fidalgo_negro (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} fidalgo_negro) wrote,@ 2005-04-27 21:49:00 |
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Don't forget that what many people call "conspiracy theory" is really institutional analysis. Thanks, Noam Chomsky.
Whenever you hear someone call another thinker something like "wacko" or "nutty" or "out of the mainstream" without any substantiation, you can probably guess that the person has nothing with which to substantiate the claim which is not vulnerable to scrutiny.
Beware of CNN and The New York Times. I don't need to tell you to beware of Fox News and the New Republic, since they are much like Soviet propaganda: obvious.
I've found that I have become better at arguing and negotiating with people in every day life since coming to law school. My undergrad philosophy classes probably also helped. I can really structure my arguments. I know how to appeal to objective principles and evidence. I can force my "opponent" to explain their positions and give away information. And perhaps most importantly, I can argue very dispassionately and civilly. This last attribute may be the most important. The strange thing is that I don't tend to think about tactics when I do argue. Probably because I tend to be right (or at least, the most right) most of the time, I don't find a need to exploit weaknesses and hide my own. But the tactics sort of come naturally in the quest for truth, reconciliation, agreement, etc. This sounds egotistical. It really isn't. I'm probably pretty average in my argumentative and negotiation abilities when among the law school community. But I'm still right most of the time on questions of policy. That is, until someone convinces me otherwise, which no one seems capable of doing.
Smokers need to know that the reason not to buy cigarettes is to no longer enrich the evil humans who try to get away with selling it. So, even if you're a nihilist smoker or a low-consumption smoker, which most smokers seem to be or claim to be these days, then you still should stop buying cigarettes and smoking them. Do they make non-addictive cigarettes for social smoking? Less deadly, but still satisfying, perhaps even buzz-inducing?
Anyone who believes in Social Security is part socialist. Even Republicans. So just accept your socialism and take the next step to helping everybody. If you believe in free markets, then the United States is the last place you want to be. We subsidize all kinds of industries. We impose trade restrictions on imports. We're hypocrites. We're socialists... if not international socialists, then at least nationalist socialists (not "national socialist" like the Nazis... they were only "socialist" to attract the votes of the workers. They even had socialist planks in their party platforms, but it was all just a ruse.)
Whenever you hear someone call another thinker something like "wacko" or "nutty" or "out of the mainstream" without any substantiation, you can probably guess that the person has nothing with which to substantiate the claim which is not vulnerable to scrutiny.
Beware of CNN and The New York Times. I don't need to tell you to beware of Fox News and the New Republic, since they are much like Soviet propaganda: obvious.
I've found that I have become better at arguing and negotiating with people in every day life since coming to law school. My undergrad philosophy classes probably also helped. I can really structure my arguments. I know how to appeal to objective principles and evidence. I can force my "opponent" to explain their positions and give away information. And perhaps most importantly, I can argue very dispassionately and civilly. This last attribute may be the most important. The strange thing is that I don't tend to think about tactics when I do argue. Probably because I tend to be right (or at least, the most right) most of the time, I don't find a need to exploit weaknesses and hide my own. But the tactics sort of come naturally in the quest for truth, reconciliation, agreement, etc. This sounds egotistical. It really isn't. I'm probably pretty average in my argumentative and negotiation abilities when among the law school community. But I'm still right most of the time on questions of policy. That is, until someone convinces me otherwise, which no one seems capable of doing.
Smokers need to know that the reason not to buy cigarettes is to no longer enrich the evil humans who try to get away with selling it. So, even if you're a nihilist smoker or a low-consumption smoker, which most smokers seem to be or claim to be these days, then you still should stop buying cigarettes and smoking them. Do they make non-addictive cigarettes for social smoking? Less deadly, but still satisfying, perhaps even buzz-inducing?
Anyone who believes in Social Security is part socialist. Even Republicans. So just accept your socialism and take the next step to helping everybody. If you believe in free markets, then the United States is the last place you want to be. We subsidize all kinds of industries. We impose trade restrictions on imports. We're hypocrites. We're socialists... if not international socialists, then at least nationalist socialists (not "national socialist" like the Nazis... they were only "socialist" to attract the votes of the workers. They even had socialist planks in their party platforms, but it was all just a ruse.)
