I read an article on the left-leaning website Salon recently which suggested it might be better in the long-term if a far-right conservative won the 2016 presidential election, so more could see how disastrous an experience it would be, wake up in the process, and be more apt to voting Democratic in the years following. I've always despised this line of thinking, for regressive changes in the short-term could have significant impacts in the long-term. However, for as much as I and many others fight to prevent those regressive changes, based on all I see and hear, maybe this country deserves a president like Donald Trump.
Just last night, I heard a person say, "One thing I like about Donald Trump is the man makes people think," to which I laughed and said, "Uh, not really, but okay..."
Yeah, proposing that a wall be built along our southern border to try and prevent Central American immigrants from entering our country is really thought-provoking. Barring those who practice Islam from entering this country makes even Socrates sit down and go into deep-thought mode. Mocking the disabled, bashing POWs, criticizing women, these are all ways Donald Trump makes the public think... The only people Donald Trump prompts to "think" are fact-checkers, as through his seemingly nonstop barrage of BS, he often gives them more work than they can handle.
Speaking of thought, when you think about it, it's kind of funny how frequently conservatives bash liberals for allegedly pulling out the "race card," for they seem to believe the "fear card" can be used 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Which one's more effective? Oh, let's see... Minorities are continuing to strive for equal rights and opportunities in this country; are more apt to being arrested and/or killed by police; and are more prone to facing discrimination wherever they go, so the "race card" doesn't seem to be very effective. The "fear card," however, has convinced the American public to get behind seemingly constant wars, even when based on false pretenses, not to mention the unwinnable war on terror, as we go into record debt, place soldiers' lives at risk, and increase the threat of being struck by another terrorist attack in our own country.
While 9/11 was a horrifying day and I'll never forget it, it's amazing how paranoid that one day made millions of Americans. Some countries face such attacks on a daily basis, yet we get attacked in such a manner once, 14 years ago, and allow it to dictate our lives and beliefs? Give me a frickin' break... Our mentality went from "La-dee-dah, nothing can ever happen to us" to "Oh my God! We're all going to die!" No matter what we want to think, the terrorists didn't attack this country on 9/11 because they hated our "democracy" (republic). They attacked this country because we continue to meddle in foreign affairs, remove leaders we don't like (but likely put there in the first place), prompt civil wars due to this, not to mention the rise of terrorist groups, and create more haters and enemies through bombing these nations, unintentionally destroying innocent civilians' homes, and killing women and children in the process. We then get attacked on 9/11 and naively ask why: "Why us? We're innocent. We're Americans." So what do we do? Deny any wrongdoing, pick a place to attack, and do so, only to elongate the seemingly never-ending cycle of hatred and violence.
The crazy thing about all this is Americans are more likely to die in a swimming pool than via a terrorist attack. Americans are more likely to die from smoking, drinking, guns, and driving than via a terrorist attack. Yet most Americans aren't fearful of smoking, drinking, driving, or even guns. Most Americans like swimming pools. Most Americans don't wake up in the morning and think to themselves, "You know, it's probably more likely I get struck by lightning today than get attacked by a terrorist, and it's January 21st in Anchorage, Alaska!" Yet we allow this insane paranoia to control our lives and beliefs. We believe politicians' fear-inducing rhetoric of, "It's either we attack them or they attack us" or "If we don't strike them first, they're going to strike us first!" First off, that's a prime example of a false dilemma fallacy. Secondly, just imagine if we always went about our lives with such a mentality. Do these individuals seriously go about their lives thinking, "I'm walking on a busy street right now. Who knows what could happen? I better punch all these people first so they don't punch me first!"? I can only imagine such an individual possessing this mentality in a relationship... "I'm sorry, honey. While yes, I admit to sleeping with your mother, I had to cheat on you before you cheated on me." What a joyous life that would be...
Sadly, to many of these paranoid individuals, it's all about image, and with that, a false sense of security. Ronald Reagan provided this for many people, as did George W. Bush, yet where did that get us? It resulted in record-setting deficits, thousands of our soldiers being killed, neglection of our needs here at home, and an increased number of countries around the world despising us, leaving us more prone to being attacked in the future. Yet, we looked tough on television, we sounded tough on the radio, and that alone makes us feel better about ourselves.
In an ironic way, it cracks me up to hear these individuals defend their paranoia by angrily asking me, "Where were you on 9/11?" and "If you had kids, wouldn't you want them to be safe?" Yes, of course, I would, but that's completely missing the point. If these parents were so concerned for their children's well-being and futures, why wouldn't they want us to stop meddling in foreign affairs, leaving us less prone to attacks? Why wouldn't they want us to pass more gun laws since it's far more likely their kids will be killed by guns than terrorism? Why, instead of spending so much of our budget on warfare overseas, spend it on improving our schools, creating jobs, improving our infrastructure, improving our environment, and improving our healthcare system?
If some still want to believe we were attacked on 9/11 because of our "democracy," then so be it, but it'd be highly ironic to think so, for after 9/11 many of us have sacrificed our Constitutional freedoms for a false sense of security; we've blindly allowed ourselves to transform from a republic to an oligarchy; and we've gone on to neglect our needs, health, and well-being at home in the process. But, hey, so long as we look and sound tough to the world, that's all that matters, right? Paranoia: fear of the unknown, making us delusional in the process, as we constantly ponder about hypotheticals of our lives ending, preventing us from fully living today.
Just last night, I heard a person say, "One thing I like about Donald Trump is the man makes people think," to which I laughed and said, "Uh, not really, but okay..."
Yeah, proposing that a wall be built along our southern border to try and prevent Central American immigrants from entering our country is really thought-provoking. Barring those who practice Islam from entering this country makes even Socrates sit down and go into deep-thought mode. Mocking the disabled, bashing POWs, criticizing women, these are all ways Donald Trump makes the public think... The only people Donald Trump prompts to "think" are fact-checkers, as through his seemingly nonstop barrage of BS, he often gives them more work than they can handle.
Speaking of thought, when you think about it, it's kind of funny how frequently conservatives bash liberals for allegedly pulling out the "race card," for they seem to believe the "fear card" can be used 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Which one's more effective? Oh, let's see... Minorities are continuing to strive for equal rights and opportunities in this country; are more apt to being arrested and/or killed by police; and are more prone to facing discrimination wherever they go, so the "race card" doesn't seem to be very effective. The "fear card," however, has convinced the American public to get behind seemingly constant wars, even when based on false pretenses, not to mention the unwinnable war on terror, as we go into record debt, place soldiers' lives at risk, and increase the threat of being struck by another terrorist attack in our own country.
While 9/11 was a horrifying day and I'll never forget it, it's amazing how paranoid that one day made millions of Americans. Some countries face such attacks on a daily basis, yet we get attacked in such a manner once, 14 years ago, and allow it to dictate our lives and beliefs? Give me a frickin' break... Our mentality went from "La-dee-dah, nothing can ever happen to us" to "Oh my God! We're all going to die!" No matter what we want to think, the terrorists didn't attack this country on 9/11 because they hated our "democracy" (republic). They attacked this country because we continue to meddle in foreign affairs, remove leaders we don't like (but likely put there in the first place), prompt civil wars due to this, not to mention the rise of terrorist groups, and create more haters and enemies through bombing these nations, unintentionally destroying innocent civilians' homes, and killing women and children in the process. We then get attacked on 9/11 and naively ask why: "Why us? We're innocent. We're Americans." So what do we do? Deny any wrongdoing, pick a place to attack, and do so, only to elongate the seemingly never-ending cycle of hatred and violence.
The crazy thing about all this is Americans are more likely to die in a swimming pool than via a terrorist attack. Americans are more likely to die from smoking, drinking, guns, and driving than via a terrorist attack. Yet most Americans aren't fearful of smoking, drinking, driving, or even guns. Most Americans like swimming pools. Most Americans don't wake up in the morning and think to themselves, "You know, it's probably more likely I get struck by lightning today than get attacked by a terrorist, and it's January 21st in Anchorage, Alaska!" Yet we allow this insane paranoia to control our lives and beliefs. We believe politicians' fear-inducing rhetoric of, "It's either we attack them or they attack us" or "If we don't strike them first, they're going to strike us first!" First off, that's a prime example of a false dilemma fallacy. Secondly, just imagine if we always went about our lives with such a mentality. Do these individuals seriously go about their lives thinking, "I'm walking on a busy street right now. Who knows what could happen? I better punch all these people first so they don't punch me first!"? I can only imagine such an individual possessing this mentality in a relationship... "I'm sorry, honey. While yes, I admit to sleeping with your mother, I had to cheat on you before you cheated on me." What a joyous life that would be...
Sadly, to many of these paranoid individuals, it's all about image, and with that, a false sense of security. Ronald Reagan provided this for many people, as did George W. Bush, yet where did that get us? It resulted in record-setting deficits, thousands of our soldiers being killed, neglection of our needs here at home, and an increased number of countries around the world despising us, leaving us more prone to being attacked in the future. Yet, we looked tough on television, we sounded tough on the radio, and that alone makes us feel better about ourselves.
In an ironic way, it cracks me up to hear these individuals defend their paranoia by angrily asking me, "Where were you on 9/11?" and "If you had kids, wouldn't you want them to be safe?" Yes, of course, I would, but that's completely missing the point. If these parents were so concerned for their children's well-being and futures, why wouldn't they want us to stop meddling in foreign affairs, leaving us less prone to attacks? Why wouldn't they want us to pass more gun laws since it's far more likely their kids will be killed by guns than terrorism? Why, instead of spending so much of our budget on warfare overseas, spend it on improving our schools, creating jobs, improving our infrastructure, improving our environment, and improving our healthcare system?
If some still want to believe we were attacked on 9/11 because of our "democracy," then so be it, but it'd be highly ironic to think so, for after 9/11 many of us have sacrificed our Constitutional freedoms for a false sense of security; we've blindly allowed ourselves to transform from a republic to an oligarchy; and we've gone on to neglect our needs, health, and well-being at home in the process. But, hey, so long as we look and sound tough to the world, that's all that matters, right? Paranoia: fear of the unknown, making us delusional in the process, as we constantly ponder about hypotheticals of our lives ending, preventing us from fully living today.
I like to sit back and just listen to the types of people who make the argument for paranoia. There is definitely a class (and usually educational) issue regarding this mentality. I swear! Nicely stated.
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