6/11/2011 15:33
 |
| You said it, mang. We are all having fun, zip! |
i have been too disheartened to post much, or think about the short-term future of the united states economy, and everything else. i see little to be heartened about. unemployment; housing prices continuing down, down; sharply increasing gas, oil and food prices; 100% disconnect of the political system from the needs of the people; global war and revolution spreading, due to our sending armies and to our feeding speculation in the food commodity markets; environmental disasters looming (yes, me, of all people, the anti-tree hugger, the one determined that if oil is running dry, let me drive at 110 mph until the day comes--ionizing radiation in massive deadly amounts has that effect on a boy).
a world of hurt. but so many people i encounter are oblivious. either they are misinformed by the media and their own lack of curiosity, or they are trapped by their human tendency to counter bad news and bad facts with denial and delusion. i know people who are intelligent and well informed, who sincerely believe obama has done a good job of managing the economy, and his failures are due primarily to his objectives being blocked by 41 republican senators. or folks in the other tribe who sincerely believe obama is trying to institute a socialist program, that the phoney health care reform was actually socialized medicine, and will hurt doctors tremendously. (what other industry would think a government subsidy and government coercion herding 40 million new customers to your door would hurt your income? only doctors' logic.)
people can't/won't/don't think. trapped in their habits, delusions, comfort zones, what have you, they so very often emote rather than think. and are confused that the two are the same.
a lifetime of having emotional buttons pressed to shape buying decisions, by literal hundreds of thousands of television commercials over the 18 years of a childhood, having those same emotions tickled by teachers, bosses, and politicians, then by the sources of news, who specialize in triggering emotive responses to attract and hold on to viewers.
people even use the words 'believe' and 'feel' in place of think, conclude or decide.
i have decided to no longer do this. i will only say 'i believe' when i am referring to a moral, ethical, or religious (well, maybe not religious) belief. not, 'i believe obama has been a horrific president'. or 'i believe the stock market is going to suffer a sharp correction this summer, maybe even this week'.
use of 'believe' is technically appropriate in such instances. but it has been way overused, and the meaning has seriously shifted. as people get more defensive if you challenge their 'belief' than your opinion, assessment, conclusion or what you think.
jihad declared on my use of the words 'believe' and 'feel' when i mean think. save believe for 'i believe white people are evil', or 'i feel hatred for the dodgers'.
but when asked, 'how do you feel'? i reserve the right to answer, 'with my hands'.
