Well It Ought To Be...

The philosopher David Hume once wrote this paragraph:

In every system of morality, which I have hitherto met with, I have always remark'd, that the author proceeds for some time in the ordinary ways of reasoning, and establishes the being of a God, or makes observations concerning human affairs; when all of a sudden I am surpriz'd to find, that instead of the usual copulations of propositions, is, and is not, I meet with no proposition that is not connected with an ought, or an ought not. This change is imperceptible; but is however, of the last consequence. For as this ought, or ought not, expresses some new relation or affirmation, 'tis necessary that it shou'd be observ'd and explain'd; and at the same time that a reason should be given; for what seems altogether inconceivable, how this new relation can be a deduction from others, which are entirely different from it.

This is a small paragraph that Hume was not overall concerned with, but it has sparked some debate with philosophers in the past 300 years since.  In case you have a bit of trouble understanding what Hume is saying, the basis is this:

The world is a certain way.  We say that things should be different sometimes, but how do we know that the world should (ought) to be that way until it is actually that way?

This is a very poignant thought that a lot of people overlook.  The idea is that we really cannot claim that things ought to be changed until they are and we can see the overall consequences of those actions.  Politics in America and really the world today are ruled by these things that we want to change.  We think deep down that there is an issue and that needs to be rectified.  Then when things get changed, later there is another issue that occurs which leads to the world needed to make another change or remove the original change, again, sometimes for the better and other times not.

Poor ol' Jimmy...I love Jimmy Carter and while some consider him one of the worst presidents ever, most people recognize that he is one of the best people ever, exemplary in fact.  Jimmy gets a bad wrap quite often I think.  A lot of things that he tried to change in the 70's got shot down due to politics, and other things that he did change got turned over once Regan came into the picture.  The "Malaise" speech was brilliant and very true, but people turned away from it because Jimmy sat up and had the balls to tell people that we needed to change as a society.  No one wanted to hear it.

The point being that now we see the effects of those things.  We see the world in a terrible ecological state and in the past 28 years, my lifetime, 20 of them were ruled by Republicans who went out of their way to deny the reality and force their dogmatic visions down our throats.  People who dislike President Obama are calling him all sorts of terrible names and threatening him and his family.  It is sickening to me.  Even if I agreed with their principles, and a few I do, I could never call myself a Republican or support them after the display during my lifetime.  They call him a socialist, which if you know what a socialist is, then you can clearly see that he is not one.  They call him a Nazi which he is no where near.  In fact, on that note, the Bush administration went out of their way to use religious dogma and fear tactics for political and social ends which is a simple definition for a fascist, but who cares.  We were safe!

We were not safe.  All we did was move the battle onto their turf.  Thousands of Americans, some of them innocent, have died in this war of lies, this shadow war used to remove the rights of the people, lie to us on many multiple occasions, elect their cronies to high ranking office, and give money to large companies with religious agendas or direct connections to that administration.  That is fascism at its purest.

I digress though...

The best tool that we have to work with to determine answers of what should be is empathy, which can be broken down to what we know as the golden rule.  The golden rule my friends...it makes sense.  This is why it is one of the things that they first teach you in school.  This may also be why ever major religion in the world has something very similar in its teachings, yet many of the followers choose to ignore it.

If you are sick, don't you want to be given the chance to get better?
If you make a mistake, don't you want a chance to admit and atone for that mistake?
If you were in a position of power, wouldn't you want people to believe that you had what you thought were the best intentions in mind?
If you were in a position of power, would you want your family threatened just because someone did not agree with you?
If you go to a news source, don't you want to trust you are getting accurate reporting?

These are simple questions people. 

Overall, we as a society are evolving.  We are moving in a forward direction I believe, but just like any idea that is becoming obsolete, the hardcore followers are becoming desperate, lashing out with all that they have left.  The McCarthy-based Neocon Republicanism is dying and dying rapidly.  Republicans used to be a symbol of the constitution.  Now they are a joke, based on fear and revenge, not rights and reason.  Do not get me wrong, Republicans will always be around, but they are being forced to evolve with the rest of the world.  Hopefully they can put this dark history behind them and start thinking again sometime soon.

Hopefully...but with figureheads like Rush, Beck, Savage, and especially Palin, it is not looking too hopefully.



On that note, I cannot believe that any woman would vote for Palin.  She does nothing but a disservice to women everywhere.