In Defense of Thinking

As I waited for the mailperson to finish her work so I could get my mail, our small talk turned to the S&P downgrade. I piped in, “Apparently the issue of debt that the Tea Party had is a worthy concern.” Her answer: they are extremists.

This caused my mind to contort. Later that day, I felt a need to confront the conundrum. Could I be the one who is narrow-minded? Am I a hopeless ideologue, unable to engage in a rational conversation with a reasonably intelligent person?

I asked myself these self-examining questions because I have a habit of scrutinizing facts and issues. I am aware that I have biases which may otherwise obscure my ability to arrive at a lucid conclusion. Maybe this is because I have a background in biology. Alternatively, this habit could have come from my experience doing legal research.

Yet, I remember a time when open debate was to some degree anchored in simple, common logic, not “talking points” echoed mindlessly with hypnotic repetition from the media. It didn’t require any credentials or special experience; it was common sense which provided the framework for public discourse.

In the glorious old days, if a president blamed his predecessor for the economy 2-3 years later, he would look like an idiot. If a grass roots movement developed to change the direction the government was heading, such as bankruptcy, they were lauded as a prime example of “the American way”. Simple phrases that don’t need to survive the simplest form of logical debate are used to indoctrinate these days. Just the unified call from on high is needed: the teeea parrrty are terrorists… it’s the faaault of Bussshh … change is always gooood, is enough.

When did Americans stop thinking for themselves by analyzing facts? Maybe mental laziness should be a new disease, MLS, Mental Laziness Syndrome. Maybe the government’s stellar results with education are really to be found in their institutions for victims of MLS?

The conclusion that I arrive at (granted, I am not an Ivy League “intellectual”) is this: in this political season, and during such a critical point in our Nation’s history, conservatives must either a) become very articulate in short logical arguments and/or b) cater their message to the MLS victims.

Suggestions for communicating with MLS victims? Look at the playbook from the engineers of the disease. Use name-calling: e.g. “Obama Zombies”. Use short, simple catch phrases repetitively and with cohesion between all conservative media outlets.

Even though the fate of the nation is at issue, apparently with these mentally lazy victims, it takes too much energy to go beyond a repetitive tweet. Hopefully, these methodologies will still work when facts and logic underlie them.