![[un]Common Sense](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik4VvEFwk9OfTeKhwSnFemIFp9Wzw5-BPIZKnhamVwt1ROwR5fSbMcmYD2UKQq2HZ2dNrN-Z5s8EUw8a80D_Hw3uIN6oxHdp-SNjF-gZlAwCrzGfRZ53GBoajCjXA_epUdKU3P9Z_cQ6M/s1600/connexion-top_+002.jpg)
OK, so DANG! It’s back to being busy again! Sheesh! Why are people so driven in this country?!!
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-=[ The Freedom to Rape]=-
Greed is good.
-- Gordon Gekko
[Note: I haven’t finished the follow-up to yesterday’s post on freedom. I will post that part tomorrow. A blind adherence to the virtues of “free markets” is symptomatic to neoconservative thought. Below, in an essay I adapted from an internet page I came across several years ago, I try to uncover the faulty reasoning behind the dogma]
Rape is a basic and necessary expression of human nature. Sexual assaults have been present in every society since the dawn of time. It is the natural drive of man to reproduce, to compete successfully for advantage in the marketplace of life and evolution. In fact, it is this innate compulsion to reproduce that motivates man to do anything productive and worthwhile in the first place.
It is this competitive drive that motivates man to aspire to greatness. Can you imagine men striving for greatness were they not motivated by their drive to reproduce by any means? Of course not, because the drive to reproduce is at the very core of mankind’s fundamental nature. As long as we disregard childish “God” superstitions and recognize that a man is ultimately responsible only to and for himself, we therefore recognize that any measures that attempt to suppress this natural and intrinsic drive to reproduce by any means are inherently wrong.
To suppress sexual assaults is the perverse anti-human dream of the superstitious rabble. In fact, no human society has successfully eliminated rape, despite innumerable measures designed to curb sexual assaults. If man were only truly free to pursue this integral part of his nature we would walk as the masters of the Earth that we are.
Anyone with a relatively functioning forebrain will see that this is a painfully faulty and dangerous chain of reasoning. Just because the drive to reproduce is inherent in humans, it doesn’t follow that sexual assault and rape stem from that drive and are a part of human nature. Furthermore, that every society has had sexual assault and none has successfully eliminated rape, doesn’t necessarily mean that sexual assault and rape are good things that should be encouraged, or that there wouldn’t be disastrous and apocalyptic consequences were people given carte blanche to rape.
Now, reread the paragraph but this time replace every occurrence of the words “sexual assault” with the words “free markets,” and replace every occurrence of the word “rape” with “capitalism,” and every occurrence of the word “reproduce” with “acquire wealth.” It is now word-for-word the position of economic neoconservative types. You will find this same line of thought in rationales against universal healthcare, for example.
Well, boys and girls: what have we learned? First, my aim here is not to equate capitalism with rape (which would make for great fodder for future blogs). Rather, my thrust is to point out fallacious reasoning. Certain things might be inherently part of human nature or cannot be completely eliminated, but that isn’t a sufficient condition for a logically cohesive argument that they should be encouraged. If you want to argue that they should be encouraged, you must give other reasons.
The only other reason I seem to get is the unthinking and reactionary response of “Communism doesn’t work,” which displays an ignorance of the enormous and diverse body of economic and ethical thought that is not neoconservative.
Love,
Eddie
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LMAO! wow ... this was a pretty thought provoking blog for me on many levels .... I was going to respond to your last comment to me but thought I would read this blog first ....
ReplyDeleteIronically enough I was going to start my response to your last one with:
"You don’t suffer fools lightly eh? and ignorant I was .... albeit with good intent ;)...."
After reading this I get your points even more.
I apologise because I was being very lazy, thanks for the lesson in rebuttal, with a twist because I decided to give up the act of not getting the intellectual facts behind your blog, I sometimes struggle with grasping all the information and translating it, took action tonight and googled my ignorance away! LOL!
Circular reasoning, haven’t ever been able to apply it such simple context before .... so I played with the concept a bit ........
“sexual assault” with the words “our pasts,”
“rape” with “integrity,”
“reproduce” with “to be right.”
AND YOU GET .....
Integrity is a basic and necessary expression of human nature. Our pasts have been present in every society since the dawn of time. It is the natural drive of man to be right, to compete successfully for advantage in the marketplace of life and evolution. In fact, it is this innate compulsion to be right that motivates man to do anything productive and worthwhile in the first place.
It is this competitive drive that motivates man to aspire to greatness. Can you imagine men striving for greatness were they not motivated by their drive to be right by any means? Of course not, because the drive to be right is at the very core of mankind’s fundamental nature. As long as we disregard childish “God” superstitions and recognize that a man is ultimately responsible only to and for himself, we therefore recognize that any measures that attempt to suppress this natural and intrinsic drive to be right by any means are inherently wrong.
To suppress our pasts is the perverse anti-human dream of the superstitious rabble. In fact, no human society has successfully eliminated integrity, despite innumerable measures designed to curb our pasts. If man were only truly free to pursue this integral part of his nature we would walk as the masters of the Earth that we are.
.... I am almost scared that the above conversion speaks truth to me and makes total sense
LOL... Well, logic is something we can apply to almost anything.
ReplyDeletePlease know, that I don't think YOU are lazy, I find your responses to be thoughtful, intelligent and I get the sense that you get me -- that you make the effort to understand what I put out here.
Recently, I've just about had it with the fanatics -- whether religious or political, I just ran out of what little patience I had to begin with.
That's what inspired the post we have been going back and forth on. Believe me, I try. One exercise I do when I find myself judging is to turn it around:
If I say to someone, for example, "You're an idiot!" I try to add the following inwardly, "... like me."
It works for me because it helps remind me that sometimes what I like least in another is a reflection of me.
But when it comes to religious or political fundamentalists -- fanatics, even when I do that exercise, it doesn't work because... it just isn't true.
Fanatics you cannot reason with, and they were fanatics BEFORE I came into the picture and, barring a small miracle, they will continue to be fanatics. I have no room for them. Let someone better than me deal with them.
Having said all that, I realize I could be a little "nicer" than I have been with you and I owe you an apology. No excuses. Some of what I write here comes from my own struggles in real life and too often I see lives devastated because of this plague of fanatical thinking and I reach my end.
Love,
Eddie