Category Archives: Philosophy/Politics

Trying Desperately to Stay Quiet

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The reason that I haven’t blogged much lately is that I promised to post less about politics. I’ve been consumed by politics, both the presidential and local elections.

I am also putting together a proposal for electoral reform, centered around:

–Increasing the number of states (hopefully all) legalizing Electoral Fusion, which was once widespread but was squeezed out by the larger parties in the late 19th century. Only eight states have it right now.

–Expanding the use of absentee ballots (for all elections down to the local level) to include people that can’t get off work to vote and parents of children too young to leave their child alone. I know far too many people that can’t vote because they work 10-12 hours shifts or have to take care of their kids.

–Anti-Gerrymandering laws to remove the lock down that certain parties have on districts.

These are only first steps toward true electoral reform, but it’s a start toward encouraging more voters on both sides of the political spectrum, especially in local elections.

Actually, I’d love to hear what you have to say about my electoral reform ideas. My proposal isn’t complete, and you might find your ideas in there.

Have a great day.

The Watchmage Is Coming

Pokemon Go For Charity

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As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve become mildly obsessed with Pokemon Go. It’s my new Geocaching. I’m walking for at least two hours every day now, and usually covering 5K. The thing is, I feel like it’s time that I can spend doing something more worthwhile to the community. I think that I’ve found it.

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The Knowledge Paradox

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I am and always will be a strong proponent of education. I think that knowledge is power, if not physical power, than personal. It’s one of the keys to wisdom and understanding, something that we all lack.

Wisdom = Knowledge + Experience + Empathy (not a verified equation, just a theory. Work with me here.)

Knowledge and Experience are relatively easy to come by. You study. You live. That’s all there is to it.  Empathy? That’s harder to come by. There’s a danger of elitism that comes with knowledge and experience, a “Dark Side” you might say, (especially if you’re a geek like me) and the enemy of Wisdom.  It’s something that all people should be aware of.

As people grow in knowledge and experience (what I call “leveling up”), the path can diverge several ways:

  1. They develop critical thinking skills to match their new knowledge, and are able to discern truth from misinformation.
  2. They get full of themselves, drunk on their own knowledge. They see their point of view as the only valid one, and anyone that disagrees is either stupid or crazy.
  3. They find the wisdom to allow other points of view into their mind, process them, and find empathy for those other people.

One of these things is not like the other. One of these things is far too common. Can you guess which one?

i'm smart enough to realize i'm dumb

 

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago how my browser and social media sites were sending me articles based on my interests and views. The new information (usually from dubious sources, so many that I’ve added Snopes to my bookmarks bar) I received reinforced what I wanted to believe, rather than what was true. I could’ve fallen into that trap, of having food for thought regurgitated and redigested until it became “truth.” I didn’t. I was lucky to realize what was happening. Unfortunately, I think that most people–no matter how intelligent–don’t. The number of bogus articles and memes posted daily on Facebook reinforces this.

I’m not saying that I’m smarter or somehow better than other people, because I’m not. I’m not a special snowflake, just a regular one. None of us are special snowflakes, we’re all equal. I’m an ordinary guy with virtues and flaws and occasional humor. I had a moment of clarity. But I did learn something:

Knowledge does not make you better than other people. Experience does not make you better than other people. Nothing makes you better than other people. You don’t know others’ lives, their experiences, or their fears. You don’t know what made them think or act a certain way. The moment that you think that you are “better” than someone, you have fallen into the “knowledge paradox.” Your knowledge made you ignorant and dangerous.

A wise person realizes that the more you know, the more you realize how little you know.

 

you know nothing jon snow

So let’s cut the crap and stop the snark. Be kind to people and listen to what they have to say. Even if you don’t agree. Especially if you don’t agree.

Oh, and buy one of my books 😛 (here for The Watchmage of Old New York, here for Song of Simon) Because true wisdom comes from giving me money (kidding…but still, buy a book).

cosmic-cat tripping balls redux

Surprise Wisdom From D&D

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Every other Saturday is D&D day. I love the campaign I’m in. We’ve been playing together for 20 years, in several different campaigns. The DM is a great storyteller. The PCs are interesting and complex. The plot is phenomenal to the point where I’m jealous.

Something interesting came up in out-of-character conversation:

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A Clarification on Free Speech

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I’m trying to avoid being political here, but I keep seeing people raging on social media and then getting butthurt when they get banned from a community or unfriended, etc. I think this cartoon explains it best:

1st amendment consequences

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If you say shitty things, expect shitty things back at you. Instead, try expressing your views in a polite, thoughtful manner. The adage “never discuss politics or religion in polite company” is great advice. Just remember: The Internet is polite company. Be careful what you say, it might blow up like this…

gif dog running explosion

Boom

guinea pig card

Grand Jury Duty: My Final Word

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doge in space card redux

Give me the judgment of balanced minds in preference to laws every time. Codes and manuals create patterned behavior. All patterned behavior tends to go unquestioned, gathering destructive momentum. –Frank Herbert, Dune

I finished grand jury duty a few weeks ago, and I learned quite a bit about humanity in the process. I don’t like what I learned.

What I learned is that a grand jury is less of a shield for the defense and more of a dress rehearsal for the prosecution. That doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is why it’s like that, and it’s because of the apathy of common citizens.

First, you should know the rules:

1) You have several cases a day, and when you finish the cases, you leave. Doesn’t matter if it’s 10am or 5pm, you’re done. You get paid by the day, so there’s no benefit to staying longer. You’re encouraged to finish as fast as possible.

2) You are not allowed to research the laws on your own. You must rely completely on what the prosecution tells you. I understand the reason for this (someone looking up the law might interpret it wrongly. It takes years to truly understand), but I hate being left in the dark. I hate being under someone else’s control, and that’s how I felt. How can I make proper judgement from my ignorance?

3) The defense does not appear in court. There’s no “other side of the story.” This is why it’s a dress rehearsal. It’s like running a trial on God Mode.

Let’s go back to the quote above. “Codes and manuals create patterned behavior.” We fell into a routine in court. Prosecution presents witnesses and evidence, and we ask questions of the witnesses (in reality, only me and a couple other people did that). Prosecution explains the law. Prosecution leaves. We indict.

We indicted every single time. Now I’m not saying that the cases shouldn’t have gone to a criminal trial: I only voted against two of them (a grand jury only requires a majority vote, 12 out of 23). But I was a rarity. Most people never asked a question of a witness, and as soon as the prosecution left the room, their hands went up to indict. They didn’t even want to wait until we went over the evidence again. And whenever I questioned a witness, a groan went through the jury box. The patterned behavior went unquestioned.

One day I brought in donuts as a peace offering. That’s how annoyed the other jurors were.

We fell into patterned behavior created by this routine. Even I did. By the end, I was asking less questions and glancing over the evidence. I became part of the problem, part of the “destructive momentum.”

“Give me the judgment of balanced minds in preference to laws every time.” That sounds great, but we were not balanced minds. We wanted to go home…did I mentioned that the grand jury room must’ve been 60 degrees? We were wearing coats. We didn’t have the proper knowledge. We were in the dark, cold, and angry. It’s no wonder that we kept indicting. We were 23 angry people.

The other thing is that no one–myself included–has a balanced mind. We all sat in that jury box with our own experiences, tragedies, and prejudices (they don’t interview you before selection. That’s only for trial jury). There’s no such thing as a balanced mind.

I’m more concerned with the lack of empathy. I can’t speak about what went on in that room, but people are assholes. It’s like they didn’t care that even being charged with a crime is a serious hardship. You’re separating a parent from their children, or forcing them to post a huge amount in bail. You’re guaranteeing that the charged will lose their job (how many jobs give you time off for trial?) That’s wages lost, parents lost, whole lives put on hold and possibly ruined. Who pays the rent? Who feeds the children?

And the jurors didn’t want to bother asking questions or going over evidence. And I was the odd duck that did. And I eventually conformed to peer pressure. I failed myself.

I suppose that people only care about injustice when it happens to them. I hope that it never does.

Hey, like history? Like fantasy? Like Mystery? Like ME? Check out my latest novel,The Watchmage of Old New York, based on the award-winning serial of the same name. Click on the graphic below or here for the Amazon buy site, or buy on Barnes & Noble, iBooks, or Kobo.  Don’t miss out on this, old fans and new will love what I’ve done with the story.

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