{"id":11178,"date":"2020-06-12T22:27:38","date_gmt":"2020-06-13T02:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?p=11178"},"modified":"2020-06-12T22:27:38","modified_gmt":"2020-06-13T02:27:38","slug":"how-stupid-do-you-have-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2020\/06\/12\/how-stupid-do-you-have-to-be\/","title":{"rendered":"How Stupid Do You Have to Be?"},"content":{"rendered":"

On both sides of the racial divide there are reactions to the George Floyd killing that cannot be called just, proportionate or even, in some cases, rational.\u00a0 If one white policeman kills one black crime suspect then multiple cities should be looted and burned and fifteen people should lose their lives?\u00a0 And alternatively, when a mob robs and loots your city should you kneel down to them, beg their forgiveness and wash their feet?<\/p>\n

The title of the post reflects one possible reason for these two extreme reactions.\u00a0 It is possible that there are white and black people so stupid that they believe both of these reactions are reasonable and even just.\u00a0 In fact, I\u2019ll grant that there is certainly a percentage of the human race so dim that they can be persuaded by media false equivalence and just plain ignorance that these courses of action are reasonable and correct.\u00a0 But at the same time, I know these numbers are low.\u00a0 Call these people the core of the problem.<\/p>\n

Then there are people for whom these terrible actions are within their conscienceless self-interest.\u00a0 On the rioting side you have criminal looters and Antifa anarchists who are gaining from the rioting.\u00a0 The looters have material gain in the form of stolen property.\u00a0 The Antifa lunatics are gaining political power and street credibility.\u00a0 On the national front of the groveling side we have politicians and the media who hope to use the riots as a political wedge to drive the black vote and the suburban woman vote to the Democrat side.\u00a0 On the local level you have blue city mayors pandering to their black voting base.\u00a0 They seem to have finally chosen between maintaining a semblance of law and order in their crime ridden cities and kowtowing to inner-city lunacy.\u00a0 Let\u2019s call this the primary cause of the actions in question.\u00a0 Without a doubt, these are the catalysts without which, the riots wouldn\u2019t occur.<\/p>\n

But then there is a third component.\u00a0 These are the people just going along with their team.\u00a0 Here we have all the people who should know better and should act as a brake on these things but are so conditioned to follow the narrative that it\u2019s reflexive.\u00a0 They\u2019ll parrot the media\u2019s talking points and justify even the most insane behavior on the basis of their team color.\u00a0 And you get the impression that no matter what lengths the madness goes they would excuse it as reasonable.<\/p>\n

So that\u2019s my point.\u00a0 You have to be mighty stupid to believe that these actions are reasonable, fair or even sane.\u00a0 But you don\u2019t have to be stupid to make believe that you believe in it.\u00a0 You just have to be dishonest.<\/p>\n

In an ethics class you might make a distinction between these groups of people.\u00a0 You wouldn\u2019t hold the dim-witted responsible for their actions and would attempt to educate them.\u00a0 The other groups would be culpable because they should know better but choose to do wrong.<\/p>\n

In real life you can\u2019t make any distinction.\u00a0 They are all the enemy.\u00a0 Their actions are inimical to your physical and mental well-being.\u00a0 Trying to convince them of your side of things will not succeed.\u00a0 In fact, after a certain point wasting effort trying to convince them of their error is more a sign of stupidity or insanity on your part.<\/p>\n

DON\u2019T WASTE YOUR TIME TRYING TO CONVINCE DISHONEST PEOPLE TO DO THE RIGHT THING.<\/p>\n

The only people left who should be considered are honest people with at least normal intelligence.\u00a0 And it won\u2019t take more than minimal effort to present the information in a form that shows which side they should be on.\u00a0 You could put the timeline on the back of a 5 X 7 index card.<\/p>\n