I believe it was Robin Williams who said "Cocaine is God's way of telling you that you have too much money".
I'd argue it is Satan's way, but the principle is the same ... it is a bad idea.
The end of this article states:
"It’s a mark of social progress that we are increasingly willing to accept people on their terms, for who they are. But maybe we’re manufacturing more problems than we’re solving. If we really want to help people, we should remember the old rule: First, do no harm."We may be "increasingly willing to accept people on their terms" unless they are pedophiles, black conservatives, fundamentalist Christians or rich people that don't state the lefty party line as well as Gates and Buffet ... among of course many others whose "terms" are not meshed with the liberal elite's "most favored peccadillo" status.
This condition is always to be the case -- the issue is not that people are now "more accepting", it is that one cultural elite segment holds stronger sway than any used to, and the groups that they accept are both different and MORE restrictive when it comes to actual thought. There used to be more of a competitive market of culture, where religion had a major place at the table, philosophy, classic literature, classic arts, small rural colleges, military colleges, national fraternal organizations, etc, etc
Now it is all Ivy League, Madison Avenue and Hollywood. True, there is Fox news and talk radio, but those views are firmly labeled like a cigarette pack with "these views are hazardous to your social standing". Certainly there are both rebels with and without causes, of which I count myself one (Christian / Conservative) ... but those that understand the game and the costs and are still willing to take the now more real (IRS, NSA, ...) risk of being counted are dwindling.
There is no more of a conservative phrase than "first do no harm". Within it are buried a host of assumptions about humility and the huge value of "things that work", even far short of "perfectly" (whatever that means in this mortal world). The felt in the bones appreciation for "the devil you know vs the devil you don't", and the irrefutable fact that the devil is in the details, details, details ... on to infinity. There is no human "proof" so good that a "Black Swan" can't show it's face at some future time under some unknown condition and undo the best laid plans.
How is a person less than 20, or even 30, ever really "sure" of hardly anything? "Comfortable with your gender?". Every time I see a dance floor, I realize that I'm still not all that comfortable with being 6' 4" and large. Sure, it has it's moments, but it isn't that great for letting you "fit in". It was much more of a problem when I was a weak uncoordinated big kid getting beat up by smaller better developed peers (I didn't turn 5 until the fall of my Kindergarten year). Puberty fixed the "strong" problem, and the final growth spurt put some more distance on the "bigger" front to make me not an "easy target", but still, very easy to see in a group for good and ill.
Maybe we should all be regularized to the same height, weight, rate of development to make us more "comfortable"?
Maybe the core problem is this post 60's obsession with "comfort" in all forms. Who was it that decreed that life was to be "comfortable"? How much harm have we already caused in the rather dubious cause of "comfort"?
Perhaps DIScomfort, and even DISagreement with some regularized cultural view is much more likely to produce vibrant, growing, creative and FUN cultures and nations. Perhaps a Republic ruled by a set of laws on the light side that allowed a wide divergence of actual views with true mutual tolerance?
Nah, could never work today. Time for a "benevolent" tyrant that rules by decree! If there are any confused kids, probably better to make a quick diagnosis and roll out the drugs and the surgical instruments. All that better to make you "comfortable"!
'via Blog this'
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