They'll be Calling You a Radical

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Welcome to the forth and final installment of "Things I said to people on the net before I realised they weren't listening".

The theme: Politics.

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"War is human nature"

Oh I see, humans are genetically programmed to be greedy and stupid. Except when they're not. And history doesn't explain why you get centuries of peace then suddenly war - it's just human nature.

"Wars happen for economic and religious reasons, not historical"

So history excludes economics and religion. Then what exactly is history the history of?

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"Counter-culture is just fashion these days."

The aspects of counterculture which get shown in mainstream media are music, clothes, food, drink and slang. The politics gets edited out. Hence the appearance that there is no politics, just fashion.

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"These people are all completely crazy... and in no way representative of most Americans."

The point is not that they're a minority, or that they're stupid. or that they're a bit mad. That's obvious. The point is that they're in charge.

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When isn't armed rebellion criminal?

If the government lies to it's people, they are right to protest and demand the truth.

If the government tortures or kills it's people, they are right to destroy it.

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"12 year olds are vulnerable. 20 - 30 year olds are adults."

Compare these two statements:
* 20-30 year olds are legally adults.

* 20-30 year olds are completely sorted emotionally, and are in possession of all the facts [...] enabling them to make an objective decision. They don't make mistakes and can't be conned.

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"Anti-war groups were infiltrated by the KGB"

And the CIA. And MI5. And sometimes each other.

The best way to deal with the possibility of infiltrators is to ignore it. If you start suspecting that this or that person's a spy, you get locked into a spiral of suspicion, accusation, counter-accusation, and paranoia.

If you just treat them like people who are what they appear, then - if they're agents - they'll soon work out they won't learn anything from infiltrating that they wouldn't learn from reading your publications. And sometimes you convert them in the meantime.

Occasionally someone will join with the intent of sowing discord. To destroy a group from within, it needs to trust you, which means you have to spend months insinuating yourself, before starting to play psychological games. At which point, you have maybe two months before you're recognised and asked politely to leave.

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"Blacks are more criminal than whites."

There is a correlation between being black and being poor. The reason, obviously, is that racism creates ghettos, which having become established can persist even after the racism has lessened.

There is a correlation between poverty and crime. The reason, obviously, is that poor people have more incentive to steal, and less reason to play by the rules which leave them at a disadvantage.

[So] the black man in a citysuit is less likely to steal you wallet than the white boy in the tracksuit.

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"How Should we remember 9/11?"

The event that triggered WW3.

The world's greatest excuse.

A meticulously planned and completely counterproductive act of resistance.

A small demonstration of why terrorism doesn't work.

The day it became impossible to have an intelligent discussion about politics.

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"Is it sexist to screen woman for ovarian cancer when men can't get it?"

To treat unequal people equally is to treat them unequally.

[Other, less restrained responses did spring to mind.]

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How to think clearly about religion

Faith in Allah is just as idiotic as faith in Yahweh, and Muslims are just as capable of being good or bad people, in spite of or because of their faith, as members of any other religion.

When Muslims are attacked, we defend them. Why do we defend them? Is it because they're Muslim? No, it's because they're being attacked. Understand? To defend a Muslim is not to defend Islam.

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