Daily Rant – Know What You’re Talking About.
Yeah, I know that part of the fun of the internet is watching people flame each other and spout off about bullshit with little to no actual intelligent discourse. Yes, I admit I snicker some when I see those conversations… But for the love of anything, some of you are my friends and seemingly well-reasoned human beings. It seems like nobody in this country is capable of having any kind of discussion about any type of sensitive subject with any sense of civility or willingness to hear even rational points delivered by the opposition.
I’m looking at you, my liberal friends. Oh, wait, I’m also looking at you, my conservative friends.
Here’s the deal: In most cases, both sides have points to make on either side of any issue. On the other side of that coin, both sides have insecure ideological, head-in-the-sand stubbornness that prevents them from seeing any legitimate concerns and points the opposition might bring to any such discussion. If you can’t understand this, you aren’t one of the people I’m writing this blog post for. So yourself a favor and stop reading now.
I don’t normally get involved in discussions online about political and/or civil rights issues because I have better things to spend my time on, writing, reading, World of Warcraft, nomming my new baby’s feet, jamming a spork into my leg, finding just how many licks it takes to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop… I could go on, but I think you get the idea. I’m going to make a few blanket statements here, not necessarily as points of discussion, but rather just to get them off my chest. (Cause, you know, I got a bag full of tootsie pops and a box of sporks.)
- If you bring up Hitler or Nazis in an attempt to win your argument in any discussion that does not involve Hitler being a mass-murdering fuck head, you lose. Done. Game over. Check out Godwin’s Law.
- Having the base of any argument you make center on any variation of “Back then, a long time ago when things were so completely different from the way they are now,” you’re position is fundamentally flawed. Go back to debate class.
- Before you spout off about something, please understand what you’re spouting off about. Fact check. Wikipedia and Fox News are not reliable as sole sources of information. If you believe otherwise, you and I cannot continue a conversation.
- If you believe you need your gun, any gun, to protect yourself against the United States Government and its armed forces, you are an idiot. That is a fight you will lose.
- If you believe anything that is vaguely in the solar system that trivializes, justifies, condones, or excuses rape (against either sex) in any way, I hope you find your way into a small cell somewhere in the deep South with a big black dude named Bubba, who decides that you are going to be his new “special friend.”
- If you argue to keep civil liberties that some people enjoy from a group that does not on the basis that it violates your liberties, you are missing the point.
- On average, politicians suck. It doesn’t matter what party. They suck. Ultimately, they care about getting elected and then re-elected than they do about getting down to the business of doing their jobs. This is not 100% true of all politicians, but…yeah… Your party’s douche bags are no more noble and righteous than the other party’s douche bags.
- Almost every issue that we get worked up enough to argue about on the national, and even regional, stage is going to be complex, with many…and I mean MANY…various factors and layers and points of consideration. If you think you have a single sure-fire way to solve ANYTHING, well…saying anything here won’t mean a thing, because those people probably stopped reading by now.
- If you are anti gay marriage, you are on the wrong side of history. It doesn’t matter how you feel about it. It doesn’t matter how I feel about it. If you can step back from any personal beliefs you might have that are getting in the way of your critical thinking skills, you’ll see that’s just the way the US is going. It’s only a matter of time. Like segregation.
- If you think that pirating anyone’s intellectual property is okay, just don’t speak to me. EVER. You cannot justify it. EVER.
Okay… I think I’m done. Oddly Cathartic that. I almost think I’m ready to go back to Facebook. Well, maybe long enough to post a link to this rant. Then, I’ll get some writing done before bed.
/endrant
