My Philosophy, My Goals

      Any visitors who  remember my frequent comments  on the nature of communication and  persuasion  from TOD will know already that  I'm a   guy who  understands that  while preaching to the choir is easy, enjoyable, and  uplifting  for  both the choir and the preacher,  such preaching doesn't fetch many lost souls  into the  fold.

         My biggest  gripe  , and my only gripe, really, with the Oil Drum, was that   many of the members who posted comments   failed to take into consideration  the very well known fact  insulting   or demeaning  that person's culture, ethics, personal values, religious  beliefs, or political affiliations,  is about as  effective  as fighting a fire by throwing gasoline on it.

      So we won't be badmouthing anybody here, excepting individuals and institutions who are on my own personal sxxtlist;  this may seem unfair , but   this is my blog, and I do believe in property rights. there are thousands of other blogs where you can insult  Christians, poor white folks,  dead white European males,   social conservatives, and any other  people you have it in for to your hearts content,  and   if those thousands are not enough, why then , feel free to start your own.

     It is necessary , and proper, to point out    the errors people have made in the past, and continue to make today, in order to advocate for change.This can be done  in such a way  as to lead those who  disagree with you    to gradually come around to seeing things your way, if you  are willing to      exercise  a little care and imagination in   choosing your words.

    We live in country where  political power is  rather evenly divided in many respects.  We consider a 51/ 49   election close; we call 55/45 a landslide. A good many people who habitually consider themselves  either liberals or conservatives  actually  agree on  a number of issues    that  the   two dominant parties  fight over tooth and claw. if you can  win over just  two or three voters out of a hundred,  you can change the result  from a loss for your side to a win.

              I personally know a number of people who habitually  vote republican because they  believe people should be held responsible for their own welfare, or that they   have a constitutional and god given right to own guns , or  any of several more reasons.A quarter of them-  older southern white guys-   have good things to say for Obama   these days because they smoke pot- and  yes, in my estimation, a quarter of   southern white guys who grew up in the sixties  smoke pot today, at least occasionally. These people believe that what you do in private is your business, and not that of the government.There are bridges already  up , such as this one, whereby   people  who were once strangers and enemies can come together. Flag burning hippies from the sixties  share this ground with  a lot of guys who  believed  that  the right thing to do was to fight in Asia, and volunteered to do so.

     People who believe in America   being and remaining a  militarily powerful nation can be  induced to think about our dependence on  imported oil as a threat to our long term national security, and   consider the possibility  that  tough  automobile fuel economy standards are  a good thing for the  country, rather than an unjustified attack on their personal economic freedom.

I believe in clean air and clean water laws; many people don't because they don't realize  just how important to their own health, and the health of their children, such laws are.  This  lack of knowledge can be remedied, without alienating    these same people by  talking down to them .

       People who believe that  they are owed something by society simply because they are alive    can perhaps be disabused of that notion. I believe in the arts for  instance, but if  somebody wants to  drew pictures or dance all day, he is going to have a hell of a hard time convincing me he is  any more entitled to being paid for doing so by the tax than I am to be paid  to   hunt and fish or raise apples.
 So far as I am concerned, they can  find patrons,  or   get a real job.

      I believe in charity, where charity is truly needed, and justified , but  I do not  believe the vast majority of people who pay taxes should  be taxed to make a gift of a stadium to the  mega rich owners of professional sports franchises and  the very small percentage of people who actually attend games.We would still have plenty of sports without a dime being spent to subsidize the  owners or the fans.

     Now whether you, dear reader, happen to agree with me, or don't in respect to the arts and sports, or  any given issue , is not important to me, personally. what is important is that you  understand my philosophy   in respect to this blog.

         I intend to use it  as a tool to help move our society in what I consider the right direction. Bad mouthing people who  can be  brought around, gradually , to my way of thinking , won't get  the job done.If you are an old TOD regular, you already know how I think, and  it's very likely we agree on most issues relating to energy and the environment.

     If you've just wandered here by accident,  you are most cordially welcome. I believe you will find a great many things here , as the weeks go by, of interest to you, if you  are in the habit of thinking   for yourself.