Unexamined Opinions

Socrates said, "the unexamined life is not worth living." I would modify his famous quote in this way: "the unexamined opinion is not worth repeating." In other words, we should be careful what positions we espouse until we are sure about what we are saying. Many people are quick to speak and slow to think when it should be the opposite, and many is the person trying to sound smart or noble by covering lack of knowledge with passion and anger.

Let me give you another thought: the only thing worse than buying into partisan rhetoric is repeating it! 

The job of a patriotic American is to form his or her own opinion, not swallow whole some pre-programmed, teleprompted spin. We are too bright a people to fall for such duplicity. Each of us needs to dig in and gain our own, adult-level education about our history, government, economics, and public policy. We need to examine the facts as they really are. We need to be thoughtful, inquisitive, and healthily mistrusting. Become informed and run everything through a "spin filter." 

The biggest thing a bereaucracy fears is an educated populace. Freedom dies in a land of ignorance. So arm yourself with knowledge of the truth and fear no false doctrine. Remember, good wins out in the end.

Comments

[Cathy - Team Rascals]

Chris,

I have a coworker who votes because she was brought up to believe "it's the right thing to do." She has no political opinions or convictions. She votes a certain way because that's how her family has always voted, and she likes the cult of personality and spin of that particular side of the aisle. She knows nothing of issues, and doesn't care to know. Her attitude is incomprehensible to me!!

Politics were a staple part of family dinner conversation when I was growing up. Political activism was considered normal. If my parents supported a candidate's platform, they worked as volunteers when they could, often "volunteering" some or all of the 5 of us kids to help. (I was a very frequent draftee!) If they disagreed with an issue, they called their representatives and wrote letters. Mom worked hard on the committee to fight the Equal Rights Ammendment when I was a teenager. (Again, I was a draftee!) Dad worked with the NRA on gun issues.

As a result, my parents raised 5 politically aware and conversant adults. We don't all hold the same convictions or opinions, but we know why we have them, and can defend them. And we are raising our children and now starting on grandchildren to be just like us . . .

[John Dickinson - Team One Purpose!]

Chris,

Years before I started a home education system for myself, I noticed my beliefs started to change. I no longer thought or believed the same way as my friends or family by 5 years after high school.

2 weeks after high school graduation, I moved out of state and I entered the job field while attending a trade school. My friends learned from the traditional conveyor belt college system.

I do not know exactly how I started thinking and learning the truth, but I know the lack of close association with my family and friends had a great deal in freeing my mind to open up, discover, learn, apply, and promote, the truth.

What is better now, is that I am almost learning and growing as fast as my 10 month old daughter and it saddens my heart that others do not want to share in the joy of learning and growing and thinking.

Thanks for stretching my mind during these comment posts!

John

[Skipper]

Howdy Chris, We in the United States have had such an increase in our bereaucracy. How can our bereaucracy possibly fear us, the educated public? Because the bereaucracy is appointed and not elected it is very tough to get rid of them. Do we need the "Slight Edge" in order to get rid of them?

[René Hince, Winnipeg MB]

I agree with this sentiment! I feel that much of the conflict in our world results from people that do not (or no longer) understand WHY they believe what they believe.

"Just because" is not good enough. So much misunderstanding happens because people don't understand why they even stand on "their side" of the line. They get defensive (perhaps even violent) when others question their beliefs.

Without continuing to look into where we stand and why, we will find ourselves defending our opinions for the sake of our ego: "I chose to think this way, so that's the right way to think! I'm right, you're wrong. Period."

What if more people understood their own opinions, the ways in which they became influenced to see things that way, etc.? I think it would open the door towards understanding each other (i.e. Person A says "Here's what I believe because..." , Person B says "Well, I'm not sure I agree, but now I can see where you are coming from, here's how I see it.")