I have written, over and over again, about the rage of the "righteous." But I haven't written about Bush, because so many others have already done so, and brilliantly. Bush - America's stupidest president ever, according to one study and according to more than one report.

But how can I not write about him when I am writing about the rage of the "righteous"? IDEA #1

He is perhaps the world's winner among hundreds of candidates nominated for the title of Number One Self-Proclaimed Self-Righteousness Bigot. He is, in his own view, forever righteous - and those who don't agree are branded as evil. His whole misguided, dangerous, death-making war in Iraq is couched in terms of his righteousness and American righteousness - never in terms of his own self-serving desire for power, his self-serving desire to defeat others at all costs, his self-serving lack of care for the people whom he wrongs, for people who die because of his errors and policies. Sounds a good deal like a terrorist, doesn't he?

Of course he isn't a suicide bomber - he doesn't have to be. He can get soldiers out into the field with no risk to his own skin.

He paints the world as good and evil - with himself as good of course. He overlooks that he lost an election and certainly hurt the Democrats in doing everything in his considerable power, with his huge family pull, to make sure there would not be any fair process after there was every evidence everything had been done to minimize the number of Democrat votes in at least Florida.

Good and evil. Good and evil. Democracy and tyranny. Freedom and tyranny.

He simplifies. He lies.

How can he hurt the United States? It's hard to count up the ways. Like others of the self-righteousness elite, he plays on the weaknesses, fears, rage of those he pulls into his mindset.

Hear him - and hear those Muslims he is against. They say: America the Evil. He says: The Axis of Evil.

They speak the same language.

I don't have a lot of energy to speak against Bush. I don't think it's needed. When I hear him speak, I have a tendency to roll my eyes and gasp in horror that someone so inane, so simple-minded, so lying and deceitful is the elected leader of one of the world's major powers – because the second time around he may have actually gotten elected. (This is debatable - many people are certain there was election rigging in two key states.)

But - whether or not Bush got elected - I know the limitations of people. Hitler got over thirty percent of the popular vote, if I'm not mistaken. In Palestine, Hamas has elected representatives. So even if he garnered enough votes to get to be president the second time around, Bush's is no surprise.

People have done a lot better. People have also done worse.

So, in case anyone should think I have not written about Bush because I am unaware that he is a great example of someone using the rage of the self-proclaimed righteous as one of his major weapons, I have written this.

My only question: does he have any self-awareness? Is he aware that he is using the strategy of grandstanding his - and America's - supposed righteousness? Or does he actually believe what he says?

I am afraid that he might actually be a believer.

I saw a film on Hitler's last days not long ago. Downfall. He was a true believer in his doctrines.

Being a believer only means that one is caught in one's own spell, isn't using arguments just to manipulate others.

Probably this makes the shell even harder to break.

The hope – that at least others will see what is there, and not what Bush wants people to see. What he wants: the vision of himself as the savior of the Western world, the enlightened warrior spreading the good news. It sounds like, the New and Improved Jesus.

What I see:

someone who has grabbed a presidency when he did not win the election,

someone who is part of an administration that ignored warnings of danger and therefore enabled terrorists to pull off a massive blow to the American ego (without denting Bush's own ego, unfortunately),

someone who has gotten his country into a war through lies and deceit and playing on people's fears,

someone who has taken Iraq from the frying pan of life under Hussein into the fire of what is close to civil war, and is at the very least barely controlled Muslim-Muslim terrorism.

I am sure there is more but I keep seeing, in my mind's eye, Bush's smug closed face. He will not listen. He intones about the war between good and evil. Other Americans have access to loads of info. I hope they take at least some of it into account.

Bush – no savior. A denier of his own responsibility. A betrayer of caring, of truth, of justice over and over again.

And then I come to but. The but has nothing to do with Bush. I am writing in Canada. I value the values he claims to value. Democracy. Freedom of speech. Freedom of discussion. Freedom of thought. Freedom of the press. Freedom of assembly. Freedom to be safe when one speaks.

Part of Bush's power is that he plays on people's fears. So easy – just see how easy it is to frighten people with horror movies. Night of the Living Dead – a remake starring Bush.

There is another part of Bush's power, however. He invokes - probably most for people actually afraid of or at least uncomfortable with these freedoms - the very freedoms and democracy he betrays.

****

There is only one thing I can say in Bush's favor - and it has nothing to do with Bush, but with the Canadian and American tradition of considerable freedom of speech. I have, as far as I know, no reason to fear for speaking against Bush. There is a lot he has been able to do - and I am sure he would love to silence his opponents. But he cannot. Millions speak out. What is missing is his willingness, his ability, to hear.

I remember the evil queen in Snow White, "Mirror mirror on the wall,..."

Bush could take a look himself, "Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the unfairest ..."

signed,

Elsa
September 16 , 2006

copyright © Elsa Schieder 2006
publishing house - FlufferDuff Impressions 2006

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Click here for a blog on the writing of The Rage of the "Righteous" -
fear, censorship, self-censorship, and the unexpected.

Click here for Give Peace a Chance,
another idea piece.

For a "favorite" stupid opinion, click here for Stupid Opinion #One.

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The Idea Emporium - why and what

One of my lifelong concerns has been trying to make sense of reality. What is happening? Why is this happening? And with that I come to ideas - ideas about reality, ideas that need to be checked against reality, not just believed in like the tooth fairy is accepted by a child. But how does one check them? What qualifies as proof, as evidence?

And why, so often, is evidence of no interest to people? We have masses of evidence of how good many people are at denying evidence when it goes against what they believe. Millions have denied, and continue to deny the equality of women and men, of Jews and nonJews, of atheists and Muslims, gays and heterosexuals. People are incredible experts at denying reality - what is seen, experienced. Of course we need to interpret reality - we do not know it "pure" but through our limited senses, our limited memory, our limited ability to perceive and make sense of the amazing array of information that does gets perceived.

Still, it boggles the even slightly rational mind - how can so many people be so utterly blind to, let's say, findings about nutrition? It amazed me to find out, when I was growing up, that there was evidence for the health benefits of whole grains over refined products - because masses of people stuck with white flour, white rice, white sugar. How could they be so closed to evidence? Somehow they had a wall against the evidence.

The ideas I want to explore are those that go with, not against, the evidence, that try to make sense of evidence.

So, the Idea Emporium - a place for ideas.
The Idea Emporium - a place where ideas are explored.
The Idea Emporium - a place where ideas are entertained , played with,
looked at from many angles.
The Idea Emporium, a place where ideas are evaluated.

What is an idea, by the way. I hadn't thought of that when I chose the name of The Idea Emporium. It just seemed the obviously right name. It was months before I realized I had a hard time putting into words what I meant by idea. I began to think about the word. Sentences with the word, idea, floated into my mind. Like, "I have an idea. Why don't we order pizza?" That was an eye-opener for me.

My guess is that most of us use the word without knowing exactly what it means. "I have an idea of what we might do. Maybe we could go out for Chinese food. But It's just an idea" - meaning this need not come to pass, but we think it might be fun. That is obviously not what I meant by idea.

"I have an idea. Maybe you left your hat in the car." Again, no

""My idea is that we go in together and talk to her." No.

These are all legitimate uses of the term, idea, but it's not what I meant when I came to name The Idea Emporium. And I'm sure it's not what people might expect if they click on The Idea Emporium - because it's not what most people mean by the word "idea."

Word has a built-in dictionary. This is what it says:

Idea -
a personal opinion or belief;
a thought to be presented as a suggestion;
an impression or knowledge of something;
a realization of a possible way of doing something or of something to be done;
the aim or purpose of a plan or project;
the gist or précis of something such as a book, report, project or plan;
a thought about or mental picture of something such as a future or possible event;
a concept that exists in the mind only;
a mental image that reflects reality.

The last is what I'm most interested in - ideas that reflect reality as well as possible. But I've decided that I like it that idea is such a wide term.

Here I am taking idea to mean (and I think this is what most of us think of when we think of the meaning of the word, idea) some thought one has about something. "I have an idea" - meaning, I am not sure this concept fits reality, but it is a hypothesis I have formed.

I also think that, when I named The Idea Emporium, I was blurring words together in my mind - idea, concept, conception, understanding, hypothesis.

The Idea Emporium - a place for all these things.

This is not the same as people having "an idee fixe" - meaning, a fixed idea, a rigid belief that something is one way or another.
The sooner people get rid of such ideas, the better. The Idea Emporium is not a place to set out rock-hard beliefs and stone people with them, hurling them like missiles at all and any that come within striking range.

That is not The Idea Emporium.

The Idea Emporium - a place to present and explore ideas - for now my ideas.

That does not mean the idea need to be timidly set forth, all hemming and hawing, tentative even when the evidence is strong.

The Idea Emporium – the goal is smart opinions, critical thought, perception, good analysis.

The Idea Emporium. Smart opinions - meaning, drawing on every resource possible, rather than "it's my opinion, that's why I believe it, and it's as good as yours any day. Who are you to say blacks can do math, women can learn to read, Jews deserve to live. I have every right to my opinion." Personally, I'd rather do my best to think well, but many others are clearly proud of their avowed right to be thoughtless.

That's not The Idea Emporium.

The Idea Emporium. Critical thought - that means we do our best to think well, to apply logic, information, all our capacities.

The Idea Emporium. Good analysis. Again, that means we try to ensure that we use valid arguments - not, "because it's my opinion," "because I say so" "because I know that's right" "because my god says so" "because everyone knows that's right" . We both draw conclusions from evidence (so there may be evidence showing patterns and tendencies in certain groups (for instance, I've done lots of research on the impact of rights movements on those who get involved, and have found lots of evidence for patterns of response) - and at the same time we are careful not to generalize, to draw conclusions beyond what we have evidence for, and even contradicting the evidence ("Women are ..." "Muslims believe ..." "everyone this happens to ..." "Jews are..." "Gays are ..."

The Idea Emporium. Perception. Not easy to perceive. We each do it through a filter of experience, memory, assumptions, and so on. We have all learned not to perceive many things - denial - and to magnify other things. The goal at The Idea Emporium (and this should be the goal everywhere) is to be as perceptive - taking in as much information - as possible.

The Idea Emporium. i could go on and on. But this is enough for a start. More important now to put it into action - because it's ideas came first, surging inside me, wanting to find a place to be heard.

I'm (among other things) a college teacher, so my teaching gives me one outlet for my ideas, to express them, modify them, listen to other ideas, test the evidence, the power (or lack thereof) of different arguments.

But that hasn't been enough for me. One small class at a time.

I have a sense that I have some ideas that could be valuable to many people - ideas many people don't have (many have very different ideas), ideas where my ideas may help other people struggling with some of the same concerns, and so on. I think these ideas could help make some kind of positive difference in the world, reach people who are reachable, maybe even break through some shells many people live inside, shells that stop them from perceiving things.

There will be space for the ideas of others as well. Right now I am starting with a few ideas of mine. But I envisage that The Idea Emporium is a place that will grow, enriching both others and also myself - that I and my ideas will grow from some of what comes back.

Elsa
July 30, 2006

copyright © Elsa Schieder 2006
publishing house - FlufferDuff Impressions 2006

Questions - on rage, hatred, narcissism, empathy, caring, peace.
Good thinking and analysis. Logic plus emotion.
The Idea Emporium - facts, ideas, conclusions.
Plus stupid opinions exposed.

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THE IDEA EMPORIUM
IDEA * EVALUATION * CONCLUSION * INSIGHT * COMMENTARY * CONTROVERSY * INTELLECTUAL CONFLICTS * CONFLICTING VERSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS * DIFFICULT AREAS * OPINION * WELL-REASONED OPINION * UNFOUNDED OPINION * STUPID OPINION * THEORY * THEORIZING * FEMINIST THEORIES * PERCEPTION * PERCEPTIONS * PERSPECTIVES * PSYCHOANALYTICAL THEORIES *
THE IDEA EMPORIUM + THE IDEA EMPORIUM + THE IDEA EMPORIUM * THE IDEA EMPORIUM
ENVORINMENTAL CONCERNS * ANALYSIS * DISCOVERING UNDERLYING CAUSES * AMBIVALENCES * AMBIGUITIES * FEAR OF AND RAGE AGAINST IDEAS * FEAR OF EXPRESSING IDEAS *
ANTI-THINKING TORRORISM * ANTI-INTELLECTUAL TERRORISM * FALLACIES * FLAWED REASONING *
THE RAGE AGAINST UNWANTED IDEAS * THE RAGE AGAINST UNWANTED VISONS OF REALITY *
THE IDEA EMPORIUM + THE IDEA EMPORIUM + THE IDEA EMPORIUM * THE IDEA EMPORIUM
BLINKERS AGAINST PERCEPTION * BARRIERS TO THINKING * BARRIERS TO REASONING *
INTELLECTUAL STIMULATION * STIMULATING IDEAS * FERTILE THOUGHT * VIEWPOINTS * UNDERSTANDINGS * COMPLEXITIES * UNCERTAINTIES * GUESSES * HUNCHES *
FACTS * GUT FEELINGS ABOUT THINGS * EXPLORING IDEAS * EXPLORATIONS OF IDEAS *
THE IDEA EMPORIUM + THE IDEA EMPORIUM + THE IDEA EMPORIUM * THE IDEA EMPORIUM
EXPERIMENTS TO VERIFY IDEAS * REALITIES * REASONING * IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS *
THOUGHT OF THE DAY * PERCEPTION * PERSPECTIVE * DATA * INFORMATION *
OPINION PIECES * LOGICAL THINKING * CRITICAL THOUGHT * INTELLECTUAL LAZINESS * IDEA
THE IDEA EMPORIUM

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THE IDEA EMPORIUM
A CELEBRATION OF GOOD THINKING

THE IDEA EMPORIUM
NO HOLDS BARRED THINKING

THE IDEA EMPORIUM
LOOK AT ANYTHING, ASK ANYTHING

LOOK ANYWHERE

PLUS, LOOK AT THE JOURNEY

 

 

"It is a fact readily acknowledged,
that for humans,
an idea is much more powerful
than a fact."

 

WHEN I HEARD THAT,
I HAD A EUREKA MOMENT.
YES, I HAD SEEN THAT SO OFTEN.

 

SOME OF US ALREADY LOVE GOOD THINKING.

BUT GOOD THINKING IS POSSIBLE
FOR ALMOST ALL OF US,
JUST LIKE EVEN A COUCH POTATO
CAN GET INTO SHAPE!

SO, FOR THE THINKERS
AND THE POTENTIAL THINKERS

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