Another Thing I Know

What would this one, be, 29?

29. I much prefer people who have standards and sometimes fail to live up to them over people who never fail to because they have none.

Update: A comment I added after Morgan expounded a bit.

Of course I'm talking about moral standards and the Saul Alinsky rule concerning them (rule #4, I believe). Sarah Palin's a hypocrite because her daughter got pregnant out of wedlock and the Palins are Christian believe abortion premarital sex are wrong. Bill Clinton, on the other hand, is just fine because getting blow jobs from interns in the Oval office as well as being married ... well, see he's a liberal and pre and extramarital sex are just fine for liberals because ... well they just are. I mean, if they weren't that would be so puritan.

In the words of Jesus himself, even the just man sins seven times daily. In other words, we are weak. We fail. But if we have standards we try to live up to, we are better people. Christianity has some pretty good ones. The vast majority of the raps against Christianity are actually examples of people failing to live up to it.

It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the standards.

Ever hear the term, "don't throw the baby out with the bath water?"

If I had to pick between the Palins and the Clintons to be my neighbors, the Palins would win hands down.

Things I Know #28

28. Empty rhetoric can be interpreted to mean whatever the listener wants to hear.

Which is why slick politicians employ it so often.

Things I Know #27

27. Denials of being Socialistic are usually accompanied by spirited defenses of Socialism.

Funny, that.

Things I Know #26

From a comment Jason left over at Morgan's Place. I only modified it somewhat to fit my format here.

#26 Progressivism makes you "good" by forcing others to do what you are too weak-willed to do yourself.

Things I Know #25

This one is from Thomas Sowell, and apparently it's the first line from a book of his I just ordered.

#25 Dangers to a society may be mortal without being immediate.

Incidentally, I'm a big Sowell fan anyway, but... the title sold me on the book.

The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy

Things I Know #24

Conspiracy, or not a conspiracy?

24. Progressivism isn't a conspiracy. It's more like a virus.

If you know me at all, you know I don't subscribe to conspiracy theories. Yes to Glenn Beck (who agrees with me), and no to Alex Jones (who is a flippin' nut). But we often talk about progressivism as though it is. This is because in some ways it behaves like a conspiracy. There appears to be a concerted, organized effort pushing the country, the world ... in that direction. But it's only because so many people exhibit the same symptoms, and those symptoms include zealous activism. That zealous activism leads to formations of many groups all pushing pretty much the same ideas.

If only they put their zealous efforts into organizations that actually, you know, helped people -- rather than trying to hijack everyone else's money and behavior to help the people they say they want helped in the way they see fit (which is forcing their morals on everyone else -- something they claim to despise).... that would do far more good. And ... they'd have to help far fewer people.

Ideas are like viruses in many ways. And of course lots of ideas are good ideas. The danger in progressivism is that it masquerades as a benevolent virus, but it ultimately destroys the host.

Things I Know #23

The Alinsky Torpedo for quoting Thomas Jefferson is invariably, "Thomas Jefferson owned slaves."

Which is true.

Why does that mean I should disregard everything he said?

Which brings us to Things I Know #23.

23. The flaw in Thomas Jefferson's philosophy was not in what the rights of men are, or in his ideas about limited government, but rather in whom he considered to be men at that point in history.

Things I Know #22

22. There are many bad arguments for things that are nonetheless true. However, no argument will change a falsehood into a truth.

This came to mind while pondering the fact that sometimes I cringe at some conservatives' arguments, while I actually agree with their conclusions.

Sometimes there are just better arguments to be made.

Added to the "Things I Know" series.

Things I Know #21

Phraseology inspired by longtime friend and practical brother -- Mark.

# 21. Racism is a part of the history of every race. (corollary: Bigotry is a part of the history of every culture.)

This in response to the tired Leftist charge that racism is a part of "our" history, as if it were something uniquely American, even uniquely "white American" -- that we must now remedy by punishing people who never were racist -- with racism. Or substitute sexism, or whatever your pet "ism-ism" is.

He responded thus:

Of course bigotry and racism are part of our history. Same for Hutus and Zulus, Sunnis and Shias, Protestants and Catholics, Kurds and Iraqis, Incans and Mayans, Pawnee and Sioux, British and Irish (seriously- the British thought the Irish were a lower breed), etc. etc. etc. Holy shit, every country has these issues. To point at white guys is to point back at yourself. I don't believe there is any "reverse" to racism, and bigotry is certainly not the sole domain of the caucasian.

Things I Know #19

I ran into this young lady this morning on her bicycle with her trumpet case in her handlebar basket. She wanted to know how to get to the stadium. Freshman. Marching band practice.

I directed her, and she thanked me and said, "I'm already late."

I run into this a lot in the younger generation. I think it's because they've relied on their parents all their lives to make sure they got where they were supposed to go by the time they were supposed to be there all their lives (or made excuses for them when they failed).

I wanted to say this to her, but I have a feeling it would have gone right over her -- or that she would not have appreciated the advice. Too "negative", I suppose.

This led me to Things I Know #19.

When you have to be somewhere by a certain time in the morning, make sure you know how to get there before you go to bed the night before.

It takes a little effort, but so does figuring it out in the morning. Under pressure. So it's worth it in the end.

She seemed sweet. Hope she learns.

Things I Know #18

18. Unfortunately, sometimes war actually IS the answer.

Things I Know

Inspiration from the blog that nobody reads, I'm going to start my own "Things I Know" post. I'm starting small, with thing #1.

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1. Evidence and proof are not synonymous.
2. There are a lot of people in the world who are quick to dismiss an argument by ascribing possible ulterior motives to the person making the argument. These people are usually not interested in addressing the pertinent facts.
3. Models are not reality. Models are expressions of belief about reality.
4. Correlation does not mean causation.
5. Multiculturalism = No Culturalism
6. The mere fact that plausible argument can be made does not mean that its conclusion is valid.
7. Tolerance and acceptance are not synonymous.
8. People are a lot more afraid of guns than they are of restrictive gun laws. This explains a few things: 1) a lot of people support restrictive gun laws, 2) crime rates are higher where there are more restrictive gun laws, and 3) crime rates are lower where there are less restrictive gun laws.
9. Narcissism is the realm of the insecure.
10. Facts don't know right-wing or left-wing. Interpretations do.
11. Anti-fashion is still fashion.
12. "Believed to be" and "is" are not synonymous
13. You don't get to decide when a war is over until you decide to lose it.
14. Imagination without knowledge is mere amusement.
15. If you don't want people to think you're an ass, it is a heck of a lot easier to just not be one than it is to constantly hide the fact that you are.
16. When people look too hard for evidence of something, they usually find it whether it's there or not.
17. In the last 200 years, at least, tyrants typically come to power via popular support from people who buy a "class warfare" world view. This view is marketed and sold by the tyrants who wish to be in power.
18. Unfortunately, sometimes war actually IS the answer.
19. When you have to be somewhere by a certain time in the morning, make sure you know how to get there before you go to bed the night before.
20. A good salesman is what you really need when what you're trying to sell is a piece of junk.
21. Racism is a part of the history of every race. corollary: Bigotry is a part of the history of every culture.)
22. There are many bad arguments for things that are nonetheless true. However, no argument will change a falsehood into a truth.
23. The flaw in Thomas Jefferson's philosophy was not in what the rights of men are, or in his ideas about limited government, but rather in whom he considered to be men at that point in history.
24. Progressivism isn't a conspiracy. It's more like a virus.
25. Dangers to a society may be mortal without being immediate. (Thomas Sowell)
26. Progressivism makes you "good" by forcing others to do what you are too weak-willed to do yourself.
27. Vehement protests that someone is not a socialist are almost invariably followed by a spirited defense of socialism.
28. Empty rhetoric can be interpreted to mean whatever the listener wants to hear.
29. I much prefer people who have standards and sometimes fail to live up to them over people who never fail to live up to theirs because they have none.
30. People are not bound by rules that they are willing to break.
31. Activism for activism's sake is a form of narcissism.
32. If someone says he's "post ideological", that person is undoubtibly a leftist. They're the ones that believe in a single, multicultural culture, that value judgements are "bad", and, of course that since their ideology is "right", it isn't really an ideology.
33. If it's got a politician's name in front of it, it's pork.
34. If A is "political" and B is opposition to A, then B is also "political".
35. There are no "false choices".  Only false assumptions about their consequences.
36. The difference between a wise man and a prideful fool is that both have a strong desire to be right, but one of them must never, ever be wrong.
37.There are few states of anxiety that cannot be at least temporarily broken, if not completely cured by a baby's laugh.
38.A realist recognizes the positive influence of optimism.