[extropy-chat] Re: Help! I'm not ready for reality! (was the 7 cents thread)

[Rafal Smigrodzki]

On 11/17/05, Jack Parkinson <isthatyoujack at icqmail.com> wrote:
> > From: Rafal Smigrodzki <rafal.smigrodzki at gmail.com> said:
>
> >> http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/lowwage/walmart.pdf
> >
> > ### I don't read propaganda from the Socialist Republic of Berkeley
>
> I guess this statement says it all. Reasonable people form their viewpoints
> after an intelligent appraisal of the pros and cons of the debate. You
> don't - and I think John C is of similar mind.
>
> I have been aware for some time that yours and John's viewpoints are highly
> emotive in tone. You both present opinions that appear to be shaped by
> ideology in defiance of reason, and you both rely on ridicule and diversion
> where well-crafted debate is the accepted - and the expected - mode of
> communication. Oh well - your loss! I think all the points regarding Wal
> Mart have been well and truly made now anyway.
>
> I just want to say this: People who are prepared to self-censor - to make
> sure that their precious beliefs remain unchallenged by reason and logic -
> accomplish this by isolating themselves deliberately from opposing
> viewpoints. These people must appear as a gift from heaven to the
> unscrupulous business people and politicians who use and manipulate them so
> easily. Quite probably, they are a large part of the reason there is now
> such an incestuous relationship between big corporations and government this
> kind of debate becomes possible.
>
> A mind that is resolutely closed to new ideas is already a good way along
> the road to fossilization.
> If you are not prepared to listen and consider, there's not much left for
> you to do except to hang onto that belief system and hope that it serves you
> well.
>
### Jack, you are presenting, albeit in a simplified and watered-down
manner, communist ideology with which I have been well-acquainted at
school (a state-run, communist one) since before you were born. I
don't have to listen, because I considered it and rejected it about 30
years ago. I wrote off the whole lot as a load of garbage and I don't
intend to wade through it again. My belief system is what happens once
a human rejects yours.

I can only suggest you read some popular books on economics, starting
with Hazlitt's, try "The Undercover Economist", or any other popular
exposition of this science. This may really help you shed your
preconceptions.

Rafal