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Max said in message 48: “I am curious about your thinking and how you have reached your conclusions about reason…”
The theme of my novel, Reason Reigns, is: “Heaven on Earth can be achieved when reason reigns.” In the Goodreads book data, I explained the theme and plot as follows:
Religions usually claim that if you sacrifice, suffer, or do what religious leaders say is good, here on Earth, then, when you die - you go to heaven.
Reason Reigns depicts the values and virtues that enable people to achieve heaven here and now. Two virtues are rationality and productivity. Rational people are reality-oriented; they revere reason.
But virtuous people can thrive only if there is freedom. This is why my plot is about battles between "tyrants who crave to rule and thinkers who cannot be ruled." The latter cannot be ruled by men because they are ruled by reason.
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I love myself, so I value my life and happiness. This is a favorite quote from Reason Reigns: “I have chosen my path. I will travel the road to happiness everyday.” I love contemplating heroes; whereas, my usual mental attitude about evil, pain, suffering, or helplessness is: I don’t think of it.
If one believes that the successful state of life is impossible, then one won’t even try to think how one can achieve it. I can’t imagine believing this because it is tantamount to a living death.
This is my favorite poem: THINKING by Walter D. Wintle
If you think you are beaten, you are
If you think you dare not, you don’t
If you like to win, but think you can’t
It’s almost certain you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost
For out of the world we find
Success begins with a fellow’s will
It’s all in the state of mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are
You’ve got to think high to rise
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man
But soon or late the person who wins
Is the one who thinks “I can.”
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Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one’s values. To achieve one’s values, one must have rational goals and one must choose rational actions to achieve them. Otherwise, reality would frustrate one’s efforts.
If one’s values contradict the facts of reality, it is impossible to achieve them. If one pursues contradictory goals, one would be in constant mental turmoil. Irrational values destroy minds and lives.
How does one know if one’s goals and actions are rational? To answer this, one needs a philosophic system - this crystallizes the fact that philosophy is a practical necessity, that reason is man’s basic means of survival. I posted the following a month ago:
Why do I need philosophy?
To have confidence that my values and goals are rational, and hence, will lead me to success and happiness; to be able to formulate and integrate principles that are logical and rooted in objective reality
--- Objective reality: things are what they are independent of consciousness
--- Logic: non-contradictory identification within the full context of one’s knowledge
To avoid helplessness when making decisions; to be free of inexplicable guilt, doubt, or fear; to have self-esteem
To save time and energy; to avoid difficulties and disappointments – if I choose realistic, logical, and integrated courses of action the first time, then I will reach my goals sooner, with less mistakes
To be able to impart knowledge rooted in objective reality and arrived at logically, especially to the innocents
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Regarding emotions:
Man’s emotional mechanism is automatic while his cognitive faculty is volitional. The latter determines the content of both. It programs the former: the program-code consists of the values the intellect chooses. Just like the input-output of a computer: garbage in, garbage out. Emotions are the effects, the intellect is the cause.
Since cognitive faculty is volitional, it is possible that the “program-code” is a grab-bag of irrational or contradictory values. The code could be based on a conscious thinking process, or based on non-thinking (e.g. blind copying, evasions).
If a man spends effort to ponder the cause of his emotions, he could correct or enhance the “program-code” and the inputs to such a code, resulting in the harmony of his cognitive and emotional mechanisms.
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These are quotes from Reason Reigns:
*** “Grandmother, God does not punish,” Toni smiled confidently. “I enjoy finding out about God’s creations. The mind and body are wonderful gifts from God. Surely, He wants us to use them.”
*** “God, You are all-good and all-loving. You do not need praises – You are not insecure. You do not need service – You are omnipotent. You are not a sacrifice profiteer nor a sadist – it must break your heart to see anyone suffer. You want people to be happy, and have given us everything needed to achieve happiness: our minds and bodies, the Earth, and the universe.”
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Which political party do you favor? Why?
Obama is another Jimmy Carter, a nice, ineffectual guy. I'll vote for McCain, although I doubt I'll be happy with him. I voted for Bush & the first thing he did was sign in that stupid 'No Child Left Behind' act & now he's allowed the bailout - Liberal garbage. I don't know that there's much difference left between the two parties. They both stink.
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POSTED ON GOODREADS.COMOctober 28, 2008
I too voted for Bush! I would like for those who are well-informed & active citizens to seriously think of the events that impacted America these past 8 years. If you are satisfied with the political, economic, and social status then continue to vote for Conservative leaders or whomever you deem qualified. Similar to Jimmy Carter, Senator Barack Obama is faced with the challenges as well as any elected politician of dealing with the rising energy costs, escalating inflation, and continued tensions in foreign relations. Senator Obama represents a man of determination and spirit, the very characteristics several of our Founding Fathers possessed. If you have not voted, I urged you to list pros and cons of reason to vote for either presidential candidate...
La-Shanda C. West
Centennial Middle School
Social Studies Department Chair
Teacher of the Year 2008-2009
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Congratulations! Kudos, Teacher of the Year 2008-2009!!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Best regards.
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Socialism or Theocracy
The choice in the Land of the Free has become: toward-socialism or toward-theocracy.
Socialism is a lesser evil than theocracy. Thus, I hope the Republican Party will be demolished in November, and then a party for Individual Liberty will rise to clobber the Democratic Party.
Since every American is free to be a religionist, deist, atheist, or agnostic, there is no justification for injecting religion in a political party to achieve religious freedom. Thus, an organized religion that pursues a political agenda lusts for the power to use force to impose its beliefs.
An organized religion has hijacked the Republican Party.
Man, by nature, is fallible and not omniscient. Teenagers could make mistakes and get pregnant. The Republican Party is of the mind that such youngsters have no window to change course, and must go through a lifetime paying for a mistake. The party holds itself as an advocate of life, yet champions forcing a woman, or even a girl, to suffer the toils of unchosen paths.
A political party that wants to impose a tortured life on a citizen is a monster. It is against happiness, hence, it is not pro-life. After imposing a no-abortion policy, it would prohibit birth control and divorce, by force. Think back – the power loom and anesthesia were denounced as sins; Galileo was convicted of heresy because he advocated that the Earth revolves around the sun.
It always amazes me to see the almost paranoid "Fear" for Socialism in the USA. After all we humans are a "SOCIAL" species. Socialism means in essence to function as a group with all interested in the well being of all. Or as the old saying goes: "One for all and all for One".
It amazes me that we can still be fearing it, Guenter. We seem to keep electing politicians & voting in policies for it, for all the lip service we give to detesting it.
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Socialism holds that man's life belongs to society, that every man is a slave.
An advocate of Individual Liberty respects self-reliance - he is a respecter of Rights. Those who fear Individual Liberty are dependents - they are no respecters of Rights. Dependence breeds moochers, looters, and power lusters.
In this country will privatize profits and socialize losses. We need to do something different. Whether it socialism or just a return to altruism it needs to be done soon and it's not just the role of government. We are all guilty of greed and avarice.
Bob, socialism is the direction we're going in the US government, but we're going too far & doing so indiscriminately. We need to swing back toward individualism with its attendant personal responsibility. I don't mind helping a neighbor who has some bad luck & needs a hand. It's in my self interest to do so; a shared interest in the common good of the area & shared work or fun as needed. I don't mind paying some taxes to make sure the roads, schools & other needed pieces of the infrastructure are maintained. I don't even mind chipping in $1 if I see a person get caught short in the lunch line, whether I know them or not. I suppose those aspects of 'socialism' are ones I agree with.
My profits aren't very privatized when I have to bail out morons that wanted more than they could afford & stretched themselves so that a dip in the market blew their budget. Nor do I want to pay for generations of people living on welfare, who buy shoes & clothes I can't afford for my kids, yet whine about the raw deal they're getting. These people should have been allowed to fail. Might teach them some values - to want what they have &/or work harder. I don't want to pay for someone trying to 'keep up appearances' or expecting a handout & not lifting a finger to work themselves out of it.
We never leased fancy cars, but drove junkers for years. We have a 1500 sf home, not a 4000 sf one. I would have loved to send my kids to private schools - one especially would have gotten a lot out of it. Never could afford it. We supplemented the kids public school education with the library & what we could. We had real bad times, but worked our way out of it with out taking government handouts. We scrimped, saved & did without, but now have solid finances & great credit. We value what we have, want it & enjoy it. We have our self-respect knowing we earned it.
"... a return to altruism..." Yuck & wrong. Can't return to some place you've never been. I agree with Rand on altruism. Selfishness is much more rational & trustworthy. Indiscriminate giving is harmful - the recipients lose their self-respect & the donors are just inflating their egos.
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Altruism requires sacrifice – it holds that there is no other choice but masochism or sadism.
I will never be guilty of these: Greed for the UNEARNED, and Greed for the power to coerce.
My post at http://community.myfoxdetroit.com/blo... (596 views):
Unbridled Greed for the Power to Coerce
Nov 1, 2008 | 2:34 PM
Category: Political
One who utters “unbridled greed” is maliciously envious. A politician, like Senator John McCain or Senator Barack Obama, uses this term to cover his unbridled greed for the power to coerce.
Governments’ sole justification for being is explicitly stated in the Declaration of Independence: to secure individual rights. The principle of “equal inherent unalienable Rights” is: as long as man does not infringe the equal rights of others, anything goes - man is free to determine and pursue his own happiness - man is free to be selfish. The rich, the middle-class, and the poor have equal rights. Politicians and citizens who demonize the rich are no respecters of Individual Liberty.
Thomas Jefferson said: “Reason and persuasion are the only practicable instruments.” To remove the use of force from citizen interactions so that individuals may deal with each other only by reason and persuasion, citizens delegate their right to self-defense to their government. Citizens cannot delegate a right they do not possess – hence, the government does not have the right to regulate inherent unalienable Rights, including the rights of individuals who hold that selfishness is a virtue.
George Washington said, "Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."
There is bipartisan dedication in Congress and in the presidential candidates to criminalize Individual Liberty. To do this, politicians lust to outlaw selfishness. They hurl “unbridled greed”, not at themselves, their protégés, nor the administrators of their government-sponsored enterprises like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but at wealth and job creators.
Neither the rich nor the selfish have the power to coerce. Only the government has the power to use force. When the government enters the realm of production and trade, it dishonors its noble mandate – it becomes a tyrant. Politicians who hurl “unbridled greed” at citizens are cannibals. They corrupt the government’s noble mandate to secure individual rights.
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May you and your loved ones be blessed always. May everything good go with you. My thanks and best regards to the Reason Reigns reader.
Love & hugs.