The Ignorant

a reply to: malte86

But then what's not a lie?

Lies are much like pornography, it can't really be defined, but when you see it, you know that it is what it is.

Also, I am of the belief that most people really do detect harmful lies but their brain makes excuses for them in order to carry on. Up until that moment the lie can no longer be avoided.

originally posted by: Sands81
a reply to: dust2023

Golf course certainly doesn't help his cause but most people here just find him to be a thoroughly disgusting individual on a personal level. Constantly bragging about his Scottish heritage when he knows nothing about this country and only spends time here when he's hiding out from embarrassments such as his last election loss (at a cost to our taxpayer as we pay for his security) claiming his mother is a proud scot and also a royalist which are two completely contrasting view points for most of us.
For the record I don't buy hes a racist, fascist ect but he is what we'd call here "A total fanny"
Comments like "I received a small loan of one million dollars" make most people sick 😫

Yeah it does seem he is hated in Scotland. I have heard the same from Ireland. I am about 70 percent English/Scottish - 23 and Me says most of my ancestors - 70% -are from the area where England and Scotland meet, and I have read that fact automatically makes me an asshole. :-)
So all of my experience with actual natives of the Isles is that all Americans are kind of loathed because we claim to be Scottish or whatever and culturally in every way we are not. And I wish Americans did not phrase it that way because you guys are correct. We are not whatever we say we are from other areas. We are different because we have a distinct culture here. Also since WW2 we have been lording our culture all over the place in a rather arrogant way. And I can see how Trump would seem like an effigy of that particular problem.

I couldn’t agree more, especially when social media plays a big influence. The use is taught by the machine, and not by their parents which means a lot of morals and upbringing a reply to: dust2023

In saying kids today don't care about past history. How could they? They were never taught any of it.
I made it thru HS in the 70's without any exposure to American History, only general math, Science consisted of nobody ever doing anything because the teacher took one look at us an rightfully decided we'd trash the Lab between the gas jets & exploring chemicals in beakers.

Sure they all only think of themselves ,but didn't everyone in past generations? The 60's keep getting portrayed as
the young generation changing society. But it was mostly them tuning in & tuning out. It was all about them.
I haven't run into any who care about the elections/politics, outdoor activities, OR being woke & never mind bothering to virtue signal on social media. Yes, they are THAT lazy.

a reply to: Caver78


please check your PMs

a reply to: malte86

Nice rant

originally posted by: malte86
The absolute majority of all students in Western countries are liberal, cosmopolitan, believe in climate change, women's rights, are in favor of abortion, etc... In other words, politically left to center-conservative.

The reason colleges are so liberal is many of their students got there because of liberalism and would not be able to attend without it: www.abovetopsecret.com...

originally posted by: dust2023
It is the void that is filled by a lack of spiritual development.

No, the heathen are taking advantage of the lack of spiritual development in order to cheat on exams.

Our universities are flooded with idealistic youth with the attention spans of goldfish. The human genome has been co.promised and is producing defective products en mass. Overproduction is causing supply chains to use inferior materials and construction techniques to keep up with consumer demand.

THE FUTURE IS STUPID.

Edit : Sorry for the harsh outburst. I'm venting my frustrations and I'm a humanitarian at heart. I care deeply about the welfare of human beings even when they seem like absolute hopeless cases. I don't have a solution to these modern issues and I'm battling my technology constantly trying to get it to function properly. I'm tired overworked and underpaid. I in no way shape or form meant to reduce human beings into the classification of inanimate objects that can be discarded at will for being inconvenient or not up to personal standards. I know that's a big no no around these here parts and I apologize for my outburst in the manner in which it manifested because I too am defective and a product of my environment and education. I need to step away from my device and go listen to the night sounds on my porch and reconnect with a sane environment.

I noticed when it comes to transgenderism, even my most mild tempered acquaintances quickly get VERY aggressive, accusive, and even demeaning when discussing the topic.

It shuts down any actual discussion we can have immediately.

It's sad...

Women suffer the most from this movement, and their proponents claim themselves to be feminists.

It's beyond ludicrous.

a reply to: malte86

You talk of ignorance yet don’t mention anything about the social engineering programs initiated by the Fabian Society, the various NGO’s, the CFR, the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderburgers and the WEF. The revolving door between politics and big corporations…

All you see are the surface level symptoms, and not the underlying sickness and corruption that has taken root across society.

a reply to: malte86
Israel dropped bombs on Bethlehem for Christmas yet you all are still convinced Israel is the victim is astounding.

Are you Christian?

Because Israel also blew up the 3rd oldest Christian church on the planet last week. Yet you wanna preach about ignorance?

Talk about pot calling the kettle black.

a reply to: BrotherKinsMan

The phenomenon is not localized to the Progessives.

I was good friends with an ex-marine law enforcement officer on Facebook who absolutely flipped out and scared the Dickenson out of me during the Trump vs Hillary Era because I posted something positive about programs she passed through from her role within her husband's administration.

It was an innocent comment based on factual evidence and the next thing I know he's screaming at me that I'm a no good dirty communist liberal.

We had always had civil relations up until that incident.

I won't get into how many times I was ruthlessly attacked for not being rank and file with Trump worship here on site.

My comments were taken entirely out of context and it took several years of defending and clarifying myself and my position and concerns before the water settled.

I have nothing against him or his supporters, I just have concerns and critiques about whomever holds the Office of the Presidency because I have high standards because of men from bygone eras like Roosevelt and Eisenhower.

I know you can't please all the people all the time but whatever is causing these hair trigger outbursts pitting Americans against one another needs to be addressed and we need to strengthen our mental defenses so we dont fall into a pattern of unhealthy and socially destructive behavior and civil unrest.

a reply to: GENERAL EYES

If you can clearly see both sides of an argument and don't worship at the feet of one side or another you are considered unreasonable these days

a reply to: Sands81

Thank you for the kind words.

I'm flawed and overreact sometimes myself.

That's just part of being human.

Americans have always been known for their passion and willingness to fight for what they believe is right.

Its one of the reasons I love my Countrymen so much.

We might not always see eye to eye on everything and our methodologies for conflict resolution might vary wildly but we're all fighting for the same things.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Ignorance, cognitive dissonance isn't a partisan issue where it's "always" the political opponents who are wrong. Imagine the level of shattered worldviews and the attendant cultist freaking out by ALL political stripes (and then some) if the full truth about "ET" (and moreover the resulting practical applications) ever comes out. At least it would be a great uniting factor, a convergence of common ground.

a reply to: malte86

These college kids won't even hear out what they don't agree with I can't imagine just blindly following democrats

originally posted by: Sands81
a reply to: malte86

Who is the victim of propaganda?

Perhaps the more pertinent question for ATS or the internet in general is: who isn't?

...

AS MEANS of communicating have expanded—from printing to the telephone, radio, television, and the Internet—the flow of persuasive messages has dramatically accelerated. This communications revolution has led to information overload, as people are inundated by countless messages from every quarter. Many respond to this pressure by absorbing messages more quickly and accepting them without questioning or analyzing them.

The cunning propagandist loves such shortcuts—especially those that short-circuit rational thought. Propaganda encourages this by agitating the emotions, by exploiting insecurities, by capitalizing on the ambiguity of language, and by bending rules of logic. As history bears out, such tactics can prove all too effective.

...

Source: The Manipulation of Information (Awake!—2000)

“A fool will believe anything.”—PROVERBS 14:15, TODAY’S ENGLISH VERSION.

THERE is a difference—a big difference—between education and propaganda. Education shows you how to think. Propaganda tells you what to think. Good educators present all sides of an issue and encourage discussion. Propagandists relentlessly force you to hear their view and discourage discussion. Often their real motives are not apparent. They sift the facts, exploiting the useful ones and concealing the others. They also distort and twist facts, specializing in lies and half-truths. Your emotions, not your logical thinking abilities, are their target.

The propagandist makes sure that his message appears to be the right and moral one and that it gives you a sense of importance and belonging if you follow it. You are one of the smart ones, you are not alone, you are comfortable and secure—so they say.

How can you protect yourself from the types of people that the Bible calls “profitless talkers” and “deceivers of the mind”? (Titus 1:10) Once you are familiar with some of their tricks, you are in a better position to evaluate any message or information that comes your way. Here are some ways to do this.

Be selective: A completely open mind could be likened to a pipe that lets just anything flow through it—even sewage. No one wants a mind contaminated with poison. Solomon, a king and educator in ancient times, warned: “Anyone inexperienced puts faith in every word, but the shrewd one considers his steps.” (Proverbs 14:15) So we need to be selective. We need to scrutinize whatever is presented to us, deciding what to accept and what to reject.

However, we do not want to be so narrow that we refuse to consider facts that can improve our thinking. How can we find the right balance? By adopting a standard with which to measure new information. Here a Christian has a source of great wisdom. He has the Bible as a sure guide for his thinking. On the one hand, his mind is open, that is, receptive to new information. He properly weighs such new information against the Bible standard and fits what is true into his pattern of thinking. On the other hand, his mind sees the danger of information that is entirely inconsistent with his Bible-based values.

Use discernment: Discernment is “acuteness of judgment.” It is “the power or faculty of the mind by which it distinguishes one thing from another.” A person with discernment perceives subtleties of ideas or things and has good judgment.

Using discernment, we will be able to recognize those who are merely using “smooth talk and complimentary speech” in order to “seduce the hearts of guileless ones.” (Romans 16:18) Discernment enables you to discard irrelevant information or misleading facts and distinguish the substance of a matter. But how can you discern when something is misleading?

Put information to the test: “Beloved ones,” said John, a first-century Christian teacher, “do not believe every inspired expression, but test the inspired expressions.” (1 John 4:1) Some people today are like sponges; they soak up whatever they come across. It is all too easy to absorb whatever is around us.

But it is far better for each individual personally to choose what he will feed his mind. It is said that we are what we eat, and this can apply to food for both the body and the mind. No matter what you are reading or watching or listening to, test to see whether it has propagandistic overtones or is truthful.

Moreover, if we want to be fair-minded, we must be willing to subject our own opinions to continual testing as we take in new information. We must realize that they are, after all, opinions. Their trustworthiness depends on the validity of our facts, on the quality of our reasoning, and on the standards or values that we choose to apply.

Keep in mind that a synonym for "opinions" is "beliefs". This fact is particularly relevant to those who claim they do not have beliefs but 'merely accept the fact of blah blah blah' (followed by some rather blatantly obvious lie/falsehood indoctrinated by means of propaganda, that is as far removed from being factual/true as the statement that 1+1=3; a propagandistic belief they desperately try to cling to while pretending to be reasonable and honest about it, while demonstrating the exact opposite and demonstrating the utter unwillingness to discuss, acknowledge or contemplate any actual fact that does not support their beliefs and fantatically religious dogma as they deny being religious or affected by religion, and their utter unwillingness to answer any challenging question about these when it requires one to be honest and reasonable about it, even when the answer is as exceedingly obvious as the answer to the question what is 1+1? The only requirement for giving an answer to that question being a willingness to be honest and reasonable about it, requiring no superintelligence or vast storehouse of knowledge and expertise).

Ask questions: As we have seen, there are many today who would like to ‘delude us with persuasive arguments.’ (Colossians 2:4) Therefore, when we are presented with persuasive arguments, we should ask questions.

First, examine whether there is bias. What is the motive for the message? If the message is rife with name-calling and loaded words, why is that? Loaded language aside, what are the merits of the message itself? Also, if possible, try to check the track record of those speaking. Are they known to speak the truth? If “authorities” are used, who or what are they? Why should you regard this person—or organization or publication—as having expert knowledge or trustworthy information on the subject in question? If you sense some appeal to emotions, ask yourself, ‘When viewed dispassionately, what are the merits of the message?’

Do not just follow the crowd: If you realize that what everybody thinks is not necessarily correct, you can find the strength to think differently. While it may seem that all others think the same way, does this mean that you should? Popular opinion is not a reliable barometer of truth. Over the centuries all kinds of ideas have been popularly accepted, only to be proved wrong later. Yet, the inclination to go along with the crowd persists. ...

...

Source: Do Not Be a Victim of Propaganda! (Awake!—2000)