I wish I had a nickle for every dime you stole from me
Then I'd be about half as rich as I used to be
I wish I had the brains I used to have before we met
'Cause if I did I'd take back everything that I could get
You carved your name in the lines of my face
and left it for all to see
If I had some soap I'd scrub away your filthy name
I'd scrub so hard my face would crack just to be clean again
Your name is like an epitaph engraved upon my head
And if we ever meet again I hope to God you're dead
You're still hanging in the back of my mind
but you should be hanging from a tree
Look For The Menu
Imagine that a friend takes you to Baskin & Robbins, the home of 31 flavors of ice cream. Suppose you'd never been there before, and you know nothing about it. Your friend says that you can have any flavor of ice cream that the want, either chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla. You choose chocolate, then you leave, feeling very satisfied that you got to make the choice all by yourself.
But you don't realize that your friend never told you about the other 28 flavors. Had you known, you might have tried a different flavor, one that you may have liked even better than chocolate.
And he never even told you that there was a menu you could have looked at to help you make a more informed decision.
But not knowing all this, you walk happily away.
Americans need to learn to look for the menu. Americans shouldn't be content just because they made a decision. They need to make sure that the choices they make are from all the choices available, not just from the choices they are given.
At the very least, see if the person giving you the choices is really your friend.
But you don't realize that your friend never told you about the other 28 flavors. Had you known, you might have tried a different flavor, one that you may have liked even better than chocolate.
And he never even told you that there was a menu you could have looked at to help you make a more informed decision.
But not knowing all this, you walk happily away.
Americans need to learn to look for the menu. Americans shouldn't be content just because they made a decision. They need to make sure that the choices they make are from all the choices available, not just from the choices they are given.
At the very least, see if the person giving you the choices is really your friend.
Truth Is Truth
It is a plain and simple fact that truth is truth no matter where it comes from.
We humans have a weird quirk - we tend to believe people we like and/or respect, and disbelieve people we don't. We also tend to grant validity to a person's opinions based on their position in the world. This is idiocy.
I've often wondered why the people in the pews nod their heads in acceptance at every word the preacher says. Does his position at the front of the church grant him certain abilities denied to the rest of us? Has God given him special insights into the Bible that the rest of cannot possess? If we have a brain and the ability to read, aren't our interpretations as valid as his? Perhaps we think that he must know more than we because he has studied longer. Well, that is just not true. He has not really "studied" at all. He has just been taught by someone who was taught by someone else who - and on and on. And bear this in mind: every new sect of a religion was started when someone didn't agree with his teacher. Martin Luther comes to mind.
And isn't it curious how we believe someone just because they wrote a book? We see an author on a talk show expounding his theories as fact, and say, " I did not know that. But it must be true. After all, he wrote a book."
Of course, the opposite is also true. We often deny validity to a person's opinion based on their profession. For example, an actor takes a stand on something, and we say, "What does he know? He's just an actor." As if being an actor prohibits him from rational thought.
Now don't misunderstand me. Sometimes the preacher and the author are right, and sometimes the actor is an idiot. But it's not automatic. A wise man can be foolish, and a moron can get it right once in a while.
Remember, even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Do your own research, make your own analysis, and learn to think for yourself.
We humans have a weird quirk - we tend to believe people we like and/or respect, and disbelieve people we don't. We also tend to grant validity to a person's opinions based on their position in the world. This is idiocy.
I've often wondered why the people in the pews nod their heads in acceptance at every word the preacher says. Does his position at the front of the church grant him certain abilities denied to the rest of us? Has God given him special insights into the Bible that the rest of cannot possess? If we have a brain and the ability to read, aren't our interpretations as valid as his? Perhaps we think that he must know more than we because he has studied longer. Well, that is just not true. He has not really "studied" at all. He has just been taught by someone who was taught by someone else who - and on and on. And bear this in mind: every new sect of a religion was started when someone didn't agree with his teacher. Martin Luther comes to mind.
And isn't it curious how we believe someone just because they wrote a book? We see an author on a talk show expounding his theories as fact, and say, " I did not know that. But it must be true. After all, he wrote a book."
Of course, the opposite is also true. We often deny validity to a person's opinion based on their profession. For example, an actor takes a stand on something, and we say, "What does he know? He's just an actor." As if being an actor prohibits him from rational thought.
Now don't misunderstand me. Sometimes the preacher and the author are right, and sometimes the actor is an idiot. But it's not automatic. A wise man can be foolish, and a moron can get it right once in a while.
Remember, even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Do your own research, make your own analysis, and learn to think for yourself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)