Tolerance of the Intolerant

The real test for those of us who preach tolerance is this; what tolerance to we show those who are intolerant of us – our ethnicity, religion, personal practices, or political beliefs?

As much as any other human characteristic, tolerance is not imparted by preaching; but can be taught only by example.

Fire Fighting

Imagine how much more difficult it would be to put out a fire if every aspect of the effort—hose size, water pressure, tactics, etc.—had to be negotiated with a committee of arsonists.   

Concentrated Wealth and Democracy

Among the most pernicious illusions in our society is the idea that the grotesque distortion of wealth and income distribution in our country can coexist with any resemblance of a real democracy.

On the other hand—since we are utterly powerless to change this reality—perhaps this illusion has a positive aspect. One might maintain that false hope is better than no hope at all.

This is going to sound like I'm some kind of ...

It's funny how every time somebody starts a statement with the preamble, “You’ll probably think I sound like some racist (add or substitute ‘sexist’, ‘xenophobic’, ‘homophobic’, etc.) jerk, but I’ve got to say …”, they invariably finish their statement with something which could lead to no other conclusion.

They seem to think that this preamble immunizes them from the any implications of the statements that follow.

It doesn’t.

The Holy Invisible Hand

From time to time a religious zealot will see the image of Jesus, the BVM, or Ganesh in a loaf of bread or a desiccated gourd. Word quickly passes, and soon there is a pilgrimage of zealots to see this holy item. They get all excited about it, but most people just keep on walking – and try to avoid eye contact.

Zealots of another variety see an ‘invisible hand’ in places where it could not possibly be present—in the banking, insurance, energy and pharmaceutical industries—places where the concentrated market power would crush any such hand beneath its steel boot. Still, the zealots gather to protect this holy industry from anything which would interfere with the workings of this phantom deity.

Paradox of Thrift

The paradox of thrift is a perfect example of a fallacy of composition (‘what’s good for one is good for all’). One family responding to economic uncertainty by squirreling away money makes sense … for that family. But if everybody does it, the result is that people spend less overall, causing a deeper and longer-lasting downturn.

Government expenditures comprise a huge portion of our economic activity. While it may seem prudent to do a little ‘belt-tightening’ there, the belt is already snug – around the neck of our already-fragile economic recovery. It’s not just state and Federal workers, and aid recipients who would lose out; so would grocers, landlords, car dealers, and on up the line. The deepening and lengthening of a second dip would be a foregone conclusion.

FUD

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.”
- Upton Sinclair

This gap is reinforced when legions of corporate execs have virtually unlimited resources at their disposal to orchestrate a campaign of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt).