Dear Friends:
I remember Jack Nicholson, in a movie role as a hard-boiled and senior seasoned military officer, screaming at a military tribunal... "You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!"
I have heard it said that "The truth shall set you free." I do not believe this; at least not literally. Knowing the truth can impose a serious burden of responsibility upon you to take action. The perception of many is that the truth, wherever it lies hidden, should remain buried -- they do not want to invite the controversy, fear and obligation that ensues the revelation of the truth.
The truth, unearthed, brushed off and held up to the light, also has a propensity to shift the balance of power -- many powerful people remain in such position due to their ability to keep the public in a state of ignorance. In fact, ignorance and fear have been utilized since the beginning of recorded Human history to maintain the domination by a small group of people over a much larger one. The truth is often discovered only to be reburied - at a location known to only a select few. Why I'd be willing to bet that clerics were practically lined up around the proverbial block to lynch Copernicus when he proposed that the Earth revolved around the Sun. Scientific inquiry has always been a socially risky business.
Expect that in times of severe economic trouble (let us assume, for example, the current period through mid 2012, as I've cited several times) that people gravitate in the opposite direction of the truth, preferring to deal in simpler lore and optimistic possibilities. The curious exception to this is the increased efforts on the part of politicians to appease the troubled masses by making human sacrifices - placing blame - by either prosecuting or persecuting those deemed "responsible" for precipitating the trouble. As a species, we retreat further into the comfortable realms of folklore, superstition, and very basic religion. Denial and placing blame are time-tested ways of avoiding a confrontation with the truth.
Expect a return to religious conservativism, conformity, superstition and a "Dark Ages" mindset during the course of the consternation that we, as a species, will have to contend with on the meandering and mine-laden road back to an economy which is stabilized at a higher level.
I came across the following in BuzzFlash, earlier today. While they represent only one side of the political pendulum, and while I often am at odds with their unspoken agenda, they make some clever observations. Veer slightly to the Progressive Agenda (i.e., liberal and democratic for the most part) with me for a short while, and read just a bit.
Remember about the Space Race, a Man on the Moon. Then We Ran Smack Into the Brick Bible Wall of the Creation Museum.
BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
A great companion book to "Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free", but with more scientific detail and documentation. Less snarky and more serious in its warning that we abandon science as a nation at grave peril to our future.This is a truly vital book for the future of our country, because we will fail to revive our nation if we continue to margianize science and the scientific community."For every five hours of cable news, less than a minute is devoted to science; 46 percent of Americans reject evolution and think the Earth is less than 10,000 years old; the number of newspapers with weekly science sections has shrunken by two-thirds over the past several decades. The public is polarized over climate change—an issue where political party affiliation determines one's view of reality—and in dangerous retreat from childhood vaccinations. Meanwhile, only 18 percent of Americans have even met a scientist to begin with; more than half can't name a living scientist role model. For this dismaying situation, Mooney and Kirshenbaum don't let anyone off the hook. They highlight the anti-intellectual tendencies of the American public (and particularly the politicians and journalists who are supposed to serve it), but also challenge the scientists themselves, who despite the best of intentions have often failed to communicate about their work effectively to a broad public—and so have ceded their critical place in the public sphere to religious and commercial propagandists. A plea for enhanced scientific literacy, Unscientific America urges those who care about the place of science in our society to take unprecedented action. We must begin to train a small army of ambassadors who can translate science's message and make it relevant to the media, to politicians, and to the public in the broadest sense. An impassioned call to arms worthy of Snow's original manifesto, this book lays the groundwork for reintegrating science into the public discourse--before it's too late."Please send friends and fellow liberals to purchase and donate at The BuzzFlash Progressive Marketplace to support a progressive economy and the passionate progressive journalism of BuzzFlash.com.
READ THE COMPLETE REVIEW >>>
READ THE COMPLETE REVIEW >>>
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Watch for a slowdown in funding for scientific research (even regarding the ever-popular "Global-Warming"), and a growing reluctance for support for science by both the public-at-large and the politicians, despite their rhetoric.
I'll be enjoying the solar eclipse this evening.
Faithfully,
Douglas Castle
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