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Many people find their way to the glory of the SDTS by way of various Alex Jones’ sites. Alex Jones is big into conspiracy theories and, obviously, so are his regular readers.
I’m not into conspiracy theories because they cannot be proven definitively, and because even if they’re true the only thing I can do about it is to vote for moral leaders.
It’s a waste of time to pursue conspiracy theories. There’s no end to them. Coincidence and circumstantial evidence could convict anyone of just about anything.
So, instead, I focus on the philosophical, or ideological, aspect of politics and government.
For example, this oil mess with BP. Obama is a conspiracy theorist’s wet dream. Geez, you thought Bush amped these guys up… Lot of people think that Obama and friends were behind the oil disaster, and have intentionally allowed it to balloon into an enormous catastrophe through calculated inaction and bureaucratic impediments, in order to push through Cap and Trade and an all-around destruction of the energy industry and American economy.
So, was the oil rig intentionally sabotaged? Who the hell knows. It’s pointless to obsess with it.
Instead, a more productive discussion would center around the actions Obama has taken following the oil disaster. These actions are clearly verifiable, and therefore worthy of serious discussion.
This is what I mean by philosophical versus conspiratorial. It’s a dangerous thing to attribute motive to a person. You can’t be entirely sure what’s going on in a guy’s head.
Philosophical means that you evaluate verifiable words and actions, and debate their merits. Conspiratorial is arbitrarily connecting dots and assigning motives to fit a theory. It’s like “The DaVinci Code.” I mean, I could connect enough dots to “prove” that Adolph Hitler and Winston Churchill were the same guy.
So, I find it much more productive to debate statements by and actions taken by Obama on their merits philosophically. I find it a mindless exercise to debate actions that I have no clue if they actually happened or not.
The only value I find in conspiracy theories is the disturbing reality that no one really finds our leaders incapable of committing atrocities in pursuit of various dark agendas. I find that the average Joe doesn’t really think about conspiracy theories, but still pretty much assumes that the government is scheming behind our backs in various ways.
Obama is a Marxist. This is verifiable. He makes Marxist statements. He takes Marxist actions. We can debate these things.
With regards to the oil disaster, Obama’s response has been about as incompetent as possible. I suppose it’s been so incompetent that a lot of people think it was intentional. Honestly, I believe it was intentional – his slow response, in order to magnify the crisis to be exploited. However, I can’t prove this so I don’t dwell on it. Others take it a step further and say that Obama and others were behind the sabotage of the oil rig.
But my point is that it’s really irrelevant what Obama’s motive is when you approach it philosophically. Whether he blew the damn rig up himself, or he just really, really sucks at being an executive, we can all agree that he shouldn’t be President.
The philosophical angle, I find, renders the conspiratorial angle moot. Is it consistent with America’s founding Constitutional principles, for example, for the government take over one sixth of the economy with it’s healthcare monstrosity? Hell no. So it’s really irrelevant why these assholes show such contempt for us because, whatever their motive, their actions are wrong.
Same with the oil thing. Has Obama responded appropriately? Not by a long shot. This is the philosophical angle. It renders the issue of his motive moot because, whether he’s unbelievably incompetent or an evil man, there are political consequences for his actions.
I judge actions and words through the lens of my Conservative and Constitutional perspective. Simple as that. Whether Obama is a dunce, a dupe, or a damn demon is really irrelevant to me, because his words and actions are not consistent with my beliefs; my philosophy. I really could care less *why* he’s doing what he’s doing. All I know is, we need to stop him. At the polls, for the guys camping out on clocktowers.
Conspiracy theories, even if true, are completely irrelevant. The actions of government can be philosophically evaluated on their own merits, without obsessing with motive.
Asking “why?” in life is a general waste of time. Conspiracy theorists are like women who overanalyze every relationship, and attribute all kinds of feelings and thoughts to people who may or may not be having them.
So what if the government’s scheming? Chances are, being so damn bloated, there’s probably like thousands of conspiracies going on simultaneously. Good luck with that.
I have a devious family. I ignore them and avoid them now. They really are schemers and liars. I used to get so obsessed with trying to figure out what the hell they were up to…and they really *were* scheming. Then one day I realized that it didn’t matter what they were up to. I just let it go and lived my own life without giving a damn.
Gotta let it go, guys.
When you approach current events philosophically, instead of conspiratorially, you’ll find that the whys and what-ifs don’t matter because philosophies are based on principles, and it’s much easier to evaluate principles than motives.
A philosophical discussion would involve the role of environmental regulations in forcing BP to drill through a damn mile of ocean, instead of on dry land or in shallow water. Or maybe the merits of shutting down all Gulf oil exploration. Or the merits (principles) of instituting a punitive tax burden in cap and trade that would severely depress the economy.
These things can be intelligently discussed. And they render conspiracy theories moot. Again, why? Because who gives a shit what the government is really up to when, philosophically, their actions are unsound.
Alex Jones is entertaining, but that’s about it.
I prefer more principled discussions.
Don’t obsess with whys in life, and trying to figure people out. Instead, cling to principles, and these principles will weed out the bad people regardless of what their motives and hidden agendas may be. It DOESN’T matter!
My philosophy is Conservative. I believe in a strict constructionist interpretation of the Constitution – it is not “living and breathing,” it’s precisely what the hell it says it is – and the free markets, and self governance and determination of the individual, low taxes, low regulations, secure borders, strong military, minimal government, faith in God and not intellectuals, and so forth. These are some of the principles by which I evaluate our leaders. And Obama violates pretty much all of them. So I don’t really give a crap why.
You see? The conspiracy angle serves no useful purpose. So stop obsessing about it.
Here is a really great article from the American Thinker about the oil disaster. This is more along the lines of the kind of stuff i like to read, because it touches on the merits without diving off into the deep end of conjecture. It’s more principle-based discussion than hypothetical. Especially the last few paragraphs, where the conspiracy theorists wouldn’t be able to stay disciplined in just discussing government tendencies, but would just take off with it like Forest Gump and run right off the field.
[u:27rc0luhAmerican Thinker: Katrina and BP, Two Sides of the Same Coin[/u:27rc0luh][/url:27rc0luh]
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Everything is a conspiracy. We all act in self interest. The few with power will always take care of their own, period. There are few public servants and many politicians. This is the way it is, has been and always will be.
I’m still surprised that millions of people get so pissed about this. My feeling is they’re pissed not because it happens, they’re pissed because they don’t have a seat in the proverbial “smoke filled room.”
At the end of the day Alex Jones, Fox News, Howard Stern and the lot of them are entertainment. Believe me when I tell you, what is reported as “fact” has maybe been verified through a google search.
You’re right as usual, at the end of the day, judge the actions (or lack of).
BTW, I love that line, the constitution is a living, breathing, growing document. No it’s not, it’s the law of the land. It’s not meant to be bent.
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[quote:2tn0c7ic]My feeling is they’re pissed not because it happens, they’re pissed because they don’t have a seat in the proverbial “smoke filled room.”
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You nailed it. I hadn’t quite arrived at this simple truth.It’s envy.
The truth is that human nature is conspiratorial. Just watch “Survivor” and you’ll see conspiracies being writ small. When you give guys more power and resources, there’s just bigger conspiracies. Not a shocker.
But, you definitely nailed it. The outrage of a lot of people when it comes to government or even celebrities is not based in morality but in envy.
To some degree, I think “conspiracies” are necessary for the government to operate, and for things to get done. And morality is not the same for individuals and the government. The government has the moral authority to decide who to kill, while I as an individual do not. I mean, I imagine the moral dilemmas that must face the CIA on a daily basis, and conspiracies are almost a necessary way of life, whether you’re pure as the wind-driven snow or not.
People are nosy. They like to scheme. They don’t like being on the outside of the schemes. They like to gossip. Nosy old ladies are notorious for their conspiracy theories. Because they’re out of the loop.
And I find that schemers are always the most obsessed with the schemes of others. If you really want to befuddle a schemer, do something for no reason that makes no sense; that fits no scheme. Dear Lord, it will drive em nuts tryin to find the angle.
Envy and control. We want control, and we envy those who have it. Human nature.
Great insight.
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That was my insight for the week, I’m tapped out now.
The more I learn about myself and the people around me is this: Envy driven by ego is why most people do what they do, good, bad or indifferent.
I’ve been in situations where there’s more than plenty to go around and others where there wasn’t a pot to piss in and eventually someone thinks the other SOB has got it better than he does. You need to have a stopping point where enough is enough. There’s only so much money you can lose/make, there’s only so much power you can have. The bottom line is when the world is done with you, was it a better with you or without you? Did the people you come in contact with become better for it or did you drain their resources?
I know my ego can be bigger than the Sears Tower, but there is a line, a a point and specific things in my life I will not sacrifice to accumulate more stuff.
Hey, I dig the “do something for no reason or no apparent motivation” tactic. I have to implement that.
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I know some conspirotory hobbist. Its interesting in that fundamentally I view the world differently then they do.
It is my theory that these folks believe in thise cabals and conspirotiries because it gives there life order in it makes things sensable similar to religion. I.E. this sucks because God or the Devil did it. Nasty Devil! or Obama or Bush did it! Bad Boys!
It also gives them an excuse mentally. My life hasnt gone my way because of the Cabals! or because right or left wing government! Etc.
Any logically thinking person knows this is all Bullshit it dont hold water.
In my opnion one of the greatest human tragedies is organized religions and in this example conspiracy theories. Because it takes away peoples humainity in a sense. IE Responresponsibilty. The world sucks or is great because of us as a race. Not because of an old man in the sky or the Obama adminstration.
Do I think the rich or so called “elite” look out for each other? Sure. Do they make plans together. Sure. Founding father did it. But is there a new world order? or Illuminati organized in the way these folks think? Hell no. Sadly the world is a pretty boring place when it comes to good mysteries of sci fi type action.
In summary . I think its a shame some dont accept the world is fuck up place because of random shit and us collectively not the new world order. Is to bad the new world order or the devil would makes this crap alot more interesting!..lol
lets take this oil spill for example. Im sure there are some crazy ass stories surrounding it. But sadly its not true its just simple greed of man and its ambeviance. Its really just that simple.
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True, fact is not stranger than fiction in most cases.
One point you bring up is accountability. My life didn’t go as planned because of “NAME EXTERNAL SOURCE HERE”. My kid lost because the ref/coach/other kid cheated. I lost my job because it was outsourced/cutbacks/economy (more on this in a minute).
Truth is, everyone deals with the same bullshit (except the few uber rich and powerful, if you think they wake up worrying about their mortgage…they don’t but rest assured, they worry about other shit- it’s human nature to worry.)
Most people feel powerless, so they need a reason to feel powerless. Religion, conspiracy theories and the like give people justification for the crap that goes wrong in their world. Instead of facing the cold hard truth: some decision you made lead you to this situation. Sometimes people are better than you, sometimes refs make bad calls, sometimes your usefulness is no longer needed for that particular task. It what you do when it all goes south that makes the difference.
Back to getting laid off. Living where I do gives me exposure to a lot of financially successful people. Some trust fund babies, some criminals but for the most part, a lot of successful entrepreneurs. One of the guys has his hand in several businesses. He made a comment the other day that really hit home. He said if you can’t “reinvent” yourself you’re never going to survive in this world.
This hit home. Looking at my life I have done this 6 times and will continue to do so until the world is done with me. The days of hanging on to a job/ career or working for the same company for 30 years and retiring with a gold watch and a pension are long gone (about 10 years long gone). It’s up to you to make you’re own retirement plan, it’s up to you to find opportunity. It’s out there, you just have to be able to recognize it, which isn’t always easy.
So when you’re job lays you off and someone in India is dong your job, it’s time to go figure out what else you can do. Everything is temporary: enjoy the good, endure the bad. Nothing is permanent except death.
Wow, that was one hell of a tangent. I guess it comes down to accountability and searching for solutions instead of complaining about the problem. It’s like a drowning man describing the water instead of grabbing the lifesaver.
Shit happens to everybody, the successful people just deal with it while the majority of people complain about it. -
Conspiracy theories run on both sides of the aisle.
Finger pointing is done from both sides of the aisle.
Pork is exploited for selfish means on both sides of the aisle.
At least when I go home I know I worked an honest days work and I am not ashamed to look at myself in the mirror. (Even if it ain’t a pretty picture.)
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[quote:11718i8g]My philosophy is Conservative. I believe in a strict constructionist interpretation of the Constitution – it is not “living and breathing,” it’s precisely what the hell it says it is – and the free markets, and self governance and determination of the individual, low taxes, low regulations, secure borders, strong military, minimal government, faith in God and not intellectuals, and so forth. [/quote:11718i8g]
Free markets are only “free” when those who have more power benefit, which doesn’t make them free at all.
And faith in God and not intellectuals??? what does that even mean?
If God created you didn’t he give you your intellect to use it?
Aren’t you attempting to do that now?For more on this check out:
If you don’t get it pm me and I’ll explain it further.
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As Mark Levin likes to say: Try to follow the bouncing ball here.
Free markets mean equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome. Socialists and Marxists think that they can artificially dictate – tyranny – an equality of outcome through redistribution of wealth.
However, as a Conservative and free market Capitalist, I believe in equality of opportunity, and not equality of outcome.
This is why people flock to America – for the opportunity. Any person with half a work ethic and some self-confidence knows that given the opportunity, the outcome is inevitable. However, we have a class of people who have been, and are, being conditioned to not even aspire or pursue opportunity. This is the evil of Liberalism, it destroys the dignity of a man’s drive to succeed by telling him he’s a helpless victim who must wait on his bureaucratic saviors like a beggar waiting for scraps of food.
An intellectual I think of as a person who puts their faith in their own understanding. The greatest intellect’s understanding is pitifully miniscule in the light of God’s infinite glory and truth. God expects us to use our brains, of course. But there is so much we must accept by faith.
There is a verse that says, “trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding.” In other words, no matter how much you know, or think you know, you ain’t seein the whole picture, so you need to stay open to that inner voice to guide you. Intellectuals are their own gods. They’ve got everything figured out. They’re the brilliant ones. The all-knowing elitists whose omniscience qualifies them to run your life for you.
There is another verse that says, “knowledge puffs up.” Intellectuals tend to be very arrogant due to their accrued knowledge, which doesn’t necessarily translate to wisdom. Wisdom is a perspective. A guy who thinks he knows it all doesn’t have the proper perspective.
Another verse that says, “we walk by faith, not by sight.” Any successful person has had to walk by faith, and not by sight, when it didn’t look like they were going to make it, but they kept forging onward by faith.
God cannot be quantified, yet He can be believed.
Your [u:3mcf5rto]fake article[/u:3mcf5rto] perfectly encapsulates the mind of an intellectual. That was a brilliant exhibit of my point, and thanks for the visual aid.
Even those who deny God operate by faith. Ironically, even intellectuals operate by a twisted kind of faith.
When I say faith in God and not intellectuals, what I am saying is that I place my faith in God which empowers me with the knowledge that I cannot fail to succeed, because He created me with a purpose and assignment. I *do not* place my faith in some distant cabal of elitist intellectual bureaucrats to micromanage every damn aspect of my life and the economy like Soviet central planners.
We’ve got a class in this country that’s been conditioned to worship government as their saviors. That’s what I’m talking about.
Faith in God is the ultimate in empowerment. God took the time to think up the idea of me, and then created me with a mission in mind. Knowing this – believing this – fills me with confidence as well as a sense of duty and responsibility that I must achieve my purpose and pursue my assignment.
People need to stop hating on rich guys and powerful people, by the way. I mean, someone’s got to have these positions. Someone’s going to have the ambition and drive to reach these pinnacles. And just like our self-righteous asses, they’re still going to be human and prone to the mistakes of ego and bad judgment.
Here’s another truth to keep in mind: You will never become what you resent. If you hate the successful and the rich, you will prevent yourself from learning from them in order to achieve what they achieved.
I used to look down on pop stars like Britney Spears, for example. Then one day I had the epiphany that Britney Spears was a *success.* In other words, instead of focusing on my dislike of her music and judging her like a thirteen year old girl – although a thirteen year old girl would like her….whatever – I realized I should focus on her success because in all success there is something to learn.
Take an evil guy like Adolph Hitler. I look at this guy and I think, “imagine if he had used his genius for good instead of evil.” There is so much to learn from Adolph Hitler that can be applied for good instead of evil, if you are a person who can look at success objectively, be it good, evil, or something you just don’t like.
Another reason I don’t hate on the rich and powerful is because I’m going to be joining them in the near future. To hate on them would be to hate my own future.
Class warfare in this country teaches people to hate their own potential. Think about it: A rich person is a walking testament to the potential that lies in *all* of us. To hate or resent a rich guy is to despise your own God-given potential.
But, it’s easier to resent and bitterly judge than it is to get off one’s ass and press onward toward triumph.
There is nothing more liberating or empowering than faith in God. Faith in God destroys fear and reveals destiny. I’ll take faith in God over a cabal of intellectual windbags anyday.
And there is absolutely *nothing* wrong with wealth and power. Nothing. But there is everything wrong with envy. Wealth and power are not immoral. Envy is. “Thou shalt not covet.”
Wealth and power, just like violence, are not good or bad. They are simply tools. And these tools, like all tools, are wielded by flawed people who share with us the same human nature.
Faith in God keeps me humble, so that when I am rich and powerful I won’t abuse the blessing.
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Unfortunately you are way way off.
Your post is evidence that you don’t know much about logic. And that’s not an insult it’s just a statement of fact.
If you were to honestly search for an understanding of logic it will open your mind to a whole new reality.
That’s not arrogance, as I definitely DON’T know everything or even pretend to.
Truly using your intellect in an honest way simply means that when you acknowledge that you don’t know something you pursue understanding using a logical approach.
The article that I posted a link to and you read was nonsense, it is a demonstration of how using facts and words in an illogical manner one can write nonsense.
There is a problem when anyone appeals to a higher power.
It stops people from thinking and stops our understanding.There was a great quote once written that went something like:
There is understanding and belief and they both take us down different paths and only one of those moves us forward. Take a guess which one, yes it’s understanding.
Think about it, do you think my post or yours is more arrogant?
I’m claiming I know little, but will follow a logical approach to learning more and you’re claiming to “know” something which can’t be known by appealing to a higher power and quoting statements that have been taken out of context.
Without evidence we have nothing.
As for opportunity.
Opportunity is controlled by the powerful regardless if you are liberal, conservative, communist or whatever. Think about it, do you think communists can be trusted with power anymore than liberals or conservatives?
They are all after the same thing they just use different means.
When opportunity is controlled by those with power to further their power, they will never give you an opportunity unless it helps them. And even then you will only be controlled. Greed only begets more greed.
There is nothing wrong with wanting wealth and power, as long as that wealth is related to the value you contribute and that power over your own life, the minute your power is dependent on bringing others down, then you begin going down a losing path.
There is nothing arrogant in what I’m saying here, just that you like myself and anyone claiming to be a truth seeker, needs to put themsellves on a path to further their understanding.
Failing to do so will only keep one rationalizing as opposed to being rational.
The difference being that you will be defending an emotional position instead of one that was arrived through logic.
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