tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9138994904411225576.post6170511622257960251..comments2023-12-29T00:08:21.051-08:00Comments on fear of a red planet: "the greatest people that have ever trod this earth"Gilman Grundyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06607416440240634159noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9138994904411225576.post-42766079572733634862009-05-07T04:44:00.000-07:002009-05-07T04:44:00.000-07:00@Rhodo Zeb - I am of the opinion that the majority...@Rhodo Zeb - I am of the opinion that the majority of people - and I include myself in this - take years to come around to such facts, and that the minority are probably at least part way already prepared to accept them. There is a difference, however, between not giving in to justified doubt and blindly accepting an explanation which allows you to go on thinking the same things you always had. Especially given (as TNC points out) the ease with which such compromises poison all your other dealings.<br /><br />Hence:<br /><br />- The refusal to accept government wrong-doing and explain it away as a product of the 'biased western media' leads to a Mexican's (probably untruly) statement that China was the source of swine flu being touted as yet another example of the great foreign media conspiracy.<br /><br />- The refusal to confront past racism allows some white South Africans to accept the totally groundless idea that mixed-race children are likely to be born deformed or "blue" as a "non-racist" reason to disapprove of mixed-race marriages.<br /><br />And a myriad other examples the world round.Gilman Grundyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06607416440240634159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9138994904411225576.post-14003801797753256482009-05-07T00:17:00.000-07:002009-05-07T00:17:00.000-07:00Year ago, when the stories about torture and illeg...Year ago, when the stories about torture and illegal rendition first became credible, I went home for a visit.<br /><br />I mentioned the word and my sister immediately turned and left the table to tend to her daughter, who was playing nearby. It was visceral, an intense desire to not confront some fact, rather than the baby suddenly falling or anything like that.<br /><br />I think a lot of people are kind of trapped by their own realities, unable or unwilling to confront certain facts.Rhodo Zebhttp://www.gongshangfa.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9138994904411225576.post-58321692991220381682009-05-06T17:01:00.000-07:002009-05-06T17:01:00.000-07:00A masterful piece of writing, I enjoyed that.A masterful piece of writing, I enjoyed that.Charles Edward Frithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09231685619963486690noreply@blogger.com