Censorship on the political Right and the political Left equals INTOLERANCE on both sides

 Some on the Right ban books (really? - in this day & age?!), and those books are not breaking the Law.  They don't contain libel, or promote something illegal such as child pornography or insurrection.  Writing about gender issues or systemic racism is not against the Law.  Neither is writing about socialism.  All this is not rocket science; it's simply common sense, right?

Some on the Left engage in cancel culture and beyond-the-pale political correctness.  They try to shame people and/or cause speaking events to be cancelled.  The targets of their "holier-than-thou" onslaught have not broken any laws.  Instead, they have views different from those on the Left.  Now, obviously, if a speaker is advocating insurrection, or some other illegal action, then of course the event should be shut down.  Threatening anyone with bodily harm (even if it's not related to insurrection) is a form of assault, and is against the Law.  Having different views is not.

Here's a clip for all the holier-than-thou True Believers on the Right and the Left---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDTi2eMW26U

WARNING:  for people who, for whatever reason, are psychologically fragile when it comes to coarse language (so-called "cussing"), be aware that such is contained in this less-than-eight-minute clip.

I imagine the practitioners of intolerance think they have really good reasons for their actions, or even believe it's not intolerance at all.  But here's the thing:  if the target of your action is not breaking the Law, then your activity regarding the person(s) demonstrates your intolerance of their freedom.  For some odd reason, you believe they should act as you act, think as you think, believe as you believe.  Even if they aren't breaking the Law, you can't tolerate whatever they're doing because their view of something doesn't fit in with yours.  So, come hell or high water, you're going to see their book banned, or their speech cancelled, or the like.  Apparently, you're the self-appointed guardian of society.

I realize some of this banning of books, for example, revolves around the concept of "protecting children" in school.  As a former teacher, I agree some books may not be appropriate for children of a certain age.  That doesn't mean those books must be banned for all children of all ages.  It also doesn't mean historical TRUTH should kept from children.  Pretending racism doesn't exist, or gender issues are not real, or democratic socialism is evil, etc. are all examples of little else but IGNORANCE.  Indoctrinating children into such beliefs, and/or preventing them from learning the truth is wrong, and harmful to their social development.

As to cancelling speeches by means of disruption or other methods, that also is as wrong as wrong can be.  Boycotting a speech is okay, of course, but preventing others from even hearing views which don't agree with yours is an insult to freedom.  There are lots of opinions in the world, not only yours.  Allow people to hear all sides, not just your holier-than-thou view.

As I navigate through old age, I continue to wonder if members of our species ever are going to "live and let live".  I've wondered about such for decades.  Will cooperation among us ever exceed competition?  Must we all too often try and cram our particular beliefs down someone else's throat?  Some cooperation is going on in the world, but not anywhere near the scale required if we are to survive (and thrive beyond) the current socio-eco-econ-ethical Crisis.  Intolerance certainly is not helping.  It often leads to hatred, and then violence.

In our evolutionary history, despite violence and the dark side of innate tribalism, we managed to thrive due to our intelligence and cooperative leanings.  Other species had more physical prowess and were more efficient predators, plus they were better adapted to survive the Ice Age; but we exhibited more group cooperation than most of the others.  That's required now more than ever before.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Excerpt from "The Beginning of the Path to Human Extinction, and How to Get Off It..."

Biden's recent statements or actions regarding the Middle East and (separately) drilling leases for fossil fuels brought to mind the following portion of my first book.  [It's good that Biden defeated the King of Liars in the last election, but Joe is no prize.  He's either a neoliberal, or a puppet of neoliberalism.]

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The Right and the Left

One of the main hindrances to effective political action in this country is the uncivil battle between the Right and the Left. The intolerance, hatred, and vitriol from the two factions often is beyond the pale. The “holier-than-thou” attitudes from each (at times) must change if we as a society ever are going to make significant progress toward genuine sustainability. More than ever, what the world needs now is cooperation rather than divisive competition.

The competitive battle often revolves around perceptions of “capitalism” versus “socialism”. In my opinion, those perceptions too often are shallow, or worse, false.  Consider the following.  The Left usually lumps the different types of capitalism all into one basket – plutocratic monopolies/egregious mega business/elitist trickle-down economics. The Right does something similar with socialism – it’s all harsh totalitarianism to them. More often than not, it’s considered communism. In both cases, the reality is much different.

Today’s neoliberal capitalism is not Adam Smith’s capitalism. Smith was for small business, not mega monopolies. Democratic socialism is quite different from dictatorial socialism. And here’s the kicker in all of it: most governments (including ours in the USA) today have a Mixed Economy in their countries, part capitalism and part socialism.

When you use a publicly owned road, water system, library, museum, or public school, that’s all due to socialism. The V.A. Health Care System is socialism, so too are Social Security and Medicare. If any two people engage in a private sale of private goods, that’s capitalism. So, if I sell a painting of mine, or if this book results in even one sale, that’s capitalism. When you go to a privately owned grocery store and purchase goods, that’s due to capitalism.

The Right and the Left need to understand it isn’t a matter of one or the other. We have both, and we need both. For example, if all roads were privately owned toll roads, that would be a nightmare. Some people could be refused use of them, or charges for use could go up for little to no reason. If all grocery stores were owned by the State, that too would be a nightmare. There would be no reason to have “sales” (offer bargains), or a wide variety of goods in order to attract more buyers. What for? Stores of any one type (e.g., grocery, hardware, clothing, etc.,) would all be more or less the same.

Bottom line: EVERYTHING being run by capitalists (private owners) simply isn’t best for the good of all people. The same is true for everything being run by the State, i.e., socialism. Economic systems have evolved into a mixture of both. Unfortunately, at present that mixture is unbalanced in favor of mega business elites/plutocrats. Even worse, they are seriously pushing for private ownership of everything.

The political Right here (in the USA) was co-opted decades ago, first by neocons, then by neolibs... and most of the Right on Main Street appear to be completely unaware of the coup.  They seem to think they're still in the "Conservative Movement".  That movement, started by Russell Kirk in the 1950's, is long dead.  The so-called conservatives of today are supporting an ideology which would be anathema to the original modern-day conservatives of the Kirk Era.  That ideology they're supporting is corporatist-globalist-neoliberalism, and it doesn't want to conserve much of anything, except for maybe Plutocratic Rule.  It's against Small Biz, anything rural, anything natural, and is working to utterly destroy Nature by  favoring infinite growth at any cost to our finite habitat.  Its goal is to have the entire world run by Big Biz Elites.  Forget family farms, the mom-and-pop corner store, and any kind of level playing field in the business-financial-economic-labor arena.  In general, neoliberals and the Super-Rich are against all of that.  The kicker is this:  they finance most national political election campaigns.  That's why, in the USA, we've seen little progress toward sustainability over the past few decades.

Political prejudice reigns supreme (in general) among people on the Right & the Left, which means each views "the other side" as ALL (or at least, an overwhelming majority) having the same characteristics as the few who are running the show on each side.  As long as that continues, we will not have a civil society. The truth is, no group ever has been as homogeneous as what the Right and Left say the other side is today. 

I've seen ranchers on the Right and environmentalists on the Left work together to oppose mega corporate/government projects which would have harmed the commons.  They had to overcome deep prejudices about each other, and they did.  Unfortunately, such collaboration is extremely rare because of those deep prejudices.

We all should make sincere efforts to overcome political stereotypes regarding people who do not share our particular beliefs. There are some very good people all across the political spectrum. Why focus only on those who seemingly are filled with hate? I believe they are an extreme minority. It really is time for civil political discourse, and for efforts to find some common ground.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-beginning-of-the-path-to-human-extinction-and-how-to-get-off-it-scott-haley/1141364431?ean=2940160947181  or

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Z4QL6NB

Where the Political Left is Wrong in Social, Educational, & Political Spheres - REDUX

I first posted this piece about two years ago.  Here it is again because I believe intolerance is a major obstacle to the successful implementation of worldwide sustainability.

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Here's the main thing wrong with the general political Left in the social, educational, & political spheres of life---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snqXOvnHzcQ 

and, although it's well-intentioned, it's creating a "stunning fragility" in our youth.  Plus, it's accompanied by an almost virulent self-righteousness.  The speakers here expose it, & explain why it's damaging...not only to our youth, but also to the country in general.  I agree 100%.

The clip is only 13.5 minutes.

The subject matter at the above link includes:  egregious, over-the-top, political correctness; the coddling of kids; gross intolerance of views other than those promulgated by the Left; "slurring" rather than debating in a reasonable manner; and a subtle self-righteousness regarding social and political issues.

By the way, the political Right (in general) is as bad as, or worse than, the Left regarding this whole shebang... at least, most of it.  The result is that the fracturing of our society gets worse & worse every year.  Civility is well on its way to being totally gone.  It's being replaced by not only rudeness, but intolerance and violence as well.  The Corporate Media seem to focus on such activities, but rarely (if ever) ask "Why is this happening?".  Undoubtedly, the answer contains many factors, complex factors; nevertheless, we need to figure this thing out.  If we don't, I believe our society will continue to break down, perhaps even to the point of Martial Law being imposed.  It costs little to nothing to seriously and rationally consider an opposing point-of-view.

A starting point is this:  every side in any significant disagreement passionately believes that its side is the one "in the right", or "best for most people".  The opposing sides need to find out why "the other side" thinks that way... rather than simply slurring them and giving them sound-bite retorts.

Politicians, institutions of all kinds (religious, educational, social, Law enforcement, non-profit, for-profit, etc.), and all of us "common" people need to wake up and re-double our efforts to promote reasonable & civil debate, tolerance, and respect for individuals with opposing views.  I've seen decades of decay in that regard.  It doesn't bode well for the future of our Land.

So, though it may be extremely difficult to do, I propose to all "True Believers" to (at least once in awhile) step outside the "For or Against" paradigm and make a herculean effort to consider issues without having any prejudgements.  I like Socrates' observation on Wisdom:  "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.".  Let's be more tolerant of each other's views...and start learning.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Where the Political Left is Wrong in Social, Educational, & Political Spheres

Here's the main thing wrong with the general political Left in the social, educational, & political spheres of life---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snqXOvnHzcQ 

and, although it's well-intentioned, it's creating a "stunning fragility" in our youth.  Plus, it's accompanied by an almost virulent self-righteousness.  The speakers here expose it, & explain why it's damaging...not only to our youth, but also to the country in general.  I agree 100%.

The clip is only 13.5 minutes.

The subject matter at the above link includes:  egregious, over-the-top, political correctness; the coddling of kids; gross intolerance of views other than those promulgated by the Left; "slurring" rather than debating in a reasonable manner; and a subtle self-righteousness regarding social and political issues.

By the way, the political Right (in general) is as bad as, or worse than, the Left regarding this whole shebang... at least, most of it.  The result is that the fracturing of our society gets worse & worse every year.  Civility is well on its way to being totally gone.  It's being replaced by not only rudeness, but intolerance and violence as well.  The Corporate Media seem to focus on such activities, but rarely (if ever) ask "Why is this happening?".  Undoubtedly, the answer contains many factors, complex factors; nevertheless, we need to figure this thing out.  If we don't, I believe our society will continue to break down, perhaps even to the point of Martial Law being imposed.  It costs little to nothing to seriously and rationally consider an opposing point-of-view.

A starting point is this:  every side in any significant disagreement passionately believes that its side is the one "in the right", or "best for most people".  The opposing sides need to find out why "the other side" thinks that way... rather than simply slurring them and giving them sound-bite retorts.

Politicians, institutions of all kinds (religious, educational, social, Law enforcement, non-profit, for-profit, etc.), and all of us "common" people need to wake up and re-double our efforts to promote reasonable & civil debate, tolerance, and respect for individuals with opposing views.  I've seen decades of decay in that regard.  It doesn't bode well for the future of our Land.

So, though it may be extremely difficult to do, I propose to all "True Believers" to (at least once in awhile) step outside the "For or Against" paradigm and make a herculean effort to consider issues without having any prejudgements.  I like Socrates' observation on Wisdom:  "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.".  Let's be more tolerant of each other's views...and start learning.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well