"You Got Trouble!" - Selling Fear

With only about 22 months left before the next Presidential election, the fear mongers are already out in full force, selling their two most potent products; the twin politics of fear and division. And the demand is great; with consumption by the masses at an all-time fever pitch. How else to explain the leading news stories of the day?

First though, let’s take a look at the science and art behind fear mongering. And what better example of this than Professor Harold Hill as he ramps up the fear in River City, Iowa against the latest unknown demon in the town. In his case it was a pool table. Watch the clip and see how the good Professor is desperate for an issue to arouse the town into needing his help. They don’t even know they have a problem until he seizes on an offhand comment by Buddy Hackett and then invents one for them; after which the townsfolk quickly fall in line to save their “culture”; in this case embodied by a billiard table.

It’s kind of like that in America today; with politicians casting about for anything that will arouse the concern of the public and create a demon for the people to unite against; all behind a politician as a leader of course.

Take the measles thing; it has been laid largely at the door of the illegal immigrants, who often do not have the required immunizations when they arrive here in the U.S. It’s a very easy thing to get the people riled up against that portion of the population. Very simple; illegals arrive without the shots required to attend school; and are allowed to go anyway and they get our kids sick. Pretty plain until you scratch the surface a bit.

I live in North Carolina, where we require immunization against the measles and several other diseases to attend public school. But we have a lot of kids here who are not immunized. They must be getting a waiver based upon their status as illegals, right? Wrong. They are allowed to attend school because the law allows an exemption for RELIGIOUS reasons. No proof required; just write a letter stating that you do not believe in immunizations and you can enroll your child in school.

So, what we have are people on the right complaining about illegal immigrants going to school and infecting their children with a disease that was all but eradicated until the right came along and got an exemption for the vaccine under the guise of religious freedom and smaller government. And the liberals even joined in with the flawed claim about the vaccines causing autism; which was proven to be false about 3 years ago.

Fear rules the day if you let it. And there is always somebody willing to don that nice looking Music Man costume; ready to lead the band and incite the fear which will keep everything static.

Here are the applicable portions of the NC statute concerning vaccinations required to attend Public School;

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 130A-152. Immunization required

(a) Every child present in this State shall be immunized against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, poliomyelitis, red measles (rubeola) and rubella. In addition, every child present in this State shall be immunized against any other disease upon a determination by the Commission that the immunization is in the interest of the public health. Every parent, guardian, person in loco parentis and person or agency, whether governmental or private, with legal custody of a child shall have the responsibility to ensure that the child has received the required immunization at the age required by the Commission. If a child has not received the required immunizations by the specified age, the responsible person shall obtain the required immunization.

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 130A-157. Religious exemption

If the bona fide religious beliefs of an adult or the parent, guardian or person in loco parentis of a child are contrary to the immunization requirements contained in this Chapter, the adult or the child shall be exempt from the requirements. Upon submission of a written statement of the bona fide religious beliefs and opposition to the immunization requirements, the person may attend the college, university, school or facility without presenting a certificate of immunization.

The Heart and Mind

The following piece was written after hearing Rush Limbaugh rant that unless your Heart and Mind are in lockstep with one another, nothing concrete can ever be accomplished. I decided to explore that thought in a mathematical sense, using the old Postulate and Theorem approach. The following is a result of that exercise.

Postulate: That the Heart and Mind need be connected and in lockstep in feeling and thought in order to achieve coherent or productive thoughts and actions. (ie: Results)

Theorem: That a disconnect of Heart and Mind leads to inaction and internal conflict resulting in non-productivity, or worse, a wrong course of action, or even inaction.

Proof: (Actually I am going to disprove both the Postulate and the Theorem.)

The Heart and Mind are separated for a reason. One keeps the other in check and allows us to explore the Theorem in an objective manner. Each acts as a conscience to the other in order to “check” bad behavior or reckless actions based on errors of our own thinking.

For example: Raising kids. Your kid has wrecked the car – again.  You feel like killing him for it.  But, in your Heart you feel it is the right thing to do. Your Mind tells you no, it’s wrong, and therefore keeps your passion in check.

Conversely: You love your child and know, in your mind, the child needs to be disciplined. Your heart breaks as you do what is considered necessary to rear your child properly, though your Intellect tells you that you are acting in a responsible manner.

So, if your Heart and Mind were ever in lockstep there would be no checks or balances on your actions. Everything you say and do would be deemed; in your Heart and Mind; to be permissible; indeed, even necessary.

History is full of instances of this sort, and all were basically intolerant at best, and horrific in their worst incarnations.

Conclusion: Both the Postulate and the Theorem are wrong. The Mind and Heart, operating in tandem would preclude any real self-examination since the conclusion would have already been drawn that your actions are correct. You cannot lose an argument with yourself when your Heart and Mind are joined.

I suppose that if your Heart and Mind were united on a good thing, that would be an exception. But who can say that they can be trusted to label something good without any internal self-examination of the motives and principles involved in making a decision when it affects others? And isn’t self-examination, by necessity; a division of the Heart and Mind?

Let me know what you think.