An interesting exchange with a friend on Facebook.
It started with a meme containing a partial quote from Thomas Paine.
L: “To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead...”
(The complete quote is as follows, “To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture.”)
Me: I know. But I do care about America so I keep trying to talk to conservatives and Republicans anyway. It’s a bad habit but at least I try.
L: so the turn towards socialism doesn't bother your heart for our grandkids? Common Core, learning the Quran and condom races in the 5th grade here are fine with you?
— Picture of an eagle wrapped in a flag banner—
Me: Common core is not in and of itself a bad idea but I haven’t studied in it in sufficient detail to know how effective or ineffective it is.
Socialism is extremely effective all across all of Europe. Please note that socialism and capitalism are working together there in a mutually cooperative situation. It’s not an either or forced choice false dichotomy as you present it. I am opposed to mindless cutthroat capitalism that lets children die for lack of medication because they can’t afford to buy it. And equally opposed to any extreme form of socialism which ignores the powers of capitalism.
I know of no public school system that is learning from the Koran. That is simply a really bizarre statement. But I do know many school districts down south using A very limited interpretation of the Bible as lesson plans. Jefferson was right, there must be a wall of separation between church and state.
I have never heard of anything so insane as condom races in the fifth grade. Where do you get this information? Please state some sources. If you state the sources I will check them out. But without sources for such weird statements I simply cannot credit them.
More to come? If so I will add them to this post or to the comments below.
I'm with you on this entire reaction. That particular bundle (math, religion, libertinism) is REALLY bizarre. Most people in the U.S. couldn't concretely describe what socialism is (on the Right and the Left), but it has become a catch-all boogieman of the Right of moral degeneracy. The kind of bundle in this exchange is such a good example of how little economics matter. It's not even really about the opposition to state power; enemies of 'socialism' seem to love state power when its advancing their agenda; the Trump era is demonstrating that. It seems like:
ReplyDeleteSocialism = Moral degeneracy sponsored by the state. Suddenly, Islam, condom races (what the hell is that?), common core maths, tax redistribution, and abortions are all Socialism.