I was searching for the right words to say here, being that this is inherently a political post. Politics and religion as we all know are very divisive topics, they inherently begin to draw normative lines in these circumstances. I can’t say that it would be productive to simply state an opinion here so much as providing a perspective. Forgive me for ranting here - I haven’t written for quite some time.
My perspective is that a local one. Orlando Floridian society, as defined as the people and institutions that make up its economic base has descended into widespread guilt, for the former and greed for the latter. For quite some time. I have watched as commercial theme parks and Lawyers have weaved their local agendas into the culture – starving out local businesses and then purchasing properties, selling addictive narcotics to its citizens and then policing those same citizens to hold them in cages for profit or put them out to pasture work in a factory. This is especially true for our immigrants who mainly make their way into town via shipping containers, hopefully no being sold into sex trafficking rings. This is not to disparage the mass of legal immigrants and citizens from here too, and it is good to see the diversity and growth that has spurred here.
What makes for a very unpleasant experience for me is reading the news. I have all but stopped watching sources such as fox, msnbc, cnn or any other network (as they are all the same conglomerate companies). Since college and modern politico ideological thinking provides a framework for viewing and performing any ideal, I must say that the educational approach is the only rational way to push toward any kind of progress in the modern education system, but definitely not to the degree of utilitarian censorship. It is very difficult to get good sources for information that aren’t slanted, tilted, spun or otherwise painted in a way that could not possibly favor the institutions that brought you these views, inc. This is the nature of an institution naturally not wanting to speak critically of itself – admitting weakness is not a business ideal, mistakes are viewed as unacceptable in American culture. As long as harmful speech such as inciting riots, Shouting “fire” in a crowded theater and so on isn’t happening, I don’t think we should censor views, as once that has been aloted, this can become a slippery slope.
As most are delightfully chewing on the softly digestible ‘news’ that has been pre- packaged for them, we L1’ers get a special look at the news – our beloved Wendell and family have views and talk about things that mostly interest us. We have come here as internet based critical thinkers, trying to make sense of the chaotic world of technological change before us. My argument is that reality is that we have an obligation towards our friends, family and colleagues to educate them in the tools of critical thinking – no matter what anyone throws in front of us, (including Wendell and the gang) we must think for ourselves.
The change happens behind our desks – the ones who can teach others – our children, those who look up to us for our knowledge and expertise, our co-workers – there are limitless opportunities for us to educate and show proof in our findings. I can’t keep my mouth shut when I see a blatant logical fallacy. I have to confront it and challenge it. I have to provide counter examples. I have to ask that person that believes the ‘jews were never killed in the holocaust’ – guess what here’s all the evidence you need to realize that the series of books you are reading from are all from the exact same publisher (66 hate groups in Florida alone mind you) https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map.
As critical thinking opportunities become less and less afforded to our children in school, they are instead constantly taught to pass the test but never to think critically or deeply about anything other than “top 15 things you need to do…” or social media postings (I guess peach is the cool distraction now). Taking a good hard look at the ethical implications of the larger media culture, we aren’t bred to think. Our duty is o be good obedient little consumers who mind our own business and to stay glued to our desks, and buy the next iphone. I came up through a string of schools that did not exactly prepare me for what lay ahead. I was taught indifference in the face of violence and cowardice in the face of challenge. It has taken me years to recover, but it doesn’t make me any more unique than anyone else out here.
So, I don’t read or consume the news anymore. I have submerged my mind into 6 disparate technical manuals (often I would read this way in college) on Linux, Networking, programming and general philosophy. Being in an interracial relationship, I have a responsibility to educate myself on diverse perspectives. Being that one of my close friends is battling cancer, I have to face the questions of death, and try to remain un-cynical in the face of all the oppression, destruction and general human negligence I witness on a day to day basis. I reach for books when things are crushing me in life. It’s my only recluse. I have to refuse all the hype being handed to me and just try to assemble some reliable sources and try to think for myself. It’s only made my life more difficult and existentially fraught. Lately, I just try to take care of myself and not let anything in any form of news phase me. I don’t have time to know the ‘Truth’ right now- I only have time to try to become a Linux System Administrator and try to get some property. When I finally have some property and a home base to call my own, then I can work and analyze current events.
Thanks for reading and have fun!