"Pure ignorance" defined

[venaja]

I made this new icon yesterday, and I can't believe I'm already using it. Am I the only one who sees the heavy irony in ranting about how conservatives butt into your private business and then arguing for gun control because people "shouldn't" have guns

Comments

[tomcatshanger]

I view tolerance like I view honor.
I do my best to live by it, while understanding there are those not worthy of it.

[venaja]

That's very good. I like it.

[unshavengod]

I like the "pure ignorance" quote.... I suppose this attitude is only possible is somebody is confident that they've already done as much research as possible on a given subject.

I recently polled conservative and liberal lj communities, for example...

The conservatives overwhelmingly believed that managers deserve to be managers because of their hard work. The liberals, however, were a bit more skeptical, and believed that much of management's privaledged condition is a result of who their parents are.

Different philosophies resulting from different assumptions about the universe... I think if either group accepted the others' assumption, they would reach the same conclusions regarding politics.

So the problem with modern politics is all about making an assumption and trying to impose it on others, without collecting ample evidence to support it. ( I think imposing an assumption is OK if you can provide proof).

[venaja]

I strongly believe that differences in political opinion are rooted in differences of values. Take practically any economic problem, for example. There are always pros and cons to any position. It seems like common sense. If there were no pros, why would anyone take it? Liberals might favor equality over efficiency while conservatives might favor efficiency over equality. Refusing to understand that it is a value judgment rather than simple stupidity is what leads to a lack of understanding between people. You are right about the differences in assumptions, too.

Nothing annoys me more than willful ignorance and the refusal to look at something through someone else's eyes.

[unshavengod]

Ooo, definitely true about the efficiency vs. equality.

I guess the only issue for efficiency is "What are you trying do, and why is it so important to do it efficiently?"

And that proves your point -- it's fundamentally a values question... If only we could all have the same values!

haha... as a "conservative" at this point in my life... I'm having trouble answering my own efficiency question...

I guess I want to get the human species into outer space... That's my goal that justifies inequality. :-)

[venaja]

I've thought about question for a while myself. The word "efficiency" just doesn't pack the same punch "equality" does, so it takes more explanation. Just take an easy example: giving reward in proportion to effort. If someone is paid more because they do a better job, they will be driven to do the best job they can. If they don't, society falls into stagnation and grinds to a halt. If a doctor isn't paid more than a maid, isn't rewarded when he does a good job or punished when he does a bad job, what incentive does he have to do anything? None.

In the real world, the effect is less dramatic, but still significant. Take scientific/pharmaceutical innovation, for instance. The U.S. produces 40% of the world's new medicines. That is a ridiculous number. If the business environment weren't so open to new products, new research and development, etc., we wouldn't get the medicines we need. Now that would be a problem.

[ablysstic]

Most people, right and left, want to enforce their own morality on the rest of the population.

I know I might get into trouble for this somewhere, but I am most def going to agree with you but not on the issue of guns, on religion. I know it is such a sensitive topic, but it just gets my goose when I hear the missionaries over here express how they feel, I mean REALLY feel. They are here to convert all people into Christianity, that is their mission. They expect all of their new friends to move to their way of thinking about spirituality but yet they are not accepting of any other person's different view. They only see their's as the right way. In a way I think they are judging people, but they would never call it that

[venaja]

Proselytizing has always rubbed me the wrong way. I don't care how kooky or extreme your beliefs are as long as you keep them to yourself. Conversion strikes me as rather overbearing, and I've seen many unsavory tactics used. (With my grandparents, for example, it was the promise of friendship. I always thought friendship was based on mutual respect and understanding, not given as a prize for joining a club.)

While I personally find it distasteful and chalk it up as one of my biggest grievances concerning Christianity, however, I respect their right to do it. There is a difference between talking to someone about changing religions and making them change. Nonetheless, I do find it rude and disrespectful of the host culture.

[ablysstic]

Proselytizing has always rubbed me the wrong way.

Me too, and being form the Bible belt, I have had my share. I can remember many nights standing in front of a dance club cooling off from working up a sweat and having folks come up to me and ask me if I had been saved.

I have a local friend, C. She has recently come out and said that she has been hanging out with, M. a mission expat friend of mine simply to improve her English, not because she actually believed in Christianity, like she said she did. This had been going on for a little over a year. She did not really care about all of the Bible study sessions they did together. She only wanted to improve her English.

[venaja]

That's another thing I have a problem with: bundling proselytizing in with other more essential needs. I see those "Christian Children's Network" commercials all the time and it angers me. If you're going to convert them, convert them. If you're going to feed them, feed them. Don't say "I'll feed you only if you study the Bible with me."