What luck for rulers that men do not think. - Hitler
It doesn't seem to matter how long I live - I have yet to cease being surprised at how unnecessarily ingorunt almost all people choose to be - and absolutely insist upon remaining. My jaw drops open so often that I'll soon hold the record for Best Human Flycatcher.
Until I'm in The Guinness Book of World Records from my amazement at our culture of hyper-massive ingorunce, I offer this profile. I try to keep it simple, so even first-graders and drunks can follow along. Hopefully, these are not one and the same.
I actually have something in common with them - want the truth? Ask a kid or a drunk. Of course, you may not want anything to do with them afterward.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"The two dominant political parties of The U.S.A., "The Debtocredit Party" and "The Republicreditcard Party" (my terms), have more or less enslaved us with increasing debt for centuries. So this aphorist has long supported alternative parties. Too logical - I know.
Yet, literally 99% of the electorate rationalized voting for these two parties during the 2008 U.S.A. presidential election, and 98% in 2012. Add in millions who chose not to vote, and a statistical 100% continue begging to be herded toward the cliff. Moo."
-Hyper Intellect, c. 2011
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Herd mentality: one really can fool all the cattle all the time. - Hyper Intellect, June 2012
Though shalt not follow a multitude to do evil. - Exodus 23:2
The U.S.A. national debt - since 1791: because stupid, and the debt, are passed down from generation to generation. - Hyper Intellect, 2011
'Which political party are you going to vote for this year?' 'Why, the smoothest talker with the biggest d***, of course!' - Hyper Intellect, June 2012
You must be out of your tiny little minds. - The Texas Tormentor, Molly Ivins (1944-2007)
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(Human nature seems to apply to quite a number of other countries too.)
Just the 13 largest endowments for U.S.A. universities total about $125 billion. And each year The U.S.A. spends hundreds of billions of dollars on education. Yet with massive billions, the best we can produce is 100% of the populace who don't know any better than to repeatedly reward political parties for centuries of gross financial mismanagement?
And now, scientists theorize we may be about to create - or already have - irreversible global warming, so advise we reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But we also don't know any better than to unanimously support these same politicians and political parties that reward - instead of penalize - human reproduction. Thereby supporting increasing GHG.
Congratulations! Through omission and commission, our so-called education system has summited the 100% brainwashing-of-a-very-large-group peak that both sexual hysterias and religions oft achieve. The grade for classes in Civics, Economics, Accounting, Human Sexuality, Environmental Science, Philosophy, Sociology, and (Crowd) Psychology: Fail-.
W.T.F. type of curriculum do we enroll young people in, "There Is No Elephant Growing Under The Rug! Effective Denial Techniques 101", & "Intro To Cliff Diving For Crowds"?
Here, $900. billion-a-year U.S.A. education INDUSTRY (you read that right): start by enlightening young minds with the following from "The Sage of Baltimore", Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956):
"The main thing that every political campaign in The United States demonstrates is that the politicians of all parties, despite their superficial enmities, are really members of one great brotherhood. Their principle, and indeed their sole, object is to collar public office, with all the privileges and profits that go therewith. They achieve this collaring by buying votes with other people’s money. No professional politician is ever actually in favor of public economy. It is his implacable enemy, and he knows it. All professional politicians are dedicated wholeheartedly to waste and corruption. They are the enemies of every decent man."
- Hyper Intellect, 2011
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Comments: 65
The main thing that every political campaign in The United States demonstrates is that the politicians of all parties, despite their superficial enmities, are really members of one great brotherhood. Their principle, and indeed their sole, object is to collar public office, with all the privileges and profits that go therewith. They achieve this collaring by buying votes with other people’s money. No professional politician is ever actually in favor of public economy. It is his implacable enemy, and he knows it. All professional politicians are dedicated wholeheartedly to waste and corruption. They are the enemies of every decent man." Well stated, Hyper. The only place we may part ways is that I believe there are some who do go into politics with good intentions and a noble heart, and those people quickly realize what it takes to succeed, and it isn't noble. I pray that those with good intentions have the strength to stick to their principles, and we, the people that vote, begin to have the wisdom to recognize those people, whether on the right or the left.
And actually, we do not differ on the intent - or later result - of politicians.
Where we do differ is your naive prayer that there are decent odds politicians and voters will have the wisdom and strength to overcome our current ingorunce on the principles I lay out here.
Not even after a a brick wall is hit - just look at the violent, deadly, destructive, repeated riots in Greece over the past year - when they hit the brick wall of sovereign debt. The public here does not translate that this or worse will happen to us if we keep supporting status quo political parties. So we keep supporting the same stupid quo parties.
Maybe my post of reason, above, is insufficient - maybe I need bluntness:
100% OF THE NATION ARE IDIOT HERD CATTLE.
An election is coming. Universal peace is declared, and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry.
~George Eliot (1819-1880), Felix Holt, Chapter 5
Voting for Democrats and Republicans is like chickens voting for Colonel Sanders.
~paraphrase current Green Party presidential candidate Roseanne Barr
I do not vote "for Democrats or Republicans." I seek out and support Conservatives. Were twere that there were any...
Evil "academia" has succeeded...
Thank you for posting, Mark-John K.
Only insofar as the Hard Sciences are concerned...they are of absolutely no worth outside of those parameters. They pervert all that they touch...and thus, have succeeded in perverting the Minds of Generations...
Thank you for approving my comments, and for the interesting Piece, Hyper Intellect.
Afraid of something/someone Hyper?
The difference between the two parties is how they want to overspend our money.
I vote Republican because they are a bit more bearable in policy, however we need to change and the direction we need to go is towards citizen representatives.
I lik what these guys are doing GOOOH
Great stuff. Thanks for the link, Dan.
Before I was booted off FriendBurst (several days back), I had someone showing up cursing others without even trying to make any points - so I started comment approval after that.
So far that is all that I've censored on my bulletins & blog. I also have a few relatives that have repeatedly shown themselves to be emo-harsh to myself and others.
Very many who support Democrats also use similar justification - thus must we apparently hit a brick wall or two before positive changes can occur.
However - IF scientists are correct that irreversible global warming is about to occur (if we don't change our behaviors), then that collision will not be repairable, and will only worsen. I am hoping that these scientists are incorrect, and that YOU are right.
I concur that GOOOH is or can be a substantial part of the solution. I also love the idea in Jesse Ventura's new book No More Gangs In Government: no party affiliations listed on ballots or official pamphlets. As it is now, people don't even need to think - they just follow their electoral 'religion', so to speak.
Politics & religion have blind followers in common. -self
I send GOOOH a few bucks every month just to help keep them going...I hope more people do the same to help them grow and send a message to the career politicians, Republican or Democrat.
I need to add this to my vocab Hyper, what's it mean?
But I understand the screening now.
If you want to discuss the global warming thing in this thread it's O.K. with me...check out my profile and previous discussions, but I'll give you my take in a nutshell, I don't think science has made the correlation between C02 and climate change. My mantra...We humans have dumped gigaton upon gigaton of C02 into the atmosphere every year for the last 15 years driving the C02 concentrations to 395 PPM and the planet has not hardly warmed at all in those 15 years.
C02 can't be the global warming driver the global warmists claim it is.
ON the other side, I'm a huge supporter of renewable energy and think we should "wisely" support them.
Jesse.....I'll have to take a look at his book.
I came up with "emo-harsh" too, but someone else also did - prior. One can be beautifully emotional - like with amazing music. But the opposite is harsh & illogical: ever have a bitter ex?
Then again... even fewer meet mine.
You mean politics that must necessarily be taken down to the low common denominator of mass appeal? The McDonald's Political Happy Meal? White bread instead of 100% whole-grain, no dark green vegetables, too much salt, too many calories, too much super-size, too much fat, too much global warming-inducing beef industry?
Or did we miss your slings and arrows entirely?
hyper - are those tap shoes you're wearing?
mencken = brilliant. my father loved him, also.
Since we repeatedly & unanimously support politicians and political parties that borrow like drunken sailors, a semi-rational populace (obviously from another country) might have spent it on this - instead of Empire-size military:
Anyone home!? HELLO Hello hello lo o?
(Link most recent year one was issued.)
I liked the Mencken quote, too. Even before I saw K. mentioned it. :)
Your profile page currently lists one of your 'likes' as something I cannot help but do well and often:
People who can laugh at themselves once in a while.
Your observation seems to be the antithesis of we humans taking our endless delusions far too seriously.
Seems that way. We can send a neighbor who we've known for decades to DC and within weeks they are changed forever, corrupted by power.
Logic tells us that individuals, businesses and governments cannot run for long with massive debt. Governments can obviously scoot along longer than businesses or individuals, but we're finally seeing the fruits of the "we'll pay for it later" mindset in governments across the globe that now need others to bail them out of their stupidity.
If only our education system created thinkers instead of sheep.
If you continue to insist upon making comments of reason and logic here, I may have to block you entirely. And please don't even bother complaining, 'But I wasn't warned!'
We prefer strongly held opinions here - not any of your damn facts getting in the way.
Actually, I think Marilyn is spot-on with this comment, as well as this 1:
we're finally seeing the fruits of the "we'll pay for it later" mindset in governments across the globe that now need others to bail them out of their stupidity.
And, this:
If only our education system created thinkers instead of sheep.
Isn't that, in essence, what you said in your post??? So, why the emo-harsh (really starting to like that term) criticism towards Marilyn???
So Hyper Intellect - in being more ineffectual than even the highly intelligent - goes beyond tongue-in-cheek to tongue-in-chin.
Voted for Perot at least once, as I recall. Though disturbed seemingly substantiated homophobia later came from his direction.
Your indictment of the press has substantial merit. In large part because we rely more on moos news than upon reason. But - as 100% support D.'s & R's, they would piss off a lot of listeners/viewers if they told the truth. So perhaps the press - like 'successful' politicians - fear those who support them?
“When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.”
― Eric Hoffer
...we are all mooers.... Impossible not to be...
Reading elsewhere after elections a few months ago, I note multiple (unnamed;-) visitors to this post who went ahead and supported one of the two major parties anyway.
Herd mentality is so strong in humans that even when explained to us, we nod our heads, then still rationalize supporting such plainly destructive herds. To the cliff!
So your first quoted line is merely indicative of herd mentality: blame any of myriad others - instead of personal responsibility.
And the second portion of your second quoted line rings untrue: I and others donated - and voted - for multiple third party candidates again this year.
Since we are all destined to return to dust from whence we came, I've decided to go with my mantra "Live and let live"...heterosexuals and gays alike, since we are more intent on killing each other than loving each other for reasons beyond my hypo intellect.
Okay, okay...I'm sidetracking from your super-charged intellectual discussion here, but I thought you might enjoy a tad of light-headedness! NO? Too bad!
I applaud your caution concerning comments...I mean, look at my verbal diarrhea above!
ps.
I'm glad I came along...very refreshing post on gather, the community of sheep on masse...take a look at 'Popular topics on gather'.
If by "caution concerning comments" you mean my response to Marilyn M., - that was just tongue-in-cheek humor - I mean the opposite of what I typed there.
Your live-and-let-live attitude seems a peaceable wisdom. And your comments show a bigness of spirit.
Marianne - you are a delight. So I'll just leave you with a quote I created in the moment, which you inspired:
"We do not elect leaders who know better than us, we elect followers who know the same as us."
Thanks for the link.
Mencken was wrong, there is no such thing as 'common sense.' Everything we know and acted on is learned. We eac have so many different experiinces and lessons that the combination is unique to each individual so there is no such thing as 'common'. 'sense' is learned so there is no such thing as 'common sense'. Even the basic sklls we are taught are done is such a variety of ways that we don;t even have a common state of those skills and knowldege.
This is also true for 'common decency' and 'commoon honesty' for those are also learned as is 'common sense'.
my 1sr law of life and other activties; “There is no such thing as ‘common sense’, everything must be learned.”
Corollary: “Hindsight is intuitive.”
My 2nd law of life and other activites;“You can’t ‘idiot proof’ anything, the idiots will always/ultimately win.”
Corollary: "When you make rules to control actions you ensure that people will try to break them."
My 3rd law of life and other activties;“There is no ‘magic bullet’, everyone must be involved.”
Corollary: “Safety is like swimming upstream, when you stop swimming you go down the toilet quickly.”
When people believe in 'common sense' they then believe that they can protect themselves and others (including the 'idiots', those who consciously work to prove 'common sense' is wrong, see DarwinAwards.com).
And to see who believes in 'common sense' and the ability to 'idiot proof' anything are those who do trust people with freedom of choice and are unwilling to hold people accountable for the results of thier choices.
Perhaps you are technically correct, and Mencken is correct in spirit?
To be frank - or maybe even earnest, by George - a big component of intellect is the search for one's own idiocy. I hope to continue finding my own.
You have given me food for thought, and so I have to thank you for your efforts.
A simple test is the way current government regulations are developed, and enforced.
"I have yet to cease being surprised at how unnecessarily ingorunt almost all people choose to be" You suggest here that people chose to be ignorant, that has to be based on an assumption that they were once not ignorant and have chosen to work at become ignorant.
I start from a different point, everything we know or even how we think is learned. When we were born we knew nothing and had no instincts except to breathe and for some of us we even needed a bit of hlep to get that started.
From that point everything we know (whether we are ignroant or not) is learned. If we have never been taught to value work why would we work, if we were never taught to think why would we think, if we were never taught what ignorance was theh how could we chose it?
The American education system seems to be designed for the efficient delivery of facts/information, the kids are taught to learn the 'right' answers. They are not taught to develop let alone ask the right questions so how can they be expected to think for themselves?
It isn't until a person is given expectations are they equiped to think and to act.
I don't believe people chose to be ignorant, they have been trained to look to others for the answers and thus have never to develop their own own answers and questions.
Third paragraph you misspelled it "ignroant". Correct spelling: ingorunt. Which just goes to show how little you know.
Now that I have totally discounted your argument before I even finished reading it:
Most of us are much more interested in pushing (very often highly dubious) conclusions. Yet you seem much more process-oriented. A professional educator of some type?
Dig your questions note. A favorite quote by Voltaire (1694-1778) "Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers."
You argue correctly that peeps are conditioned to be ingorunt. I argue that most choose to remain ingorunt by intellectual laziness & lack of intellectual curiosity.
It is a major blind spot of humanity to often substitute principals for principles - even long after the former falls far short of the latter.
Perhaps we are both completely correct?
An 'arguement' implies an effort to presuade, all I offer is a point of view with no expectations only with a hope of questions or alternative perspective.
I am not nor have been a professional teacher, I have had the responsibility in certain situation to impart the knowledge I did have to others so they could be more effective in their roles, but that was only a part and most times and expectation for all employees, at least byt one employer.
'No expectations but hoping for questions or alternative perspective.'
Mhmm - you are good. Which is of course annoying.
'Good' is a relative term that I am not sure how it applies here.
Yes, I have been informed that I can be annoying in many different ways. Hopefully in this case not by easily catagorized and ignored.
My purpose to being on Gather is to think, to put those thoughts in a way that others will respond and commment so I will have to think.
Thank you for that analysis, John Houseman. Ooooh - looky! Can't tell which is drier - the professor or the chalkboard.
His scripts had a point other than the question. Not many can be that thoughtful.
'Gee, our two dominant political parties have sure been irresponsible for a long time when it comes to deficits, hyper-massive military spending, and moving us away from scientifically theorized pending irreversible global warming.
I will have to punish them and look for solutions - by supporting alternative parties and candidates.'
But when I explain it, some deride me, but the overwhelmingly majority ignore reason. No matter how wonderful the person, or how otherwise exceptionally intelligent, 100% get permission from their herd to be stupid.
Excellent depth perception there, Mr. Brewster.
Wow, if this isn't hitting a nail on the head~it borders on insanity or moronism, take your pick! This is an excellent post Hyper, well thought out & well-articulated~I may not agree with everything, but I respect the way you said it!
But were I giving away free iPods, the servers would crash now: the mindless masses amuse.
But at least I approved your comment, August Lady, and do not plan on deleting it:
WARNING: Any further comments left on this post with the word "teleprompter" in them will be PROMPTLY deleted~got that?!!?
-August Lady, EDT 08:48, 4 Oct, 2012
http://goo.gl/KcsRn
As a long-time contributor to The ACLU, I prefer a high bar before censoring - even on one's own blog.
It is the nature of social conservatives to easily censor. But from social liberals I expect leadership - including in the category of freedom of expression.
I thank you for stopping in.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”
~ Albert Einstein
Unnecessary apathy and ingorunce is hyper-massive - at or approaching a statistical 100% of humanity.
Your current avatar shows a topless woman wearing what appears to be a military/camo helmet. Interesting, considering your last sentence much more accurately describes The U.S.A.'s empire-size military run entirely on debt.
Also interesting is that I looked up the artist (Venca Seitl) of your current avatar pic, and the current first search engine entry is now showing "deviant" art repeatedly depicting another Gather member's frequent profile pic subject - Tony Stark.
As far as HM's evaluation of our good f(r)iend Hyper, it speaks volumes as to the quality (or lack thereof) of a person's character when their very first comment on a post consists entirely of a personal attack on the author of said post. Classy.
And FYI, the phrase "you take me..." makes no sense in the context of your last sentence. It should read "you strike me", which is, of course, a better concept altogether.
Hope I was helpful.
I suppose we need assertive types to defend: Truth, Liberty, and The (U.S.) American Way!
;-]
I suppose we need assertive types to defend: Truth, Liberty, and The (U.S.) American Way!
;-]"
That's what Avengers are for. Oh, and that whole overrated "saving the world" thing. ;)
I am inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt that he did so because he did not want to maintain malice this holiday season.
Rather than false pride in not apologising for that and great irrationality. Or the social conservative tendency to more easily censor others.
Another commentor recently did similar on my only other post to-date: Kissing To Be Clever.
Congratulations are in order once again, Mister Stark:
Yet another harsh and greatly illogical Gatherite has banned you from their posts. You don't even use abusive language for your amazing feats: just facts and logic.
While different, your super powers actually seem to match those of the Marvel superhero named after you.
Strange how my banishment has become a growing trend for all the Gather trolls. Almost as if all the trolls are making decisions with the same consciousness. Hmmmm.
You flatter me again, kind sir. And great pic, I may have to steal it for future use. ;)
Quote form your article: "What great luck for rulers that men do not think. -Adolf Hitler", unquote.
Yep, they still aren't thinking. Over half of our nation voted the socialist wantabe into office for another four years. People are worried about he Fiscal Cliff ... just wait until we are hit with the tax for that evil Health Care bill, it'll be the highest tax ever forced on us poor unsuspecting "grimmie the free stuff" citizens. I hope our Welfare system holds up long enough for me to move up in the line (I'm holding off applying as long as I can).
I also hope SS(?) holds out long enough for you to collect what you have been paying into it.
I add to your note that Democrats, Republicans, their voters, donors, and those who choose not to vote have also been supporting our long-standing habit of massive over-spending on empire-size military.
Reasons electoral results show that 100% of our nation doesn't care about this issue either:
1. Our culture of unanimous ingorunce
2. We haven't had to start paying for it yet - it is currently run entirely with debt. With higher taxes related to "the fiscal cliff" possibly a day or two away, we can start to hear the howls of pain - even in Gather blog posts.
But few of us will blame ourselves: we will blame politicians and the other party. Perhaps by about the same margin we repeatedly supported them? ;-]
But we also don't know any better than to unanimously support said same politicians & entire political parties that reward - instead of penalize - human reproduction
Why should they penalize it? Wouldn't we die out?
Why would a caring person of reason bring another human into this world to co-habitate with ~23,000 nuclear weapons?
Why would such a person create another human in world where our GHG AGW lifestyle greatly threatens habitability, quality of life, food stocks - and thus greater famines?
Most are unaware that one world class intellectual - whom it is surmised may have already saved our species a while longer by discovering the damage we do to the ozone via CFCs - speculated that global warming may make Phoenix, Arizona uninhabitable within a few decades.
Why would a person of reason procreate when The Great Pacific Garage Patch not only cannot be cleaned up due to its small pieces, but humans continue to worsen it?
Until we solve such hyper-massive peace and environmental concerns, caring and reason suggest we cease - or at the very least greatly reduce - human reproduction. And support social and political alternatives to effect such change.
As in: Do I want to insist I am right, or do I want to be polite?
One may be more conducive to bullying, the other to learning? (Not that all of us are very open to either;-)
It is kind of you to stop in, Fren - I appreciate it.