On Thursday, November 7, 2002, at 07:31 AM, S. Sharrieff Ali wrote:
This is not an angry statement:Despite what people like to believe, "Full and Open Debate" has never been a hallmark of either American Politics or community life. With very rare examples (usually with a negative impact) the majority is more interested in maintaining the status quo rather than embracing change of any form.
But...you know what I find irritating? The fact that folks are irritated.
We are either a community or not. Full of voices or not.
Had the majority rule prevailed, we would not have Civil Rights or Abortions or Gay Marriages. These changes are accomplished because the "silent majority" is more than willing to "get along by going along" and a small but vocal majority agitated incessantly for change. In Political Science, the term is called "tyranny of the Majority."
Personally, I enjoy debate. And routinely confuse people no end because I frequently argue both sides of an issue... often at the same time.
The simple fact of the matter is that any issue is rarely a "yes or no" decision. 99.999 percent of the time, that which you are asked to "vote" yes or no upon is a great long-winded proposal which contains more than one issue -- half of which you are in favor of and half of which you are opposed to.
Then there is the Law of Unintended Consequences. What are the implications of your actions -- and despite what the current crop of computer literati believe -- there are always 3 possible answers - yes, no and abstain. All 3 answers have consequences. Some are more predictable than others. Some are only visible to the psycho-historian Henry Seldon.
And remember, there is also the simple fact - the greater the importance of the issue, the less the amount of discussion which takes place.
This is because, if you watch Egyptian Television, the Elders of Zion have predetermined what the outcome will be. Of course if you don't watch Egyptian Television, you can just blame the Illuminati.
T.T.F.N.
William H. Magill
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