General Discussion

NightOwwl

(5,453 posts)

63. Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect - Mark Twain

Mon Jan 5, 2015, 06:57 PM

Jan 2015

'Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it.' - Aldous Huxley

'Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it.' - Augustine of Hippo

'One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.' - Carl Sagan

'The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts.' - Marcus Aurelius,

I'm secure in the knowledge of who I am. I am secure in my beliefs. I don't live in fear. I am kind. I do unto others. I'm in good company, even though there are very few of us. But more are always welcome to join.

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History is Religion for the Masses [View all] NightOwwl Jan 2015 OP

Personally, my religion is reality... brooklynite Jan 2015 #1

I think that's for everyone to figure out by themselves. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #10

But since we don't live alone, we create a world together. That's why we have the political process brooklynite Jan 2015 #17

We have a political process because it's been drummed into our heads NightOwwl Jan 2015 #22

So, given that we're in the real world with other people... brooklynite Jan 2015 #24

Welll, first you have to be willing to consider everything you think you know about yourself NightOwwl Jan 2015 #48

I'm not miserable at all. Why should I be? brooklynite Jan 2015 #51

If you are happy and content - that's great. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #78

Please realize... Oilwellian Jan 2015 #69

What is the precise and relevant objective evidence to support that allegation? LanternWaste Jan 2015 #27

That is what I see when I look at the world. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #50

Hence, no objective evidence. LanternWaste Jan 2015 #128

Tell me how someone who uses a power wheelchair thucythucy Jan 2015 #80

There are programs that help people - I agree. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #85

Nobody I know in the disability rights movement is "grateful for those scraps." thucythucy Jan 2015 #89

You know nothing about me and I know nothing about you. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #93

If, as you say, you know nothing about me thucythucy Jan 2015 #114

Thank you. I appreciate your response, and hope you will take the time to read my reply. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #119

The tagline at the end is great el_bryanto Jan 2015 #2

You added words to my statement to fit your comfort zone - NightOwwl Jan 2015 #18

I'm pretty comfortable just concluding you have either mistaken this for freshmen philosophy el_bryanto Jan 2015 #21

Dangerous? How so? NightOwwl Jan 2015 #42

Because you encourage apathy el_bryanto Jan 2015 #44

Not questioning can be just as dangerous. liberal_at_heart Jan 2015 #45

There's a difference between questioning and tearing the whole structure. nt el_bryanto Jan 2015 #46

That's how change takes place. Change takes tearing down structures. liberal_at_heart Jan 2015 #49

I agree with you that your daughter should challenge structures el_bryanto Jan 2015 #52

I guess we just see it differently. We cannot end apathy until we recognize the problem. liberal_at_heart Jan 2015 #56

Bryant your goal is, Bryant you think this, Bryant you want that. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #55

I suppose because I naively assumed your words gave an indication into your thought el_bryanto Jan 2015 #60

I say what I mean. Rather than assume, ask if you need clarification. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #64

Hey now, freshman philosophy tends to work to higher standards. (nt) Posteritatis Jan 2015 #58

Truly, you need to read more . . . Journeyman Jan 2015 #3

Truly, you need to question more. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #9

This message was self-deleted by its author Journeyman Jan 2015 #13

"Think more and listen less." Because you can never get enough of your own navel. LTX Jan 2015 #140

Is perceiving an unsupported premise as valid as a bumper sticker the same as "feeling threatened"? LanternWaste Jan 2015 #4

Big words don't impress. Intelligence does. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #8

What big words are you referring to? History? Premise? LanternWaste Jan 2015 #12

Big? Is? Posteritatis Jan 2015 #57

I am not telling others what and why to believe. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #59

dafuq NuclearDem Jan 2015 #5

"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it" Rowdyboy Jan 2015 #6

I don't need to remember the past to know what evil is. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #7

yours is the most adamant rationalization I've read at maintaining sub-literacy. LanternWaste Jan 2015 #14

'as you've (again) offered no supporting evidence to validate your premise' NightOwwl Jan 2015 #33

OK - i've worked it - you are a performance artist right? el_bryanto Jan 2015 #15

"I don't drink with you", part 2-- bigger, faster, dumber. LanternWaste Jan 2015 #16

You are the only one who can give your life meaning. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #34

Well put - so I'll go on giving my life meaning by supporting politicians who I think el_bryanto Jan 2015 #35

I have one request - NightOwwl Jan 2015 #82

Everything you are up to the present is a compilation of your past. Dont call me Shirley Jan 2015 #29

this is the type of thing I always hear from right wingers JI7 Jan 2015 #32

And the right thinks all left-wingers are lilly-livered socialists. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #37

Rational thought is taught-- not hatched from the imagination LanternWaste Jan 2015 #40

When you are required to say a pledge to your country on a daily basis... NightOwwl Jan 2015 #65

More allegations with a dramatic lack of objective sources. LanternWaste Jan 2015 #129

I'd just like to say that I was never required to say the pledge and each of my classes from K-6 Bluenorthwest Jan 2015 #132

"History supplies little more than a list of people who have helped themselves Tierra_y_Libertad Jan 2015 #11

Thank you for that clarification :) NightOwwl Jan 2015 #26

Are you saying we shouldn't deal with the root causes of what's happening? Tierra_y_Libertad Jan 2015 #31

No, that is not what I am saying. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #38

"And we never question any of it." That right there is the problem. liberal_at_heart Jan 2015 #39

Remember to not confuse history with Ron Green Jan 2015 #19

History is Nostalgia. Both have already happened, both only exist in our minds. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #25

Yes 'history and religion' as in totally ignoring the meaning and doing whatever the fuck Rex Jan 2015 #20

The message is always there, and it's quite simple. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #23

But it is not noise and distraction anymore, now it is part of our culture. We are all branded. Rex Jan 2015 #28

Really? You look in the mirror and see a brand? NightOwwl Jan 2015 #70

So you will now take control and fix things starting tomorrow? Rex Jan 2015 #74

This isn't some overnight fix. This is a complete shift. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #86

I remember learning about The fight for Texas Independence when I was in middle school. liberal_at_heart Jan 2015 #30

LOL: Step away from the bong.... FSogol Jan 2015 #36

I think I'm more offended by the banality of your critique. Bucky Jan 2015 #41

Wow. OK then. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #68

This is all you need to know about history: tritsofme Jan 2015 #43

It's cold inside the worm seveneyes Jan 2015 #47

I've seen inane, deeply ignorant dismissals of entire disciplines before.. Posteritatis Jan 2015 #53

I believe that's the same thing people said when they were told the earth was round. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #67

Well, there's another way to highlight how little you know about the topic, I suppose. (nt) Posteritatis Jan 2015 #71

You like George Carlin? NightOwwl Jan 2015 #72

The owners don't want well informed people capable of critical thinking. Damn George liberal_at_heart Jan 2015 #97

Belief Disconfirmation Paradigm NightOwwl Jan 2015 #100

What's maddening to me is that the reason so many are satisfied is because we currently liberal_at_heart Jan 2015 #103

Yep - If people looked at the policies that are implemented and the actions taken they might wake up NightOwwl Jan 2015 #107

People can feel when things are wrong especially when they can't put food on the table for liberal_at_heart Jan 2015 #110

Who the fuck is "defending the history books written by our owners"? thucythucy Jan 2015 #117

Way to piss all over the social sciences professions. NuclearDem Jan 2015 #131

It is true that the ruling class gets to write current history. It has happened since the liberal_at_heart Jan 2015 #136

Yeah, you are. NuclearDem Jan 2015 #138

...this is a joke, right? NuclearDem Jan 2015 #92

I'm dead serious. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #96

I think your posts are opiates for you yourself. LanternWaste Jan 2015 #130

George Carlin, being dead, is a historical figure, and as such is subjective and not factual. Bluenorthwest Jan 2015 #134

I'd say it's a joke, just not necessarily on purpose.. (nt) Posteritatis Jan 2015 #115

And the 'I hate history' poster cites history to attempt a point. And that ends all deba Bluenorthwest Jan 2015 #133

It certainly takes talent Alittleliberal Jan 2015 #112

Have you noticed that nobody seems to agree with what you're saying? brooklynite Jan 2015 #54

I often don't agree with what you say, Quantess Jan 2015 #62

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect - Mark Twain NightOwwl Jan 2015 #63

And there you go, citing more history, going back to the Romans, as part of your 'history is without Bluenorthwest Jan 2015 #135

Pot meet kettle nt Alittleliberal Jan 2015 #113

I freely admit that many people don't agree with me on a number of issues... brooklynite Jan 2015 #116

I get it. Quantess Jan 2015 #61

Thank you. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #66

Anyone who thinks "History is Religion for the Masses..." wyldwolf Jan 2015 #73

Please don't confuse your assumptions with my reality. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #75

Yours is the mirror of the Karl Marx quote wyldwolf Jan 2015 #76

Hey now, they could simply be rationalizing their complete ignorance of it instead. Posteritatis Jan 2015 #77

Very true wyldwolf Jan 2015 #79

One is ignorant when they accept everything they've ever been told as truth. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #81

"Nuh-uh! I don't need to think! I just know!" is the opposite of questioning things. (nt) Posteritatis Jan 2015 #84

Who are you talking about? NightOwwl Jan 2015 #90

So we shouldn't correct it when they get facts wrong about Native American history, or liberal_at_heart Jan 2015 #98

We can remember the past without letting it bog us down in the present. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #104

You know what is sad. My 16 year old autistic son is just getting to an age where he can liberal_at_heart Jan 2015 #105

check your inbox :) NightOwwl Jan 2015 #121

Bullshit. thucythucy Jan 2015 #83

Maybe you didn't see my reply to you above. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #87

I saw it thucythucy Jan 2015 #91

Please see #93 NightOwwl Jan 2015 #94

And THERE it is...I knew there was a political link to the psycho-babble. brooklynite Jan 2015 #95

The only limitations are the ones you create in your mind. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #99

Fair enough...show me a nation state anywhere at any time in history which has figured this out brooklynite Jan 2015 #111

First, we need to believe it is a possibility. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #120

Well, if there's a WEBSITE, anything's possible... brooklynite Jan 2015 #122

I took the time to answer your questions. Thoughtfully. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #126

That was going to be my next question... brooklynite Jan 2015 #127

"The only limitations are the ones you create in your own mind." But, LTX Jan 2015 #141

It really wasn't all that successful thucythucy Jan 2015 #106

If so few people are capable of governing themselves how fewer still should govern others? Nuclear Unicorn Jan 2015 #123

I think they call it "representative democracy" brooklynite Jan 2015 #124

Do you honestly think we have that? Or do we have Nuclear Unicorn Jan 2015 #125

The Democrats have already gone along with cuts to food stamps, WIC, and pensions. liberal_at_heart Jan 2015 #102

Better a government in the sky to judge us after death than Nuclear Unicorn Jan 2015 #88

I think I understand LWolf Jan 2015 #101

Very good points LWolf. History is incomplete, imperfect and is told with bias. liberal_at_heart Jan 2015 #108

Thanks LWolf - that's pretty much it. NightOwwl Jan 2015 #109

Uh, that's not at all what your OP said, thucythucy Jan 2015 #118

Strongly disagree. Perverted history may be a religion. BillZBubb Jan 2015 #137

Fail of a post. a la izquierda Jan 2015 #139

I did it! Just as you suggested, I wiped my brain free of all history. I'm free! LTX Jan 2015 #142