What distinguishes the truth from a lie? When an athlete enters a match claiming victory in his grasp and looses, is he a liar? What is it that compels so many to be so guided by philosophy that to debate an alternative point of view is not to disagree but to be maliciously lying?
The manner in which our society chooses to separate the realty (circumstance) from fact (the outcome) is stunning in its simplicity. It’s well in line for our media to benchmark history when deciding good from evil and not expedient to their true causes, which is to capture their viewers’ attention. This is one of the reasons I believe there is a prevalence of pessimists hyper focusing their well toned negativity on anything that will get a rise out of the public. Every day we open the papers or watch TV and there is nothing that isn’t deliberately trying to shape our views and for a purpose that isn’t entirely clear. Would we not listen to the people who warn us of a never ending run of calamitous economic luck if there weren’t a steady diet of opposing views? Sure it’s free to listen but taking sides we’re told is a matter of decisiveness, which I advise we not confuse with discipline. If those ideas smacks of too much free will then reach for the colored glasses, any color will probably do. And while I don’t really distinguish Nouriel Roubini from Keith Olbermann I remind everyone that economic growth is a byproduct of the emotional state of its participants and these days that emotional state falls squarely in the lap of the baby boomer generation and is somewhere between pre retirement anxiety and spoiled infantilism
So what’s a casual observer to do? Sit tight and recognize that the ability to disassociate yourself from the noise can be just as constructive for your opinions as to disassociate yourself from the myriad of other nuances that prejudice our views and cause us to act with emotional bias.
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