Askthepizzaguy
Know the Dark Side
Intelligent people can disagree on things.
Religion. Science. Philosophy. Business. Fashion. Taste. Politics.
Some things there are no "true" answers on, just popular choices, like favorite foods, favorite TV shows, favorite fashions.
Some things, there is room for disagreement on, even if there may in fact one day be a demonstrable and indisputable truth, such as Science, Business, Philosophy.
Some things will always be contentious and may never be resolved, such as religion and politics.
But even those who always disagree and will never see eye to eye on most things have common sense, and agree on the general nature of truth and that it is indisputable.
What you have in the majority are people with common sense and critical thinking, who can actually be reasoned with. There's a good 3 or 4 out of 5 people who, regardless of their religion or political affiliation, will agree that some things are true and some things are false.
But then you have that one out of five people.... kind of like how there's 4 out of 5 dentists who agree about sugarless gum, but there's always that 1 out of 5 dentists who have their own agenda, and no common sense or ethics.
It's a silly example, but then there's real world things we should all agree on, but don't.
Right now, in the United States, you've got maybe 30 percent or so who identify as Republican and pretty much always vote Republican. That's okay, that's not what I'm picking on. I've voted Republican before.
Here's what I'm picking on:
I can chalk the first one up to the fact that people in my country are quite well re-educated by propaganda involving what is or isn't socialism. So people are simply misinformed and believe that things that aren't socialist actually are.
The next one is demonstrably false. The man attended a Christian church, remember... with the crazy, stupid pastor that he has since disavowed? Does anyone remember? It's not Obama's shining moment. But it does lead one to conclude that he's actually.... derr... Christian. Maybe not with the best taste in pastors, but he's certainly not Muslim.
Unless you think he's some sort of closet Muslim who prays on a rug somehow in secret, even though he's constantly surrounded by people. You'd have to be crazy to think that, but there we go... 32 percent. But whatever. Maybe some people don't know how to read, or saw that picture of him wearing traditional Muslim dress (like many other presidents and leaders) when visiting traditional Muslim countries, and put two and two together (which is the extent of their arithmetic ability....) and were misled.
So fine, chalk that up to being misinformed as well, or woefully illogical.
Then you get into the very, very demonstrably false conspiracy theorists who believe Obama can't be President because he was secretly born elsewhere. (gasp)
Secretly born elsewhere, and they just covered it up. Suuuure...... That makes sense. Because when he was a community organizer and state senator, he really wielded the kind of political power necessary to hide his birthplace, you wackos.
His certificate of birth in Hawaii is also available online and has been seen on TV, over and over and over again. And not the proven-forgery from conspiracy nut Orly Taitz, which was very quickly and easily discredited, the actual Birth Certificate.
When Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck of Fox news say that this person is a conspiracy nut, it's time to consider that a possibility. If there were anything there, that had a leg to stand on, you can bet your hairy hind end it would be playing on Fox News 24/7. It's not even credible enough for Fox, which says a lot.
THERE is your 25%.
People who will believe something stupid, and not even try, not even TRY to ascertain whether it is true or not, by any reasonable measure or standard. Just tout it like it is a fact, and never once check the facts with an open mind, and with no proof whatsoever, and with proven forgeries, attempt to claim the opposite.
Total nutbags. But that is slightly larger than my 20% threshold, so I am chalking much of this up to rabid right-wing hate of Obama, and willing to sell out the truth in favor of talking points and smear tactics.
Where are the TRUE nutholes?
(20 percent overall) say that Obama is "doing many of the things that Hitler did"
(14 percent overall) say that Obama "may be the Antichrist."
There's your twenty percent.
You remember Dick Cheney and President Bush's poll numbers at the end of his terrible presidency? Even if you're a Republican, more than half of you agree that Bush was a terrible example of Republicanism, because he was no fiscal conservative, and he completely screwed up the Iraq/WMD thing and the entire Katrina fiasco. He's not your greatest President, and you know it, even though you might somehow think he was better than the alternative. Fair enough.
But the poll numbers which said By George, you're doing a great job George, at the end of Bush's presidency dropped to 29 percent on average, but lower than that in some polls, such as CBS, NBC, and Pew.
Then it bottomed out to 22 percent in one CBS poll.
Cheney on the other hand flirted with a 19% approval rating. That's really bad.
But it all hovers around that tantalizing 20%. Give or take, there is about 20% of this country that is just bat-**** insane.
The people who believe that the moon landing was fake, and that 9-11 was an inside job perpetrated by the US government, the people who think that martians show up and leave crop circles, the people who think that the Jews control the world, and so on and so forth.
You read those numbers, and they all hover under 50% or so, usually by a wide margin. But for just about any psychotic conspiracy theory, you can usually get 1 out of every 5 people to agree with it.
There is your twenty percent.
And it happens on the "left" as well. You'll find people who think that throwing rocks at restaurants is okay because they serve meat, or people who want to blow up factories because they pollute. There's nutballs of every ideology. It simply happens to be spotlight on the right at the moment. You wait a few years and you might see the pendulum swing back to the left.
No matter how stupid, now matter how ridiculous, no matter how insane, no matter how demonstrably false and wrong, there's always a significant minority of the population who don't care what the truth is, and don't employ critical thinking. They simply believe.
Belief based on nothing can be called faith, or it can be called ignorance. Faith usually employs some kind of reasoning where, if you don't believe it, you might go to hell or have no morality, which is a bad argument, but fair enough. When you believe something based on nothing, and for no moral purpose, no afterlife bargain, then you are a moron. If you state it like it is a fact and try to convert other people to your worldview, then you are a dangerous moron. If you're willing to sacrifice the truth in order to win votes, you are a dangerous, selfish moron.
If I took a poll and asked people whether there were WMD's in Iraq, some portion would say yes. Even though it is false, and a well-established, known fact. It you took a poll and asked them if Saddam had an Al-Qaeda link, some would say yes. Even George Bush and Dick Cheney agree that there isn't, even though they originally spread that lie around.
No matter what the poll is, if the poll is big enough, and you ask enough people, you will get idiot responses. And, I've seen, there's usually enough in the minority to make up 20% of the population. One out of every five people. The "sugar-loaded gum is okay" dentists. The "Everyone who disagrees with me is Hitler" nutballs. The "Dick Cheney was a great vice-president" fanboys. The people who believe that psychic detectives help the police solve crimes. And of course, conspiracy theorists of all stripes.
Obama is a secret Muslim Commie Nazi Antichrist... well, one out of five people believe most of that is true.
And there's your twenty percent.
I like to refer to them as the people who were too lazy to climb up the bell curve.
Usually, people who have mental handicaps also don't try to have very political opinions, because politics is a bit too complicated for people who have brain deficiencies. However, if you focus on the people who are just smart enough not to walk around in a helmet, you will find people who are afraid of the entire world, and believe that everyone and everything is out to get them.
They are usually quite religious, but more interestingly, is what nonsense they actually believe. They not only believe in a lord and savior, but they also believe that people who disagree with them are going to hell, regardless of what crimes they have or haven't committed. These are people who band together like sheep in almost every case, and believe very strongly in whatever their opinion happens to be. They lack the intelligence to debate, and they consider anyone who tries to debate to be an "elitist". They are eternally followers, and they are easily manipulated by public speakers and talk radio hosts who state what they believe, and then sell them things and tell them how to vote. They also believe whatever they are told, as long as it comes from someone who agrees with them, no matter the lack of evidence. They never examine any of their beliefs with a critical eye, or with an objective eye. They see the world through a lens of perpetual bias and override anything that challenges their viewpoint with shouting, lies, and propaganda. They refuse to listen to anything, anything at all, that isn't what they've already been told.
These are the most dangerous people on the planet. They form violent mobs, and they commit the intimidation tactics whenever prompted to by their masters, such as shouting racial epithets, throwing rocks and bricks, and toting guns around to prove how right they are.
They are the people who, if there were no police around, would violently overthrow any government who disagreed with them.
In other nations, they become the leader through such violent revolutions, and oppress everyone who disagrees with them, because they cannot win through their ideas, or even their votes. This is how nutbags like Kim Jong Il continue to control all the people in North Korea. This is why religious dictatorships have to stuff ballots and scare people from the polls, like in Iran. This is how idiots like Mugabe of Zimbabwe stay in power.
One out of every five people is an absolutely crazed, fundamentalist, extremist, conspiracy theorist, selfish, dangerous moron. They are this way because they lack the intelligence to be anything else, and they lack the self-examination of other people, and believe they can do no wrong, and their beliefs are absolute. They don't hesitate to resort to fear, propaganda, and violence to force their views on others.
There's your twenty percent.
Religion. Science. Philosophy. Business. Fashion. Taste. Politics.
Some things there are no "true" answers on, just popular choices, like favorite foods, favorite TV shows, favorite fashions.
Some things, there is room for disagreement on, even if there may in fact one day be a demonstrable and indisputable truth, such as Science, Business, Philosophy.
Some things will always be contentious and may never be resolved, such as religion and politics.
But even those who always disagree and will never see eye to eye on most things have common sense, and agree on the general nature of truth and that it is indisputable.
What you have in the majority are people with common sense and critical thinking, who can actually be reasoned with. There's a good 3 or 4 out of 5 people who, regardless of their religion or political affiliation, will agree that some things are true and some things are false.
But then you have that one out of five people.... kind of like how there's 4 out of 5 dentists who agree about sugarless gum, but there's always that 1 out of 5 dentists who have their own agenda, and no common sense or ethics.
It's a silly example, but then there's real world things we should all agree on, but don't.
Right now, in the United States, you've got maybe 30 percent or so who identify as Republican and pretty much always vote Republican. That's okay, that's not what I'm picking on. I've voted Republican before.
Here's what I'm picking on:
I can chalk the first one up to the fact that people in my country are quite well re-educated by propaganda involving what is or isn't socialism. So people are simply misinformed and believe that things that aren't socialist actually are.
The next one is demonstrably false. The man attended a Christian church, remember... with the crazy, stupid pastor that he has since disavowed? Does anyone remember? It's not Obama's shining moment. But it does lead one to conclude that he's actually.... derr... Christian. Maybe not with the best taste in pastors, but he's certainly not Muslim.
Unless you think he's some sort of closet Muslim who prays on a rug somehow in secret, even though he's constantly surrounded by people. You'd have to be crazy to think that, but there we go... 32 percent. But whatever. Maybe some people don't know how to read, or saw that picture of him wearing traditional Muslim dress (like many other presidents and leaders) when visiting traditional Muslim countries, and put two and two together (which is the extent of their arithmetic ability....) and were misled.
So fine, chalk that up to being misinformed as well, or woefully illogical.
Then you get into the very, very demonstrably false conspiracy theorists who believe Obama can't be President because he was secretly born elsewhere. (gasp)
Secretly born elsewhere, and they just covered it up. Suuuure...... That makes sense. Because when he was a community organizer and state senator, he really wielded the kind of political power necessary to hide his birthplace, you wackos.
His certificate of birth in Hawaii is also available online and has been seen on TV, over and over and over again. And not the proven-forgery from conspiracy nut Orly Taitz, which was very quickly and easily discredited, the actual Birth Certificate.
When Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck of Fox news say that this person is a conspiracy nut, it's time to consider that a possibility. If there were anything there, that had a leg to stand on, you can bet your hairy hind end it would be playing on Fox News 24/7. It's not even credible enough for Fox, which says a lot.
THERE is your 25%.
People who will believe something stupid, and not even try, not even TRY to ascertain whether it is true or not, by any reasonable measure or standard. Just tout it like it is a fact, and never once check the facts with an open mind, and with no proof whatsoever, and with proven forgeries, attempt to claim the opposite.
Total nutbags. But that is slightly larger than my 20% threshold, so I am chalking much of this up to rabid right-wing hate of Obama, and willing to sell out the truth in favor of talking points and smear tactics.
Where are the TRUE nutholes?
(20 percent overall) say that Obama is "doing many of the things that Hitler did"
(14 percent overall) say that Obama "may be the Antichrist."
There's your twenty percent.
You remember Dick Cheney and President Bush's poll numbers at the end of his terrible presidency? Even if you're a Republican, more than half of you agree that Bush was a terrible example of Republicanism, because he was no fiscal conservative, and he completely screwed up the Iraq/WMD thing and the entire Katrina fiasco. He's not your greatest President, and you know it, even though you might somehow think he was better than the alternative. Fair enough.
But the poll numbers which said By George, you're doing a great job George, at the end of Bush's presidency dropped to 29 percent on average, but lower than that in some polls, such as CBS, NBC, and Pew.
Then it bottomed out to 22 percent in one CBS poll.
Cheney on the other hand flirted with a 19% approval rating. That's really bad.
But it all hovers around that tantalizing 20%. Give or take, there is about 20% of this country that is just bat-**** insane.
The people who believe that the moon landing was fake, and that 9-11 was an inside job perpetrated by the US government, the people who think that martians show up and leave crop circles, the people who think that the Jews control the world, and so on and so forth.
You read those numbers, and they all hover under 50% or so, usually by a wide margin. But for just about any psychotic conspiracy theory, you can usually get 1 out of every 5 people to agree with it.
There is your twenty percent.
And it happens on the "left" as well. You'll find people who think that throwing rocks at restaurants is okay because they serve meat, or people who want to blow up factories because they pollute. There's nutballs of every ideology. It simply happens to be spotlight on the right at the moment. You wait a few years and you might see the pendulum swing back to the left.
No matter how stupid, now matter how ridiculous, no matter how insane, no matter how demonstrably false and wrong, there's always a significant minority of the population who don't care what the truth is, and don't employ critical thinking. They simply believe.
Belief based on nothing can be called faith, or it can be called ignorance. Faith usually employs some kind of reasoning where, if you don't believe it, you might go to hell or have no morality, which is a bad argument, but fair enough. When you believe something based on nothing, and for no moral purpose, no afterlife bargain, then you are a moron. If you state it like it is a fact and try to convert other people to your worldview, then you are a dangerous moron. If you're willing to sacrifice the truth in order to win votes, you are a dangerous, selfish moron.
If I took a poll and asked people whether there were WMD's in Iraq, some portion would say yes. Even though it is false, and a well-established, known fact. It you took a poll and asked them if Saddam had an Al-Qaeda link, some would say yes. Even George Bush and Dick Cheney agree that there isn't, even though they originally spread that lie around.
No matter what the poll is, if the poll is big enough, and you ask enough people, you will get idiot responses. And, I've seen, there's usually enough in the minority to make up 20% of the population. One out of every five people. The "sugar-loaded gum is okay" dentists. The "Everyone who disagrees with me is Hitler" nutballs. The "Dick Cheney was a great vice-president" fanboys. The people who believe that psychic detectives help the police solve crimes. And of course, conspiracy theorists of all stripes.
Obama is a secret Muslim Commie Nazi Antichrist... well, one out of five people believe most of that is true.
And there's your twenty percent.
I like to refer to them as the people who were too lazy to climb up the bell curve.
Usually, people who have mental handicaps also don't try to have very political opinions, because politics is a bit too complicated for people who have brain deficiencies. However, if you focus on the people who are just smart enough not to walk around in a helmet, you will find people who are afraid of the entire world, and believe that everyone and everything is out to get them.
They are usually quite religious, but more interestingly, is what nonsense they actually believe. They not only believe in a lord and savior, but they also believe that people who disagree with them are going to hell, regardless of what crimes they have or haven't committed. These are people who band together like sheep in almost every case, and believe very strongly in whatever their opinion happens to be. They lack the intelligence to debate, and they consider anyone who tries to debate to be an "elitist". They are eternally followers, and they are easily manipulated by public speakers and talk radio hosts who state what they believe, and then sell them things and tell them how to vote. They also believe whatever they are told, as long as it comes from someone who agrees with them, no matter the lack of evidence. They never examine any of their beliefs with a critical eye, or with an objective eye. They see the world through a lens of perpetual bias and override anything that challenges their viewpoint with shouting, lies, and propaganda. They refuse to listen to anything, anything at all, that isn't what they've already been told.
These are the most dangerous people on the planet. They form violent mobs, and they commit the intimidation tactics whenever prompted to by their masters, such as shouting racial epithets, throwing rocks and bricks, and toting guns around to prove how right they are.
They are the people who, if there were no police around, would violently overthrow any government who disagreed with them.
In other nations, they become the leader through such violent revolutions, and oppress everyone who disagrees with them, because they cannot win through their ideas, or even their votes. This is how nutbags like Kim Jong Il continue to control all the people in North Korea. This is why religious dictatorships have to stuff ballots and scare people from the polls, like in Iran. This is how idiots like Mugabe of Zimbabwe stay in power.
One out of every five people is an absolutely crazed, fundamentalist, extremist, conspiracy theorist, selfish, dangerous moron. They are this way because they lack the intelligence to be anything else, and they lack the self-examination of other people, and believe they can do no wrong, and their beliefs are absolute. They don't hesitate to resort to fear, propaganda, and violence to force their views on others.
There's your twenty percent.
