As a nation, we seem to be stuck between two ideologies that
are becoming less flexible and more polarized.
I am fascinated by that for a variety of reasons, mainly because one of
those ideologies is based on mythology and the other is based on science,
logic, fact, and reason. I would never
have believed that as a nation wherein citizens have embraced the advancement
of science and technology as in cell phones, TV, space exploration, electric
cars, microwaves, modern medicine, etc., we would even be having such a
dichotomy of ideologies. But we are.
It seems to me we should identify the mythical portions of
an ideology so that those who strongly believe something and discover their
beliefs are myths have the opportunity to awaken and endorse reality. The question is, can those people handle the
truth? Some of the following are
facetious. Most not.
Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Mother Nature, Paul
Bunyan, Pecos Bill, Superman, the Avengers, et.al. On the surface, most adults understand these
are myths and most adults promote the mythology to children to instill magic
and mystery if not behavior manipulation.
As a nation, we seem to have decided that this set of myths is OK to
perpetrate on children, especially since such belief yields high revenue in the
private sector. But, they are
myths.
2020 Election Results. The myth circulated by Donald Trump and his
supporters is that Trump actually won the election and somehow Biden stole it
from him via fraudulent votes. Does not
seem to matter to these folks that no fraudulent votes have ever been found or
reported and that every lawsuit claiming fraudulent votes has been tossed out
of court for lack of evidence. Biden won
by 7 million votes. Anything else is a
myth.
Trickle Down, Supply Side Economics. This economic philosophy has never
worked. George Bush and Donald Trump and
Ronald Reagan have all proved beyond any doubt that cutting the taxes of the
wealthiest Americans and most profitable corporations do not lead to increased
hiring, increased production, or anything but the increased wealth of the
wealthiest. Given additional money
wealthy people invest. To stimulate the economy
the government must put money in the hands of lower and working-class
Americans. Given additional money, these
groups go out and spend thereby increasing demand, hiring, etc. Trickle Down is a myth that only benefits the
wealthy.
Any economic organization other than private-sector
capitalism is socialism and/or communism and is bad. Bad for whom, or bad in what way? This myth is almost funny in that those who
believe it and perpetrate it are either capitalists or ignorant. Of course, private-sector folks want to
abolish productivity and success via a socialistic enterprise. If those folks cannot abolish such an
enterprise they will scheme to collect some of the tax dollars for
themselves. Schools are socialistic. So is law enforcement. So are prisons. So is the military. On and on.
Anytime any enterprise is funded by tax dollars, where the capital
investment is public and subject to bid laws, where decisions are made by an
elected body rather than a CEO, and where salaries are set by an elected body
you are looking at a socialistic organization.
It sure as hell is not free enterprise.
So, the private sector wages war on public sector activities while
opening charter schools, private prisons, private security firms, etc., etc. Others who believe this myth are for the most
part confusing totalitarian decision-making with socialism and communism. I do not know of a democratic communist state
though China claims to be. But there are
dozens of democratic socialist states, most of whom are outperforming us
economically.
The Government that Governs Least Governs Best. This myth is the correlated to the myth that
what is good for business is good for the USA.
The problem is that without regulations and watchdogs American citizens
are seriously at risk. Our economic
system is built on the notion of making a profit. Anything that can advance that goal is
therefore OK. So, meatpackers do not
need to worry about contaminated meat, toy manufacturers do not need to worry
about safety issues for kids, car manufacturers would not worry about fuel efficiency
and exhaust regulations, factories would not need to worry about safety for the
workers, on and on and on. If left
unregulated the private sector would not implement any of these safety measures
and no one company would implement them because they would then be at a
competitive disadvantage with others in their field. And it seems that we do not even need to talk
about regulating banks, mortgages, hedge funds, etc., after the debacle of
2008. It is clear that CEOs and
corporate boards hate these government regulations and clearly, they would not
be needed if it was economical to do the right thing. It is not, so the government that responds to
threats to its citizens and seeks to protect its citizens is the government
that governs best.
And the issue of protecting civil liberties is a different
topic. If the government does not do so,
no one else will. When the government
stops protecting civil liberties then we are violating the core premises of
this democracy: all people are created
equal and have certain inalienable rights.
Even women, and Blacks, and liberals, and atheists and those who would
kneel during the national anthem. There
are those among us who, if they had their way, would convert Biblical
commandments into law, just as Muslims convert their commandments into law;
they would send all people of color somewhere else, they would ensure women
maintain a second-class citizen role, ensure that skin color and zip code determine
the quality of education, and on and on.
Those who think like this have absolutely no interest in protecting or
expanding civil liberties or civil rights.
Those who think like this stormed the Capital on January 6. Those who think like this do not understand what
the land of the free really means.
COVID. The
mythology surrounding the pandemic should never have evolved. It did so because we had a President who
downplayed the virus and contested science from the beginning. That planted skepticism in the minds of his
supporters and we continue to reap the deathly rewards of that skepticism. We know how Covid spreads. We know how to combat it via vaccinations. But for some reason unfathomable to me Trump
morphed from the notion that Covid was a hoax, it was no worse than the flu, he
declared we had it under control, he would not support masks and social
distancing, and then he took credit for the development of vaccines that had
been in the works for years before he ever took office, but he would not tell
his supporters to get vaccinated. That
is, until very recently with a caveat:
do what you think best. Over 800,000 Americans have died from this
disease and the variants are wreaking further havoc among those not
vaccinated. Vaccination is not a civil
liberties question any more than a stop sign is. We all agree that to live in a nation where we
must take precautions we may not like, but we do so to protect ourselves and
our fellow citizens. So, click your
seatbelt, have car insurance, have a driver’s license and a fishing license and
hunting license, and wear a helmet when you play football. These are not civil liberty issues. These are rational public health and safety
issues. And to those who believe that
the vaccines are a cover for microchip insertion or DNA collection I would
simply say grow up. Such mythology has
absolutely no basis in fact or reality and anyone who promotes those beliefs is
placing thousands at risk and, in my humble opinion, should be arrested just as
we arrest people who intentionally spread HIV.
The parents who are suing school districts because they require masks
should be reported to CPS for placing their children at risk. Yes, masks should be mandated. Yes, vaccinations should be mandated. Only because there are folks too dense to see
the truth of this international threat and listen to media sources more
interested in making up conspiracy theories than they are in helping people. We certainly did not have such folks around
for polio, smallpox, measles, mumps, tetanus, diphtheria, etc.
Global Warming.
As far back as the late 1800’s scientists began warning us about global
warming as the result of the release of greenhouse gases from the consumption
of fossil fuels. The litany of
scientific analysis of our fragile climate extends from then to the present
day. Global temperatures are
rising. The cause is the consumption of
fossil fuels. If you want to track those
studies check out the timeline found at https://history.aip.org/climate/timeline.htm. Climate change deniers are simply whistling
in the dark, hoping that the changes we see are not so bad, are the result of
natural climate cycles on earth, and that the end is not near. Climate change deniers also make a ton of
money on finding, refining, and distributing the extracts of fossil fuels, the
chief cause of climate change. They
do not want to admit that they are poisoning planet earth, perhaps beyond
recovery, any more than tobacco companies wanted to admit that smoking was
addictive and promoted lung cancer, or that Coca-Cola was a beloved drink due
to the cocaine mixed in the brew. So big
oil has committed millions of dollars to hire scientists who will conduct a
study and proclaim climate change is no big deal. (At first, their mission was to claim there
was no evidence of global warming, but the evidence for that is now so vast
that the task has changed.) States like
Texas that have provided safe harbor for big oil clearly do not want the myth
exposed. We are experiencing global
warming and we must reduce if not eliminate the burning of fossil fuels. If we cannot do that we will destroy the only
planet we have. To think otherwise is to
believe in a myth that is not supported by any independent scientific research.
Supreme Being.
There is no evidence beyond fervent belief that there is a supreme
being. Belief is not truth. Belief precedes truth and knowledge. Reason dictates there is not a supreme being. There are approximately 1000 deities
worshipped on our planet right now and each set of believers are convinced
their god is the one true God and all the other believers are infidels. Everyone is an atheist for every deity except
their own deity. However, there is no
evidence that such a creature exists other than through myth. And if he or she or they or it exists, that
being is either impotent, incompetent, or not caring and does not merit
worship.
This supposed Supreme Being evidently picks sides, picks
winners, decides who lives and who dies, and empowers people to commit
atrocities by the belief that this being is on their side. Ridiculous.
If you believe in a supreme being and believe that such a being cares
who wins an election or an athletic competition or which child lives and which
child dies you are the victim of mythological propaganda. If you believe that your particular religious
beliefs should become the law of the land then simply look at Afghanistan under
the Taliban to see how well that works out.
The notion that a god makes a list and checks it twice to
decide who goes to heaven and who goes to hell is absurd. If God exists all he has to do is show
up. Why would a supreme being be so
willing to commit genocide? Why would a
supreme being advocate the dominance of men over women? Why would a supreme being prescribe death by
stoning for premarital sex or adultery?
Did anyone go to heaven before Jesus?
If so, why was there a Jesus? On
and on and on. If you want to read a
book that is most likely to convince you there is no god I highly recommend the
Bible. Not the passages the preacher chooses. Start at the beginning and read it like any
other book
Life after death.
The expression says it all. The
belief that there is life after death has no foundation, in reality, any more
than life before birth. All life forms
on this planet expire. Those that are sentient
and have self-awareness simply cease to exist as do single-celled
critters. This myth provides some
glimmer of hope that humans are an eternal species with an infinite life
span. We are not. Hand in hand with this myth is that there is
a heaven and a hell. Equally
ludicrous. We can detect light emitting
from behind a black hole millions of light-years away from us. The thought that some places house billions
of souls, (whatever those things are), for eternity and these places are not
measurable or observable is a myth.
Pro-Life. Somebody
somewhere posited that aborting a blastocyst, an embryo or a fetus was an act
of infanticide or the killing of a child.
This mental image holds great power among those who believe that
abortion is morally wrong because it is in effect murder. That of course is a myth. Many of the supporters of this myth
aggressively insist that their view of this medical procedure, aborting a growth
inside a woman, is an issue of homicide, and are known to promote legislation
that makes such procedures illegal, they protest at clinics where such
procedures are performed and even attack the medical personnel who perform the
procedure. This is one of the saddest
myths in our nation today.
The growth that is terminated is not a baby. A baby has a name. When a mother loses her baby to death there
is great grief. This is not what is
happening at all. If you believe that is
the case do what I do and request that the pro-life person simply send you the
names of the dead babies so that condolences can be offered to the parents. I never get a name because this is what the
mother and the doctor have decided to do.
For anyone else to morn is at least patronizing and at most the
application of a given set of beliefs on other people.
Some base their myth on a religious holy book, but that book
does not mention abortion. The Bible,
the Christian Holy Book, makes it very clear in the second creation story found
in Genesis 2 that life does not begin until the first breath. Approximately 20% of all pregnancies end in
miscarriage, a term that means automatic abortion. For those who argue abortion is immoral what
shall you do with the miscarriages?
Again, religion enters the picture with the common answer that the loss
of this growth was the will of some god.
Before birth, the growth in the womb is on total life support. It receives its oxygen and food and blood
from the mother. Growths that exist
solely because of full-time life support are always subject to
termination. Tapeworms exist in the
human body, they have a heartbeat, they have a brain, and yet no one screams
when they are removed.
What reveals that this belief is a myth is that the very
people who believe the myth are not pro-life for children or others who are already
born. This group tends to support the
death penalty where jurors decide a full-fledged grown-up human being may be
killed, but opposes the termination of growth inside a woman is hypocrisy to
the nth degree. Further, the same group
tends not to support child welfare, increased spending on public schools, more
CPS officers, etc. This group claims to
be pro-life but that means pro-life pre-birth because once a child is born they
do not support programs to improve the quality of life of these actual babies. Pro-Life is a religious based, hypocritical
myth that many who hold the myth to be true would enforce this myth on all
women rather than allowing a woman and her health care provider to make
conscious, scientific and sociological decisions. The very men who scream about government
control regarding masks are willing to control a woman’s body. Should be blasphemy. It is, to those who think.
Fox News (et al) is News: In the beginning, there was ABC, CBS, and NBC,
all vying for viewers. The competition,
however, centered on the anchor more than the facts. All 3 networks scrupulously reported facts,
and if they had something to say regarding their opinion of the facts, that
something was labeled an editorial. One
never doubted the facts as reported and all three networks, though competing to
scoop the other two, reported the same basic facts.
Cable TV changed all that as did Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
and YouTube. Now the media choices are
overwhelming. I can find “news sources”
that are pro-Catholic, pro-guns, pro-Protestant, pro-evangelical,
pro-Republican, pro-Democrat, pro-vaccines and masks and anti-vaccines and
masks. This smorgasbord has had two
effects in my humble opinion. The first
clear effect has been to drive us to the notion that there are “alternative
facts.” That is, what one believes
becomes fact and the repetition of lies becomes fact by repetition. The second clear indicator is that folks want
to hear what they agree with and do not want to be confused by the facts. Facts become irrelevant in this environment. Who agrees with me is the litmus test for
listening.
But truth abides and facts reside. There is only one set of facts for any given situation
and we have lost the ability to discern facts from efforts to attract and
maintain an audience.
Fox News, and their conservative ilk, is not news.
It may be news on the local level when reporting a shooting, a high-speed chase, and a robbery at a convenience store. Other local networks will cover the same
stories reporting much the same facts.
But once the conversation becomes elevated to state and national issues,
facts disappear and opinions and beliefs rule.
The more outlandish the opinion and belief the more likely the network
will attract folks who are not critical thinkers or who are not prone to fact
check the news. Media sources that
circulate conspiracy theories (Trump won, the vaccine is harmful, cow de-wormer
works on Covid, masks are a violation of rights, life begins at 6 weeks in the
womb, Biden blew the Afghanistan evacuation, and Democrats are coming to take
guns away,) are almost all BS and serve no purpose but to keep the unread and
illiterate faithful believers riled up.
Why? Because that generates
advertising revenue based on viewership and fund-raising for the conspiracy
theory crowd.
We could end a bunch of this by simply requiring news
networks to scroll a message at the bottom of the screen that says, “The following
report is a conspiracy theory with no basis in fact.” Hannity, Carlson, et al would have the
scrolling message permanently affixed to their shows.
I am watching my grandson wrestle with the myth of Santa
Claus. I think he knows, as do many of
his classmates, that Santa is not real.
And he is deeply saddened now that evidently, all the adults in his life
have lied to him. He really wants Santa
to be real because such a creature would be wonderful to have around. When I first took out all my religious
beliefs and unpacked them it became clear to me there was no god. I sat with my preacher to discuss this
because it unnerved me tremendously. I
had always believed in god. I had always
prayed and gone to church and sung in the choir, etc., etc. I really wanted there to be such a being as a god, but it was clear there was no evidence that such a being exists. The preacher said not to worry, many people
go through a stage in their faith journey where they are mad at god. I laughed.
I am no more mad at god than I am at Santa. Neither exists. To be angry at them would be pure folly. I am angry and unnerved by the lies and
deceit that have been fed to me my entire life.
As those who really confront the myths listed here will
experience anger too, I think. It is
hard to accept the truth if one believes otherwise. But our nation will not exist as a secular
democracy until we accept truth as the bedrock, not mythology.
We believe all men and women are created equal. We believe every living human has rights that
should be protected. We believe there should
be a wall of separation between religious beliefs and the government so
that the government never tells people what to believe or whether to believe
anything at all. We believe our
government is of the people, by the people, and for the people, and we discern
their will via the vote. Any attempt to
deny folks the right to vote is un-American.
And in my humble opinion, any attempt to undo the outcomes
of a fair and just election should be treated as treason. That’s not a fact. That’s a belief.
The earth is not flat.
We have been to the moon.
Consumption of fossil fuels is killing our planet. Zeus is not real. Biden won. Let’s get on with the governance of America
as the people have willed.
