Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Philosophical musings

As I sift through the news, there's a barrage of current events to choose from, most of them bad, as per usual. Since I've been particularly interested in extremist mind sets and actions as of late (in a non-extremist kind of way), I thought it appropriate to dedicate this post to the extremist headline-makers, the soldiers at the front of this ideological war. To quote a wise man, Eric Hoffer, "It is startling to realize how much unbelief is necessary to make belief possible." How true that is. Extremists make it an art to completely disregard the world around them, while simultaneously trying to make the news...a slight anomaly? Of course - that's the point. Extremists do not live in the present. They focus on the future when their superior ideology will reign supreme over the dark graveyard they created through the slaying of the lesser non-believers. Anyone who has ever entered into an ill-advised conversation with a religious extremist or extreme leftist or liberal knows what I'm talking about.
Logic bounces off of them like arrows at Mt. Everest. Their self righteousness and arrogance rivals the far reaches of that great mountain as well. The more you try and present logical reasoning, current events or just plain common sense to rebut their arguments, the stronger they hold fast to them. There is no truth outside of their beliefs, no question that can not be answered with a steadfast pledge to their doctrine. Their every day lives and experiences are not a part of the present, nor are they - everything is tied to their beliefs. It is a sad irony that the people most engaged in trying to blow the present to smithereens are the people least familiar with it.
So, am I just sitting here depressingly writing this post, saying there's no hope b/c it's only a matter time before the wack jobs get the bomb? No. It's more a question of how to fight extremism. Hate breeds hate and war breeds war. What are we proving by invading countries preaching democracy? What business do we have policing countries we know nothing about? Corpotacracy is our extreme religion and our extreme government. We are so entrenched in it, we can not see the present for what it is, we do not see the headlines of thousands dying under a US flag. We do not see this. Ignorance is no excuse, apathy is an even shittier excuse. You can't expect someone to give up their gun when your hand is firmly on the trigger. The longer we escalate with our false do-gooder mantra, the longer we extremely and dangerously ignore the present truth: we are as much the extremist mad men that our enemies are...and we have a bigger red button.

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