFK assassination , writes, “Besides the skepticism over Oswald’s murky background and his murder, strong psychological reasons prompted the public’s early embrace of conspiracy theories. The notion that a misguided sociopath had wreaked such havoc made the crime seem senseless and devoid of political significance. By concluding that JFK was killed as the result of an elaborate plot, there is the belief he died for a purpose, that a powerful group eliminated him for some critical issue.”
But that is not what happened. JFK was killed by a lonely deranged man. There was no higher purpose. There was only senseless tragedy.
Still, hundreds of books have been written espousing every conceivable theory but that one.
The idea that we are victims against some nefarious plot brings comfort. We feel better in groups that wish to share (And profit) off your misery. We feel if we can just reverse a childhood surgery, then our problems will be solved.
We are loath to accept that the world is not a place we can control. People get shot randomly. Politicians typically do not have our best interest at heart. And they sometimes lose reelection.
These truths are hard to accept. There is comfort in victimhood. Fox news has built a network on this principle. Evangelicals thrive feeling the outside world is trying to end their way of life.
Kenneth Copeland, the famous televangelist has a net worth of 800 million dollars. Let that sink in a moment. He didn’t earn that fortune. Average, hard working people gave it to him willingly. In exchange for what?
Yet, if we apply Occam’s razor to the conclusions of the pro Trump supporter we see a simpler solution.
There is a common pattern, Trump’s personal behavior.
The “Russian Hoax” - Trump did benefit from the proven Russian meddling in the election of 2016. The report concluded “While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”
“The Impeachment Scam”. Trump freely admits he used the power of his office to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political opponent. There is no scam here. He admitted to doing it. “It was a perfect call”. The Republican controlled senate dismissed the case along a party line vote. If you are honest, tell me how you would have reacted if President Obama did the same thing.
“The Corona Virus” - No Trump did not cause the pandemic. But his response greatly exacerbated the spread of the disease. This is a matter of fact, not debate. We are now in a deep resurgence of the infection with over 250,000 dead. One of the main reasons is people who refuse to abide by public health guidelines like wearing masks. Trump set the example, therefore it is all together appropriate that he accept the responsibility for his inaction. He knew this was going to be bad, but he lied and played down the threat. This is not conjecture, it is on tape.
“The Rigged Election” — Months before the vote, our dear leader started sowing the seeds of the current debate. Against any evidence he claimed the election will be rigged against him and that is the only way he will lose. So when he came up short by almost 5 million votes his ‘prediction’ came true.
Or , as William of Ockham might say, he just lost.
The one constant in the equation is the behavior and character of Donald Trump.
There is no deep state, no grand conspiracy, and no nefarious plot. There is just a 74 year old petulant man child who the voters rejected. And he doesn’t like it.
The ninth Commandment is still a good guideline. When we spread falsehoods, we make matters worse.
We can do better. We need to do better. At my age, life is too short to waste time anymore.
“Age.
Age brings wisdom and the fine clarity that one gets at midnight on the tracks looking into the lights of an oncoming train.
It dawns on you rather quickly there is only so much time left; only so many star filled nights, snowfalls, brisk Fall afternoons, and rainy midsummer days.
So how you conduct yourself and do your work matters; how you treat your friends, your family and your lover.
On good days a blessing falls over you . It wraps its arms around you and you are free and deeply in and of this world.
That’s your reward, being here.
That’s what gets you up the next morning. A new chance to receive that benediction while you butter your toast, getting dressed, or driving home from work you stumble into those moments when you feel that hand of God gently rest on your shoulder.
And you realize how lucky you are; lucky to be alive, lucky to be breathing in this world of beauty, horror , and hope.
Because this is what there is - a chance - a world where it is lucky to be in love and lucky to be loved.
So you go
Until it fills you. Until the sweat, blood, and hard tears make sense.
You go until the lights from the fading distant stars fall at your feet
Go
And may God bless you”
― Bruce Springsteen
November 29, 2020. - Postscript - A deep trip down the rabbit hole as told by this incredible story
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