The light bulb goes on
While discussing the post below with a well-respected friend, a few truths dawned on me that I guess were always in my mind but never found voice until that moment.
Most of my troubles with liberal vs conservative come to this: I base my politics on well documented fact. Anyone can disagree wiht those facts, and hell, once in a while, someone comes up wiht a disagreement that holds such water and is so irrefutable, that I change my opinion, based on the new evidence. Such is the nature of scientific thought.
Most if not all liberals I know, base their worldview on belief. Let me give you a few examples of fact vs belief:
Belief: Liberals fight for freedom of all people.
Fact: Conservatives have a long track record of actually providing freedom for people in this country and assisting other countries to become free.
Belief: Socialism is best for all.
Fact: Socialisim has failed every time it has been tried.
Belief: Embryonic stem cell research is the key to advances in science
Fact: Placental stem cell research has already provided cures for many diseases, amniotic stem cells have recently shown to be as effective and as adaptive as embryonic stem cells, and raise no moral issues.
Belief: Firearms are bad and cause crime
Fact: private ownership of firearms is a deterrent to crime.
Belief: Human Caused Global Warming exists.
Fact: The data isn’t there to support it, there is no way we can know, and we don’t know.
The idea that anyone votes one way or another based on what they believe astonishes me. it’s like jumping off a cliff believing that God will reach down his mighty hand and catch you- that God is on a spaceship waiting to come get you, that God will raise you up whole i the End Times Rapture. When you send your child to school, if you have a brain, you try to send him or her to a school that has a good reputation. When you buy a car, you buy it because it’s clearly faster, or handles better, or is safer than any other. Qualitative evidence exists to show you the facts, and you make those decisions based on those facts. You don’t buy a volvo because you BELIEVE it will protect you in a head on accident, unless you are an idiot. You research the facts, and act based on them. Faith belongs in the Creator. In politics I look at track record and results.
13 comments Og | Uncategorized
I’m upset that the Democrats have gone whole hog crazy, so that there’s really no longer a decent two party system. As a result, the GOP is in coast mode. There’s no good stone to sharpen their axe against anymore, and no viable alternative to vote for if they run out of ideas. It’s not voting for the best option, it’s voting for the lesser of two evils.
And what’s with the GOP trying to be moderate, to be Democrats-lite? They didn’t lose ’06 by being too conservative, they lost be being a shadow of their opponent. A person leaning liberal will vote liberal over middle of the road. No one likes wanna-bees.
We need a new Reagan. People will go for you if you show you have a vision and a plan, not that you bent to the latest poll.
Og;
Do you know the science fiction classic short story “The Cold Equations”? Girl stows away aboard space ship to be with her beloved. Insufficient resources aboard spaceship (air, fuel, etc) dictate that someone be jetisoned overboard — girl being most likely candidate. Girl goes to her death refusing to believe it was anything but love gone bad.
That girl is liberalism embodied.
In my formulation, liberalism (leftistm, what-have-you) is:
Founded in ignorance;
Focused on irrelevance;
Engaged in wishful thinking.
And Bruce Arnold adds: Bent on using the power of the state to enforce his views on the world.
This may be an ancient dichotomy, which has taken myriad forms over the ages. It might even be distilled down to a battle between capital-G Good and capital-E Evil, though that may be an oversimplification (and subject to dispute as to which is which, though I suspect you and I would be in agreement on that).
Sometimes in my more-cynical moments, I wonder at the fact that the two mindesets … not just get along, but refrain from killing each other.
And then I smack myself in the forehead and go, DUH!
M
“Belief: Embryonic stem cell research is the key to advances in science
Fact: Placental stem cell research has already provided cures for many diseases, amniotic stem cells have recently shown to be as effective and as adaptive as embryonic stem cells, and raise no moral issues.”
That’s an extremely misleading and typical party line statement. The whole truth is more along these lines.
“It’s hard to come up with successful conclusive information regarding embryonic stem cells and their potential to cure disease because of the fact that they’ve only been studied for a fraction of the time that adult stem cells have.
Adult stem cells and their potential have been researched since the 1960’s. There have been human trials involving them.
Embryonic stem cells on the other hand, only began to be studied in 1998. That’s only eight years of research. At this point, we barely know the potential they have.
That’s why it is hard to come up with an example of successful Embryonic Stem Cells. The data and the study and the trials just aren’t there yet. It’s the reason more research needs to be done.”
– The chick I sleep with.
You said facts….
I know all that, Dick. Re read the original statement and tell me it’s wrong. it isn’t It aslo isn’t misleading- I KNOW embryonic stem cell research hasn’t been done at the leve of placental and “adult” cells. It is also completely true that amniotic cells seem to hold all the promise of embryonic cells without having to deal with the ethical issues, which was my whole point. I had no intention to be misleading, I said exactly what I meant.
My bad, I misread the original sentence.
No worries, trust me I have as much respect for kelly’s knowledge as you do.
I read something a while back that said a study was done with embryonic stem cells in mice or rats–it was studying brain tissue, or soemthing–maybe Parkinson’s research. Every one of the animals developed brain cancer. Apparently the advantage of embryonic stem cells, that they can turn into anything, makes them very easy to go cancerous. “Adult” stem cells don’t seem to have that issue.
It’s frustratin’ as hell. I work with a bunch of ill-informed and/or spoon-fed media types. They don’t understand (nor do they know their) history.
I must admit, I’m fortunate in that I married an historian. I shudder to think I might be one of those sheeple were it not for him.
That’s another reason I need to show my appreciation for him (re your latest post :-)
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Why do you say the liberals are only on belief they look at most facts and research they are the scientists for you view on global warming there are thousands to set this view exon pays anyone who can credably go against the research on global warming second the name is controversy global warming does more than just warm things up it move persperation to other areas what controls the climate in most areas water. Yes water it heats things up and cool things down depeneding on how much you have and at what state. Ice reflects the sun water holds in heat if an area gets a drought the water goes somewhere and mostly causes a flood. Many people have used this contrversy to rebuke global warming and frankly mankind just dosn’t what to here that they are responsible for the world whether they like it or not they are. But my point saying liberals use facts and trying research that have accumulated over years yes you can easily dismis those findings and piont to research that says the opposite but only if you take it out of context. I would like to talk some more but must go come debat with me latter on this will be fun. “love thy enemy for their chalenge onto you is what makes you strong”
“I would like to talk some more but must go come debat with me latter on this will be fun.”
jesus, what a maroon.
One word: Punctuation. Learn it. Love. USE IT!
Liberals are dificient in the use of the english language, I think that is the reason for their lack of discering between fact and fallacy. (or is that phallus?)