I am glad to see this and other articles like it. For all of us: it is not enough to give intellectual assent; we must act. It is the same with biblical faith: it is not enough to assent, to believe that God exists, and isn’t that fine. No, faith demands action to bring God’s light to the dark places in the world. We have our work cut out for us. (And I just know some hostile actor will accuse me of advocating violence or other illegal activity. No, I’m not.)
Peter, In today's dialog, it seems so easy for each side to rise up and say "I'm right, you're wrong, facts don't matter (or they all agree with my view)." Almost all disputes have two sides -- most of my concern is the government reliably trying to squelch one of them. (Because of my general sense of the horror of government, I assume that what they are trying to force me to believe is wrong so will generally support the other side.)
But the facts are that most things that are problems are problems because they have long been unresolvable. So understanding why that is true (whether for new problems like social media or older problems like homelessness) and thinking through options to fix them (as opposed to "more money (always mine, not yours) to solve this problem in ways that make no sense but sound good") really needs to be foundational to any actual progress forward.
You are the first author I have seen who starkly lays out that the "other" side has NO SOLUTION...just empty phrases and AWFL whining. Until BOTH sides have actual solutions that might work (and it is possible that one side has NO solutions and will not admit that...thus the whining) there will be no progress.
I read all your stuff, but this is something that ANYONE can read and walk away thinking. That is a real accomplishment.
Peter, This is a really sound piece -- one of your best. No one ever asks these questions. This kind of dialog is essential if any progress will ever be made. The whiners (mostly on the left) love to whine but have NO SOLUTIONS and never have other than to take more money from the few people left working and to give it to people who could not get real jobs so instead work for the government.
I do not know if Florida's bills are "the" solution, either. But they at least make some sense, and they may just work. And we know that the current non-solutions do not. (I am not for doing something just to be doing something -- witness the Covid disaster. But doing something that one can understand [even if not agreeing with all/any of it] is better than everyone becoming San Francisco -- a place I used to visit annually for pleasure and now will not go anywhere near.)
I am glad to see this and other articles like it. For all of us: it is not enough to give intellectual assent; we must act. It is the same with biblical faith: it is not enough to assent, to believe that God exists, and isn’t that fine. No, faith demands action to bring God’s light to the dark places in the world. We have our work cut out for us. (And I just know some hostile actor will accuse me of advocating violence or other illegal activity. No, I’m not.)
Peter, In today's dialog, it seems so easy for each side to rise up and say "I'm right, you're wrong, facts don't matter (or they all agree with my view)." Almost all disputes have two sides -- most of my concern is the government reliably trying to squelch one of them. (Because of my general sense of the horror of government, I assume that what they are trying to force me to believe is wrong so will generally support the other side.)
But the facts are that most things that are problems are problems because they have long been unresolvable. So understanding why that is true (whether for new problems like social media or older problems like homelessness) and thinking through options to fix them (as opposed to "more money (always mine, not yours) to solve this problem in ways that make no sense but sound good") really needs to be foundational to any actual progress forward.
You are the first author I have seen who starkly lays out that the "other" side has NO SOLUTION...just empty phrases and AWFL whining. Until BOTH sides have actual solutions that might work (and it is possible that one side has NO solutions and will not admit that...thus the whining) there will be no progress.
I read all your stuff, but this is something that ANYONE can read and walk away thinking. That is a real accomplishment.
Peter, This is a really sound piece -- one of your best. No one ever asks these questions. This kind of dialog is essential if any progress will ever be made. The whiners (mostly on the left) love to whine but have NO SOLUTIONS and never have other than to take more money from the few people left working and to give it to people who could not get real jobs so instead work for the government.
I do not know if Florida's bills are "the" solution, either. But they at least make some sense, and they may just work. And we know that the current non-solutions do not. (I am not for doing something just to be doing something -- witness the Covid disaster. But doing something that one can understand [even if not agreeing with all/any of it] is better than everyone becoming San Francisco -- a place I used to visit annually for pleasure and now will not go anywhere near.)
Thanks for doing this.
Good article, Peter. Linking as usual @https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/!!