Sunday, July 23, 2006

What is wrong with the world?

Recently I have been considering this in some detail. My conclusions are depressingly predictable, but hear me out!!! The case is compelling.

What is wrong with the world? The short answer? The Republican Party of the United States. They represent the core of what is currently our most pressing collective problem. Sure there are subsidiary causes, but at the heart of it all, are an elite core of the republican party. Possibly the most evil group of morons ever foisted on an unsuspecting world.

Let me give you some examples.
There is almost zero “debate” on the validity of global warming and evolution in the rest of the developed world, and precious little about that human caviar the blastocyst.

Yet these are hot topics in the US, why? Why is this the only developed country in the world confused and divided? The answer is crystal clear, the Bush regime in particular, and Republicans in general are propped up by a 10% base of religious fanatics that lap all this nonsense up, and they pander shamelessly to this constituency.

I mean politicians actually articulating a belief in utter unabridged mythology like the Rapture!!!!! Sheeese ….. nowhere else in the developed world could you get away with that, you’d be rightly dismissed as a lunatic.

This is not to say the religious people are evil, stupid or poorly educated. Many quite intelligent people are "believers" of one stripe or another. I present myself as exhibit A:-). Although I hasten to add comprehensivley lapsed.

The effect of constantly trying to reconcile the belief against reality is corrosive to cognition generally. One slips easily into the practice of ignoring reality where it conflicts with a cherished belief, and when something else comes along that does the same thing, the circuits to ignore the contradicting reality are all in place.

For example the US government is largely made up of incompetent, amoral assholes, the supporting evidence for this contention is overwhelming. Yet 30-40% of the population persist in providing their support to these people. The cognitive disconnect that allows this, in otherwise normal people, is amplified and nourished by fervent religious belief.

I say this as a person who had a “personal faith” for decades, and finally snapped out of it. Courtesy ironically enough of GWB. His actions and their results, shoved the inconsistencies of faith into my face with such vigour and frequency, that I finally gave up trying to reconcile them.

It is intriuging to note that a 30-40% theme is emerging in the US. That number :
Support Bush.
Believe they are “winning” in Iraq.
Believe it makes sense to “tag” muslims in the US.
Don’t want a timetable for withdrawal.

The 10% of Christian Fundamentalists that shore up the Republican Party, are a critical subset of this group. It is clear they want a genocidal WWII class war that will kill millions in the middle east, that provides "moral clarity" or perhaps Armageddon. These people are not dismayed and horrified by terrorist attacks and efforts but excited by them, because it has the potential to herd a critical mass of bleating, frightened sheeple into their "KILL THEM, KILL THEM ALL" camp.

The bottom line? The Republicans would rather govern based on a pack of lies, than not govern. They would rather undermine and hinder the science that keeps us healthy, warm and well fed, to garner that critical 10% of the vote, than campaign on real issues like healthcare, not blowing stuff up and the environment.

Their selfish and foolish short term strategy gives these people a platform and "hey presto!!!!" suddenly half the country is questioning established science, making poor choices across the spectrum, and worst of all, electing people like GWB. When this applies to the most powerful country the world has ever seen, it affects us all.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

Free Hit Counter
Lemon Law