May 26, 2018

I'm officially in remission

and getting ready to go back to work. Thanks to everyone for your support. Reading DU has been one of the things that has kept me sane through treatments and feeling sick. . Glad to be on the mend. It looks like the cancer is on hold for now, and hopefully that will last a while.

May 14, 2018

The Two Ways to Look at Injustice - the Underdog and the Overdog

The world is an inherently unjust place. Some people are on top, some are on the bottom. There is oppression, exploitation, luck, and injustice. Until we have a perfect society, that is just the way things are.

The two main political philosophies arise out of how we react to that injustice. We can either think "things need to change" or "things are a-ok as they are".

"Things need to change" is:

rooting for the underdog
realizing that poor people are not necessarily inherently flawed
that some people achieve wealth and power through the luck of their parentage and birth
that programs that help people who are hungry, jobless, cold, and sick improve the world for everyone
that healthcare and education are for everyone
that disadvantaging people based on attributes they can't change is terrible
supporting strong labor
protecting people against fraud and negligence

"Things are a-ok" is :

rooting for the already wealthy and powerful
believing that rich people are better than everyone else, and are rich because they are virtuous
that poor people are failed humans who deserve to be poor
that helping people makes people weak and dependent
that people should pay for their own healthcare and education
crushing labor in favor of capital
allowing the rich to poison everyone and commit fraud freely

Most people on this site seem to be, like me, people who want to fight for a more just world. Rooting for the Overdog seems like such a lifeless way to live life.

May 10, 2018

Matt Dillahunty on Christians who assume that good people _can't_ be atheists

I'm not sure why we are being afflicted with this Jordan Peterson person, but Dillahunty here does a great job of describing what Christians do who just can't accept that atheists can be moral.