A Short Essay About Cultural Protocol & Politics

” Your A Liberal”

exalted the soccer mom during a Facebook debate about guns; the second amendment and gay rights in America

I begin this candid & pithy short essay with the above block-quote not to frame an oral argument such as justice Scalia would say but rather in terms of understanding the needs of the public with regards to arguing about facts over opinions.  The art of conversational debate is a risky and almost lost tradition, at least within some circles of the population  who dare use Facebook as a fact checking endeavor. A rapid and alarming number of you cannot even comprehend how to begin or end a sentence without inserting private opinion when arguing about such incendiary topics.

We all have been there right, staring at a bombastic Facebook status update that leaves us with a ranging disgust in any particular subject matter. Wondering if I should  reply or simply let it go towards the ether.

Or comments about marriage equality by the opposing party; chanting the following statement as if the rest of us “liberals” will not ague against these kinds of  imaginary and unusual statements:

” Am a Christian And I Cannot Object To This Based On My Religious Beliefs“

And on matters of beliefs, earthlings should kindly understand the difference between moral conviction, which should be a private matter. And public legislation condemning a group of people simply based on life style. Yes; there is a difference between moral conviction and private belief. All the same as when Gertrude Stein said about California during the early part of the least Century.

“There is no there! there” of sorts.

Do think about it Or “Case Close” as simple folks may be incline to say

But our main thesis is about the art of conversational debate within the public sphere.  And in able to properly dissect the idea of how to engage another specie in such activity one must first begin to identify its main characteristics and value pairs. These are listening by trying to understand each other from a purely holistic point of view and character observation. Instead of: you say something, then the other person  rebuts with something negative, offensive and the continuos vicious loop does not end until one of you gives up; walks away and nothing productive for us comes from it. Probably what goes on within the halls of the Senate offices, Wall Street investment bakers and your everyday high class upright mammalian fellow out there.

As the current Government shut down has shown in recent days; the notion behind fact vs opinions within our current system of debate in America is completely upside down. Showing absolutely no difference between what takes place on social networks like FB when people debate one another. It’s like sheep bickering to the ears of lions and it should be avoided at all cost.  Simply on the principles of honesty, integrity and self made balls if those officials we sent to DC to represent us had any.

If  even the basic tenets behind  the principles of conversational debate are maintained on a daily basis, it would lead to a more productive society of people and differences over ideology, opposing parties, the economy  including most social political issues which exist today would simply disappear. Let us rejoice that the human race has made it thus far without completely removing each other from our own existence like a ranging virus; to use a Matrix metaphor of sorts.

Conversational debate when engaged properly, should leave both parties feeling rejoice about each others input and there should be a level of respect and mutual understanding in terms of points of views raised. Even if there is no compromised reached at the end of the conversation. Ask me more about this topic by commenting below should you wish to.

Further more, conversational debate is something our current system of government has continually fail to accomplish. While the media feeds the burners and the general public eats the  bad press, it all adds to the massive misinformation that is present these days. And how does big media rebuts these claims behind cultural narcism, social media and stupidity?

I think Justice Scalia tells all to Ms.Jennifer Senior in a candid interview for NY Magazine:

JS: “Do You Feel Like The Internet Has Coarsened Our Culture at All”?

Scalia: ” I’m nervous about our civic culture. I’m not sure the internet is largely the cause of it. It’s certainly the cause of careless writing. People who get used to blurbing things on the Internet are never going to be good writers. And some things I don’t understand about it. For example, I don’t know why any would like to be “friended” on the network. I mean, what kind of narcissistic society is it that people want to put out there. This is my life and this is what I did yesterday? I  mean….. good grief. Does’t that strike you as strange? I think it’s strange”

As if The Truman Show was always happening in some sort of parallel universe 45 degrees away from us.

The facts behind the web are that a group of really smart computer scientist at Cern, mainly Tim Burners-Lee  are credited with creating the internet for purposes of scientific research. If we now inhabit a digital habitat within “the network” where FB is the main defacto social protocol of use by the masses; then lets name things for what they are instead of bickering name calling tactics  based on “systems of control” via a Neo Conservative stance which the justice takes during the entire interview for NY Magazine. We should be able to clearly argue for a variety of different points of views within any setting; even regarding which health care provider I should compare from within the available marketplace should I choose to. But if I had to wonder I would suspect those pesky Republicans in the Senate via “Tea Party” anal probing control will have their way with the affordable care act and a few other pieces of legislation they oppose.

As the art of conversational debate comes to an end in our post nine eleven epoch of fearing and eliminating ironic behavior. By means of observing, reporting and using coded language such as “boom you’re dead” as a means of personal attacks. I am reminded of Truman Capote and “Los Caprichos” by Goya as a means of coping with such arrogant tones.

And in the end, the only “certifiable fellow” is the one who only dares to listen to the echo of its own drum within the musical composition of our time.

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