More brilliance from Bill Whittle:
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Thursday, January 3, 2013
2013 America: few with morals in site
Yep, immorality is on the rise in 2013. Browsing a few commentaries at PJ Media today, one lays out the specifics very well by Bryan Preston Can you fight futility?:
"When you have more takers than makers, as seen in the eleven “death spiral states,” you have people helping themselves to the fruit of other people’s labors. In the current president, we have a man encouraging that behavior on a grand scale, with his callous class warfare and continuous assault on “the rich” and “those who aren’t paying their fair share.” He was re-elected running up larger deficits than the ones he called “unpatriotic” when it was convenient for him. He was re-elected never defining what “fair” is or explaining in detail what taxpayers are getting for their money. He was re-elected breaking his word. More Americans know about and are enraged by Dan Quayle and “potatoe” than the fact that their taxes just went up, that their president lied, and that we’re still hurtling toward the mathematical fact that our nation is on track to spend itself into bankruptcy. They don’t realize, or just don’t care, that this president once labeled his own policies “irresponsible” and “unpatriotic,” and that if he was right then, then he must be wrong now.
I can sit here arguing all day and all night, here in this space or on Twitter or Facebook or wherever eyeballs happen to be, how awful all this is but it does no good at all. As soon as you bring up the m-word — moral — you lose most of your audience. Most Republicans no longer want to hear that word, let alone Democrats or independents. To use it is to jostle up memories of that world that’s gone, Father Knows Best and all that. It’s antiquated. Quaint. Intolerant. Gets you labeled as a crank and dismissed.
So we fight the details of this or that policy in utter futility. We’re nibbling around the edges of the crisis, though. The next assault will be against a fundamental right enshrined in clear ink and with clear purpose, the right to bear arms. Having surrendered the right to be left alone, and having severely damaged the freedom to think, and having pushed our transcendent beliefs off to the margins, it may be easier than it has been in times past to assault the right to self-defense. A moral people would realize that the move to grab firearms from the law-abiding is going to empower criminals and politicians — sorry to be redundant — while doing nothing to make anyone safer. That assault will be followed by others, and phony crises and posturing and heavy spin. A moral people would see through the spin. A moral people would discern truth from lie.
But are we that anymore? For the answer, just look at the quality of the people we have placed in power over us. Just look at the things we choose to care about, and the things we let slip by without them bothering us."
Mr. Preston is right, "we" aren't a moral majority any more in America. So, who cares? I turn 50 this year and my New Year's resolution this year is to care more about MYSELF, my family, friends and my life. Tough cookies for you, lefties. Illinois is one of the 11 'death spiral' states Mr. Preston mentioned. Well, of course it is. Not my problem.
I wrote the following on Dr. Helen' PJ Media post New Year's Resolutions so I quote myself:
"I’ve been venting by blogging, facebook-ing and now twittering, but I think I’m just preaching to the choir. Lefties in my family just shake their head and don’t listen to my “crazy ranting” (I don’t, I just offer the truth)…
Who am I kidding? The left love their lives and they will love them to the demise of everyone else since the end (their utopia) justifies the means. I see the USA going down, slowly, with help from pansy “Republicans” in power, who vote along with Dems to keep their place at the treasury trough...
But see, there I go again, obsessing about politics.
OK I realize I cannot stop caring about America. I do… but I don’t live there any more, so who am I? I’m just an expat, who was lucky enough to live through Reagan times and had a very rude awakening in 2008 when I realized the “country” was filled with leftist nincompoops in power (media, schools, political offices) all over the place...
Yep, I love capitalism – but I live in a quasi-socialist country now (NZ)… and I’m not fully enjoying myself. I have to find the good… I plan to get involved (as much as I can) locally to see if I can help stem the tide of NZ’s own march towards communism. Dunno if anyone will listen to me down here. I follow conservative NZ politicians so will continue that...
Well, summer here while USA has winter – so that is a good thing.
I’ll continue my “ranting” about the truth and how it is all citizens responsibility to keep their government accountable. I will cheer all gains by center-right-moderates in the USA. I’ll stop stressing, but keep talkin'
I can’t “un-know” stuff now… too late, I know the truth.
Damn… (deep breath, enjoy my life, family, friends, pets, beautiful home, great job, OK health and gorgeous country... I can do it... breathe...)"
In conclusion on my thoughts for today, why should I care about leftists? They are getting exactly what they want. The media, Hollyweird, schools are all teaching leftism to kids. This has been going on since the 1960s and longer. We have reached full indoctrination point. Sure, there are teens and 20-somethings who care about conservatism, are participating in T.E.A. parties, speaking out, doing great youtubies, blogging, etc. These youth are rare diamonds. The rest of 'em have complete apathy about what is going on - exactly how Mr. Preston describes.
Sad really. I'll remember the 'good old days' for me - which were under Reagan. 8 years of bliss - I didn't worry about America at all. My president was handling things, big things and kickin' a&& globally. We had star wars, business growth, financial reckonings and the end (even if temporary?) of the cold war. The wall did come down. We were the shining city on the hill. I'll have those wonderful happy 1980's memories... until I leave the planet. I'll always have it and it cannot be taken away... You can have your Snooky, your O-phones, your immorality, your welfare baby momma handouts, your abortions, your gay marriage, your leftism and your march to communism. How fun for you!
I already know better. I'll be a good citizen and speak out, maybe, here and there... but, psst, hey lefties, I just don't care about you any more. When the gubmit $$ runs out, and it will, you'll finally be on your own. Too bad you won't have a clue on what to do then... good luck, don't let the door hit you in the a&& on your way out.
"When you have more takers than makers, as seen in the eleven “death spiral states,” you have people helping themselves to the fruit of other people’s labors. In the current president, we have a man encouraging that behavior on a grand scale, with his callous class warfare and continuous assault on “the rich” and “those who aren’t paying their fair share.” He was re-elected running up larger deficits than the ones he called “unpatriotic” when it was convenient for him. He was re-elected never defining what “fair” is or explaining in detail what taxpayers are getting for their money. He was re-elected breaking his word. More Americans know about and are enraged by Dan Quayle and “potatoe” than the fact that their taxes just went up, that their president lied, and that we’re still hurtling toward the mathematical fact that our nation is on track to spend itself into bankruptcy. They don’t realize, or just don’t care, that this president once labeled his own policies “irresponsible” and “unpatriotic,” and that if he was right then, then he must be wrong now.
I can sit here arguing all day and all night, here in this space or on Twitter or Facebook or wherever eyeballs happen to be, how awful all this is but it does no good at all. As soon as you bring up the m-word — moral — you lose most of your audience. Most Republicans no longer want to hear that word, let alone Democrats or independents. To use it is to jostle up memories of that world that’s gone, Father Knows Best and all that. It’s antiquated. Quaint. Intolerant. Gets you labeled as a crank and dismissed.
So we fight the details of this or that policy in utter futility. We’re nibbling around the edges of the crisis, though. The next assault will be against a fundamental right enshrined in clear ink and with clear purpose, the right to bear arms. Having surrendered the right to be left alone, and having severely damaged the freedom to think, and having pushed our transcendent beliefs off to the margins, it may be easier than it has been in times past to assault the right to self-defense. A moral people would realize that the move to grab firearms from the law-abiding is going to empower criminals and politicians — sorry to be redundant — while doing nothing to make anyone safer. That assault will be followed by others, and phony crises and posturing and heavy spin. A moral people would see through the spin. A moral people would discern truth from lie.
But are we that anymore? For the answer, just look at the quality of the people we have placed in power over us. Just look at the things we choose to care about, and the things we let slip by without them bothering us."
Mr. Preston is right, "we" aren't a moral majority any more in America. So, who cares? I turn 50 this year and my New Year's resolution this year is to care more about MYSELF, my family, friends and my life. Tough cookies for you, lefties. Illinois is one of the 11 'death spiral' states Mr. Preston mentioned. Well, of course it is. Not my problem.
I wrote the following on Dr. Helen' PJ Media post New Year's Resolutions so I quote myself:
"I’ve been venting by blogging, facebook-ing and now twittering, but I think I’m just preaching to the choir. Lefties in my family just shake their head and don’t listen to my “crazy ranting” (I don’t, I just offer the truth)…
Who am I kidding? The left love their lives and they will love them to the demise of everyone else since the end (their utopia) justifies the means. I see the USA going down, slowly, with help from pansy “Republicans” in power, who vote along with Dems to keep their place at the treasury trough...
But see, there I go again, obsessing about politics.
OK I realize I cannot stop caring about America. I do… but I don’t live there any more, so who am I? I’m just an expat, who was lucky enough to live through Reagan times and had a very rude awakening in 2008 when I realized the “country” was filled with leftist nincompoops in power (media, schools, political offices) all over the place...
Yep, I love capitalism – but I live in a quasi-socialist country now (NZ)… and I’m not fully enjoying myself. I have to find the good… I plan to get involved (as much as I can) locally to see if I can help stem the tide of NZ’s own march towards communism. Dunno if anyone will listen to me down here. I follow conservative NZ politicians so will continue that...
Well, summer here while USA has winter – so that is a good thing.
I’ll continue my “ranting” about the truth and how it is all citizens responsibility to keep their government accountable. I will cheer all gains by center-right-moderates in the USA. I’ll stop stressing, but keep talkin'
I can’t “un-know” stuff now… too late, I know the truth.
Damn… (deep breath, enjoy my life, family, friends, pets, beautiful home, great job, OK health and gorgeous country... I can do it... breathe...)"
In conclusion on my thoughts for today, why should I care about leftists? They are getting exactly what they want. The media, Hollyweird, schools are all teaching leftism to kids. This has been going on since the 1960s and longer. We have reached full indoctrination point. Sure, there are teens and 20-somethings who care about conservatism, are participating in T.E.A. parties, speaking out, doing great youtubies, blogging, etc. These youth are rare diamonds. The rest of 'em have complete apathy about what is going on - exactly how Mr. Preston describes.
Sad really. I'll remember the 'good old days' for me - which were under Reagan. 8 years of bliss - I didn't worry about America at all. My president was handling things, big things and kickin' a&& globally. We had star wars, business growth, financial reckonings and the end (even if temporary?) of the cold war. The wall did come down. We were the shining city on the hill. I'll have those wonderful happy 1980's memories... until I leave the planet. I'll always have it and it cannot be taken away... You can have your Snooky, your O-phones, your immorality, your welfare baby momma handouts, your abortions, your gay marriage, your leftism and your march to communism. How fun for you!
I already know better. I'll be a good citizen and speak out, maybe, here and there... but, psst, hey lefties, I just don't care about you any more. When the gubmit $$ runs out, and it will, you'll finally be on your own. Too bad you won't have a clue on what to do then... good luck, don't let the door hit you in the a&& on your way out.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Merry Christmas and Boxing Day
We had a lovely New Zealand style Christmas yesterday all afternoon at mum's house. My husband's family tradition is a huge lunch buffet, then open presents, then have lots of pudding (dessert).
This year I brought a Pumpkin pie and some warm artichoke dip and crackers. Both were yum. Shane's sister, nieces and mum made garden salad, rice salad, potato salad. My niece's beau brought turkey and stuffing he had made. Besides turkey, we had sliced ham, sliced chicken. Mum made a big bowl of orange fruit punch with lemonade (soda). She put out a plate of nuts and dried fruit. It was a good spread.
We brought our 2 dogs with - Lady the King Charles Cavalier Spaniel and Kiki the Basenji. My husband's sister brought their 2 dogs - both Shitzoos: Merlin and Guenivere. Mum has a large black Belgian Shephard named Ruby. We got their first and brought three dogs downstairs to mum's outdoor patio and closed the glass ranch slider so they could have a romp and go pee if needed.
My husband and I brought in our food and presents to add under mum's tree. We open presents downstairs which leads to the outside patio - and we have lunch upstairs in the open plan large kitchen, dining room and lounge (living room). My husband's father (who passed last year) built their family home from scratch back in the 1960's when they moved to Titirangi NZ up from Taranaki. The home is built on a small hill so you drive in from the street, park in the carport and enter the house on the top floor where the kitchen is. Down the hall from the kitchen is 2 bedrooms and a full bathroom. The downstairs has a 2nd large lounge, laundry room, 2 adjoined bedrooms and a 2nd full bathroom. They raised 2 girls and 1 boy in this large family home. The upstairs has a beautiful macro carpa wood ceiling. Kitchen and bathroom have lovely polished wood floors and carpeting throughout the rest of the home. It is a big house just for my husband's mother on her own. But she has her large Shepard watchdog and my oldest niece is living there, too for maybe another year or two.
After we had lunch - with the 3 small dogs Merlin, Guenivere and Lady - we all headed downstairs for present opening. We let in, from outside, Ruby and Kiki - and the present opening began.
I got some hand made soap, some clothes, pajamas, cement garden goose, cooking oil dispensers, mortar and pestile, plexiglass flower decorated cutting board and 3 flowering plants to plant in my garden. We gave a couple doggie toys so those were unwapped so the dogs had something to play with. Our 4 year old niece got quiet a few activity toys so she started playing with those right away. We gave my 22 year old niece and her fiance a camping radio and rock climbing coupon for an indoor climbing place they like. We found batteries and got the camping radio playing songs plugged into my husband's iPhone - a Brooke Frasier album sounded nice on this little player.
We all opened our presents. My brother-in-law, a skilled auto mechanic and motor cycle enthusiast enjoyed a book we gave him which has lots of antique car pictures. He enjoyed his presents, then took a nap on the couch where he sat. After 1-2 hours of present opening by the group, this always tires him out and he falls asleep, My husband joined in with my 4 year old niece playing a little mechanical fishing game. After a bit, my husband wadded up some used Christmas paper and threw a wad or two from across the room trying to wake up my brother-in-law. I think he beaned him on the head and he finally awoke.
We all started filing back upstairs ready for pudding. NZ calls dessert pudding - you may or may not get actual pudding. Mum made a trifle and a pavlova. Someone brought a big bowl of fruit salad. I made the pumpkin pie. Mum also made blue, purple and red striped jello. We also had a container of vanilla custard and mini bite size custard and strawberry pies. My niece made chocolate and marshmellow hokey-pokey. We all had a plate or two of dessert and retired to couches and chairs to play some card games, watch TV and have a chat - or nap. I fell asleep for a few minutes with my Cavalier Lady sitting on my lap. Kiki and Ruby tired each other out playing chase up and down the stairs. Merlin is blind so he was carried up and down the stairs a couple times so he could go potty outside.
The weather for our NZ Christmas was grey all day and bit drizzly at times. It was very humid - and we have the same weather today on Boxing Day.
We are heading out soon to hit mum's for a leftover lunch and go shopping for a present for ourselves - we've been saving up to get a new barbeque. My husband is keen to get one that has a glass panel to see how the insides are cooking. I just want one that won't rust after 5 years. But it rains a lot here, it is a rain forest so I think 5 years is average lifespan for a bbq in NZ.
That was my Christmas this year. I sent packages to Chicago and Paris where various family members live. They didn't send me anything, but they did email me so they remembered I still exist down here in the South Pacific. We have a summer Christmas here, but we have a great time sharing the day with our NZ family.
While the world is always in strife, I wish peace and love to you and yours and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season no matter where you are.
 |
| native Pohutukowa "Christmas" Trees on NZ beach - they bloom in Dec |
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Nugent on why America likes guns
As shared on Facebook today, I found this - it is clear enough for anyone, even if you prefer not to defend yourself - Mr. Ted explains the right to defend yourself aka why Americans like guns:
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
anger, morality, nihilism, right, wrong
So many topics, so little time...
I have been thinking a lot this week about Anger. There seem to be many instances last few years (decades?) where humans aren't handling their anger very well. One of my sisters has worked herself up into a self induced anger directed at me - she is so mad she's not speaking to me. (well, its a long story on how it got this bad, but so far her not-speaking thing works for me)
Has anger changed much since the human species began walking upright on the planet? Naah, probably not. All human, all animals experience anger. Animals go on instinct so they really don't get "angry"... But humans sure do - and they then act on it. A moral person might act on their anger when believing they are morally justified. Is the definition of moral justification for acting out in anger these days changing? When is it justified? If you are cuttoff in a car by another, no, sorry, you are not morally justified to rage in anger or shoot that person... it is just traffic for pete's sake.
After the school shooting this week in Connecticut, the left wails and gnashes their teeth demanding more gun control and more 'gun free zones' from their favorite nanny government. "Do something!" they cry... but what "something"? Take away American guns? Why punish law abiding citizens by depriving their rights to protect themselves when a crazed person commits some crime?
In Guns, Guns, Guns, Daniel Greenfield points out you cannot stop a mentally deranged person from killing another person - you have to kill them first. Goes back to a bible story ya'll: Cain and Abel - one brother kills another - no guns used at all.
Good article in NRO has some Facts About Mass Shootings. Author John Fund points out:
"In fact, the high point for mass killings in the U.S. was 1929, according to criminologist Grant Duwe of the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
Incidents of mass murder in the U.S. declined from 42 in the 1990s to 26 in the first decade of this century.
The chances of being killed in a mass shooting are about what they are for being struck by lightning.
Until the Newtown horror, the three worst K–12 school shootings ever had taken place in either Britain or Germany.
Almost all of the public-policy discussion about Newtown has focused on a debate over the need for more gun control. In reality, gun control in a country that already has 200 million privately owned firearms is likely to do little to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals. We would be better off debating two taboo subjects — the laws that make it difficult to control people with mental illness and the growing body of evidence that “gun-free” zones, which ban the carrying of firearms by law-abiding individuals, don’t work."
Anger fuels a crazy person - they do things society isn't happy with. Go postal. Have road rage...
Mass killings? That concept sure seems CELEBRATED by the Islam cultists. Suicide bombings and killing innocents for Allah is their jihadi way, isn't it. They prove THEY do not have "morals" the rest of the modern world supposedly has.
However, millions of babies are killed legally in the USA by abortion - thousands every day. The LEFT promotes this killing. So WHY would they be SO upset a few 5 year old kids are killed? They surely wouldn't be upset if their parents opted for abortion 5 years ago, would they?
Who can best explain the whole "justified anger" thing? Jihadis think their anger is justified - they are angry at anyone who isn't muslim - anyone who isn't muslim offends them so they get angry. Goes back to crazy person wants to kill you: you will have to kill them first.
About that morality thing and anger - I enjoyed the comments on this article - the very first one by Nate13 who says:
"I hate to become a one-trick pony on these message boards, but I'm going to bring up an old theme I've been harping on lately: nihilism.
We live in an age of moral relativism that, having no foundation on which to stand, is rapidly descending into nihilism - the absence of morality or any justification for it. I'm going to leave the shooter's intentions alone for the time, as I'm sure those will be discussed at length for weeks.
I'm talking about nihilism not just in the shooter, but in the broader culture that attempts to understand these horrific events without a moral reference point. In the aftermath, we attempt to get more and more legalistic, bureaucratic, and technocratic to solve problems that can't be legislated away.
These events are products of sick, evil people in an increasingly sick culture that has no stomach for "outdated" concepts like absolute right and wrong. We believe if we could just pass enough well-worded laws, we could eliminate this behavior from society. We treat these tragedies as outputs, thinking that we can just tinker with the inputs enough to get our desired results.
For God's sake, the bodies were still warm and we were already talking about piles upon piles of statistics, as if the problem of violent gun crime could be solved mathematically with some study or Congressional inquiry. I'm afraid that, absent the presence of morality in our discussions of these murders, we have no tools to solve the underlying problems except legalism and policy making. People will keep fixating on the problems with guns because we've become woefully inadequate at talking about problems inherent in humanity.
It always amuses me in pitying way when I hear people retreat even further into nihilism after an event like this by making that old appeal to the "Argument of Evil" which asks, "If there truly is a good god, why does he allow such evil deeds?" As if the very presence of evil invalidates the possibility or under-pinning for good!
Forgive my frustration, but what right do we have to even speak about evil in our society? We are so immersed in violence, greed, sex, instant gratification, and materialism that we've lost all sense of what evil even looks like. To know evil, you must first know good. And while we work ourselves into a righteous huff over "evil" for 2% of the year when these disgusting acts occur, for the other 98% we desperately try to rebel against all forms of conventional morality - that cramps our style, doesn't it?
A child one minute before passing through the birth canal can have a pair of surgical scissors put through his or her brain without society batting an eye. A fully formed, breathing, crying, desperate, helpless baby who is the result of a botched abortion has no entitlement to life in parts of this "enlightened" Western world. And we talk about "evil"?
Government officials pass guns to cartels to slaughter civilians, and we get to talk about "evil"?
Corrupt businessmen get to use their connections to the power brokers in Washington to access public funds to bail out their billion dollar corporations (who went broke in part due to unbridled greed), and we sit here and talk about evil?
We can start talking about "evil" when we as a society find our lost sense of "good". But we can't relegate morality to the fringes, then demand to know where God was."
I'll end this with an observation - I was defending the American gun culture in my office lunch room today to a British individual and New Zealander (kiwi). They both think Americans are crazy to have so many guns. I say teachers and principals in schools should have guns available to them - the CT shooting was over in 2 minutes. If an armed teacher was available right there when they saw an armed person enter the school with guns and start shooting: wouldn't that have made a difference? Could a few children been saved? Of course.
I think its crazy NZ police don't carry handguns on their hips. I think its crazy British still have a monarchy sucking up millions of dollars in resources - which could probably be more beneficiary to the citizens. What is the relevancy of inbred monarch system in a modern world? I don't get it... but then again, I'm an American.
America was started by fighting off tyranny... with guns. I don't have a problem with guns or with all law abiding, responsible citizens owning guns. Crims already have guns ya'll...duh.
My American culture relies on individuals - not the government - to assist each other. As they saying goes "When there are seconds to spare, the police are 2 minutes away".
I believe in the right to defend myself and my property from a gun wielding bad guy. That is the American way... Individual responsibility... and it makes me angry the USA leftist government want to take away those rights. I'm moral and right.
I have been thinking a lot this week about Anger. There seem to be many instances last few years (decades?) where humans aren't handling their anger very well. One of my sisters has worked herself up into a self induced anger directed at me - she is so mad she's not speaking to me. (well, its a long story on how it got this bad, but so far her not-speaking thing works for me)
Has anger changed much since the human species began walking upright on the planet? Naah, probably not. All human, all animals experience anger. Animals go on instinct so they really don't get "angry"... But humans sure do - and they then act on it. A moral person might act on their anger when believing they are morally justified. Is the definition of moral justification for acting out in anger these days changing? When is it justified? If you are cuttoff in a car by another, no, sorry, you are not morally justified to rage in anger or shoot that person... it is just traffic for pete's sake.
After the school shooting this week in Connecticut, the left wails and gnashes their teeth demanding more gun control and more 'gun free zones' from their favorite nanny government. "Do something!" they cry... but what "something"? Take away American guns? Why punish law abiding citizens by depriving their rights to protect themselves when a crazed person commits some crime?
In Guns, Guns, Guns, Daniel Greenfield points out you cannot stop a mentally deranged person from killing another person - you have to kill them first. Goes back to a bible story ya'll: Cain and Abel - one brother kills another - no guns used at all.
Good article in NRO has some Facts About Mass Shootings. Author John Fund points out:
"In fact, the high point for mass killings in the U.S. was 1929, according to criminologist Grant Duwe of the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
Incidents of mass murder in the U.S. declined from 42 in the 1990s to 26 in the first decade of this century.
The chances of being killed in a mass shooting are about what they are for being struck by lightning.
Until the Newtown horror, the three worst K–12 school shootings ever had taken place in either Britain or Germany.
Almost all of the public-policy discussion about Newtown has focused on a debate over the need for more gun control. In reality, gun control in a country that already has 200 million privately owned firearms is likely to do little to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals. We would be better off debating two taboo subjects — the laws that make it difficult to control people with mental illness and the growing body of evidence that “gun-free” zones, which ban the carrying of firearms by law-abiding individuals, don’t work."
Anger fuels a crazy person - they do things society isn't happy with. Go postal. Have road rage...
Mass killings? That concept sure seems CELEBRATED by the Islam cultists. Suicide bombings and killing innocents for Allah is their jihadi way, isn't it. They prove THEY do not have "morals" the rest of the modern world supposedly has.
However, millions of babies are killed legally in the USA by abortion - thousands every day. The LEFT promotes this killing. So WHY would they be SO upset a few 5 year old kids are killed? They surely wouldn't be upset if their parents opted for abortion 5 years ago, would they?
Who can best explain the whole "justified anger" thing? Jihadis think their anger is justified - they are angry at anyone who isn't muslim - anyone who isn't muslim offends them so they get angry. Goes back to crazy person wants to kill you: you will have to kill them first.
About that morality thing and anger - I enjoyed the comments on this article - the very first one by Nate13 who says:
"I hate to become a one-trick pony on these message boards, but I'm going to bring up an old theme I've been harping on lately: nihilism.
We live in an age of moral relativism that, having no foundation on which to stand, is rapidly descending into nihilism - the absence of morality or any justification for it. I'm going to leave the shooter's intentions alone for the time, as I'm sure those will be discussed at length for weeks.
I'm talking about nihilism not just in the shooter, but in the broader culture that attempts to understand these horrific events without a moral reference point. In the aftermath, we attempt to get more and more legalistic, bureaucratic, and technocratic to solve problems that can't be legislated away.
These events are products of sick, evil people in an increasingly sick culture that has no stomach for "outdated" concepts like absolute right and wrong. We believe if we could just pass enough well-worded laws, we could eliminate this behavior from society. We treat these tragedies as outputs, thinking that we can just tinker with the inputs enough to get our desired results.
For God's sake, the bodies were still warm and we were already talking about piles upon piles of statistics, as if the problem of violent gun crime could be solved mathematically with some study or Congressional inquiry. I'm afraid that, absent the presence of morality in our discussions of these murders, we have no tools to solve the underlying problems except legalism and policy making. People will keep fixating on the problems with guns because we've become woefully inadequate at talking about problems inherent in humanity.
It always amuses me in pitying way when I hear people retreat even further into nihilism after an event like this by making that old appeal to the "Argument of Evil" which asks, "If there truly is a good god, why does he allow such evil deeds?" As if the very presence of evil invalidates the possibility or under-pinning for good!
Forgive my frustration, but what right do we have to even speak about evil in our society? We are so immersed in violence, greed, sex, instant gratification, and materialism that we've lost all sense of what evil even looks like. To know evil, you must first know good. And while we work ourselves into a righteous huff over "evil" for 2% of the year when these disgusting acts occur, for the other 98% we desperately try to rebel against all forms of conventional morality - that cramps our style, doesn't it?
A child one minute before passing through the birth canal can have a pair of surgical scissors put through his or her brain without society batting an eye. A fully formed, breathing, crying, desperate, helpless baby who is the result of a botched abortion has no entitlement to life in parts of this "enlightened" Western world. And we talk about "evil"?
Government officials pass guns to cartels to slaughter civilians, and we get to talk about "evil"?
Corrupt businessmen get to use their connections to the power brokers in Washington to access public funds to bail out their billion dollar corporations (who went broke in part due to unbridled greed), and we sit here and talk about evil?
We can start talking about "evil" when we as a society find our lost sense of "good". But we can't relegate morality to the fringes, then demand to know where God was."
I'll end this with an observation - I was defending the American gun culture in my office lunch room today to a British individual and New Zealander (kiwi). They both think Americans are crazy to have so many guns. I say teachers and principals in schools should have guns available to them - the CT shooting was over in 2 minutes. If an armed teacher was available right there when they saw an armed person enter the school with guns and start shooting: wouldn't that have made a difference? Could a few children been saved? Of course.
I think its crazy NZ police don't carry handguns on their hips. I think its crazy British still have a monarchy sucking up millions of dollars in resources - which could probably be more beneficiary to the citizens. What is the relevancy of inbred monarch system in a modern world? I don't get it... but then again, I'm an American.
America was started by fighting off tyranny... with guns. I don't have a problem with guns or with all law abiding, responsible citizens owning guns. Crims already have guns ya'll...duh.
My American culture relies on individuals - not the government - to assist each other. As they saying goes "When there are seconds to spare, the police are 2 minutes away".
I believe in the right to defend myself and my property from a gun wielding bad guy. That is the American way... Individual responsibility... and it makes me angry the USA leftist government want to take away those rights. I'm moral and right.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Whittle: USA needs some serious people
Where is Mr. Whittle wrong?
Exactly.
He's accurate and correct.
USA will not survive until some serious people are found.
Are you one of 'em?!
Friday, December 7, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
