Tolerance and Thinking

On Broadness and Tolerance
Cordell E Logan

This article came about from many years of observation on how people react and believe under various circumstances.

I have noted many people, far too many people, do not have a broad base in their thinking and consequently are far too intolerant of other ideas. It seems the idea of truth, real truth, is far from their minds, even thought they claim they want the truth. They have an “all or none” mentality.
Mark this: No one person is all good or all bad.

Here are some examples:
1. Government
In government there floats around various “conspiracy theories.” There are some who think they are so grounded in religious or other ideas that these so-called conspiracy ideas do not exist. Then again there are others who thrive on conspiracy ideas. There seems to be nothing in between.
Perhaps one way to obviate such thinking (and this is one example) is to postulate that there may be some evil-thinking people who want to make the U.S. President and our country look bad and for us to loose support of him (or her) or our country, so they make it look like the president was behind the event, such as 9-11. Thus we loose confidence in our U.S. President, so this weakens us as nation, thereby making it even easier for evil forces to get laws passed and foster their own agenda (e.g., taking our freedoms away).
If you talk to some people about what is bad about our government, they seem to know it all and have the answers. Yet they don’t seem to be actually doing anything about it.
The origin of funds, with the concomitant strings attached can play a big role in how the government leader acts. Maybe the bigger blame should go to the person behind the funds (like one the richest investor persons in the world...hint hint).
Unfortunately too many legislators, once in office, slip away from representing the people but rather yield to those who have the money to foster their cause.
Some citizens blame it on “fate” and that in the end (whatever that means) the Lord will save them and all will be well. They can’t wait to say “See, I told you so.”

2. Religion and Home Support
There are some who knee jerk hard when someone writes about horror terrorism and plagues that will come. Thus they instantly think that we must prepare for it, from underground shelters (as in days gone by), open-pollinated non-hybrid seeds, stock piling weapons, etc, all without balancing all the known facts.
Then there are some who passively trust in the statements of their church or government leaders as they interpret something, and from this basically do very little.
Some think that their leaders said this and that, and therefore anything that deviates from this is not true. However, it could be that their initial belief was never properly interpreted and substantiated. And why? At least under some circumstances, it is because that idea was never said by the leaders, ever. It only started out somewhere and became perpetuated as a rumor. Is this even close to clear thinking (the scientific method)? Not by a long shot.
They won’t do due diligence on research. For example, non-hybrid heirloom seeds can be a good idea, not necessarily because of some doom coming, but because such plants are of better quality, and it could be that seeds may be more difficult to obtain. Lawsuits from farmers have already occurred because of GMO seeds from large controlling companies such as Monsanto (check it yourself). Any idea what varieties are going to Iraq under the idea that we Americans are so nice (again, do your own research)? Yes, GMO seeds. And don’t think the Extension folks know it all. Large companies (Monsanto not excluded) often fund some of the research at colleges. It is no different from who funds drug research. Don’t believe it? Then do your own research, and be truthful.

3. Some Concluding Ideas to Consider
Live by basic common sense principles. For many, these need to be re-kindled and studied out. Is it common sense to go back to basic ideas about government, gardening, agriculture, and health? Of course.
Are there people out there with agendas that are not for the best of the people? There always have been since the world began and this continues to this day. So deal with it.
It is only common sense to at least have some heirloom non-hybrid seeds for your garden (one site: seedsavers.org). But we don’t have to be fanatical about it. It is only common sense to study about health issues (be aware that some big drug interests have not been honest in reporting research; its all about money). Insurance companies really don’t practice medicine so don’t expect that. (Remember when it was thought that eggs were bad due to cholesterol? Now we know differently. And too low cholesterol is not healthy but it sure helps to sell statin drugs.) In government, gardening, business, education, health, and home life we need to keep an open mind and balance the whole picture.
Things change. So keep up with it.