(no subject)

[ellyssian]

So on NPR Day to Day, they had a talking head blathering on and on about how Bill Frist needs to take a position showing he's Pro-Life (based on what he says he is) or Pro-Choice (based on comments about stem cell research and that the Federal government should not be involved in decisions that should be parental choices.)

So the talking head says - a number of times - that Frist either needs to tell the Pro-Life folks he's Pro-Choice or the Pro-Choice folks he's Pro-Life.

In other words, there are only Two choices, and no sensible person would want otherwise - which would be better stated as Pro-Choice or Anti-Choice *or* Pro-Life or Anti-Life. The point there is I doubt that many Pro-Choice folks are Anti-Life, but it seems a number of Pro-Life folks are actively Anti-Choice, but everybody likes to be politically correct and positive, so it's the pro-s for all involved, especially when the majority of the currently elected faction is likely to get the anti-label.

What really gets me steamed is the thought that Frist must take a binary stand - it's either a 0 or a 1 and reality with all its variations doesn't enter into it.

The government was never intended to be a binary system - if another party actually one what would happen then? for all intents and purposes, it always falls to Republican or Democrat - again, reality has no place in it. You must take all of this option package, and these must be your opinions on all of these issues because that platform is what you believe in, or you're just going to confuse the poor saps who wear blinders on and only see what they're told to see: and everything is either black or white.

Mankind once again heads towards infancy, shackled by imaginary limitations of their own construction.

Mongo just pawn in game of life.

Comments

[jenjiyana.livejournal.com]

That's a very good point. It seems that in this country, you're either A or B on all issues. It's similar to when people say they are against the Iraq war; therefore, they are called anti-American.

My memory fails me here but I remember reading one historical personage saying that the worse thing that could happen to the country was if it became a two party country. I believe it may have been John Adams. And technically, while we have other parties, the control of the government is in the hands of only 2 parties.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

I have written a number of pieces on how this tendency towards binary thinking cripples us, but unfortunately, the most recent is not available on the web - unless Google or something else cached it - it's called "On Artificial Intelligence and Machine Men".

It's a theme I keep coming back to, mostly because everyone seems to fall lockstep into it - my favorite non-political examples are Coke vs. Pepsi or Buger King vs. McDonalds. For the record, my choices are Coke and Burger King, although really I would prefer Dr. Pepper and Quiznos, but those don't fit in a black and white world. =)

[phantom_wolfboy]

I'm Anti-Life.

I think everyone should get abortions. Some people, some men in particular, should have to get several abortions. Until they learn to understand what people go through.

I also think that everyone should be aborted. Some people several times. It would be a much more peaceful world.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Some people are slow learners...