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The fatalism in this comment disgusting. But more importantly, it is wrong. I haven't been here long, but I remember hearing about the inevitability of SOPA an
by grimtrigger 13y ago
The fatalism in this comment disgusting. But more importantly, it is wrong.
I haven't been here long, but I remember hearing about the inevitability of SOPA and PIPA and CISPA and every other misguided attempt at regulation. The "inevitability" was a lie then, and its a lie now. Its a lie perpetrated by people would rather believe they are persecuted than accept the burden of trying to make a difference. They cry "The world is bogus! I give up!" and retreat because it is easy, because it is safe.
This quote is important:
“Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us.”
Your cynicism is a giant middle finger to anyone who has ever fought for anything and won. Read a history textbook and you'll find every page has the name of someone who took on forces greater than themselves and won. Do you think they were so different? Do you think they had some divine authority? Do you think they were successful because they won a lottery?
There were people who fought for things when it meant death, when speaking your mind meant being killed. But I can go anywhere in the world and say "Barrack Obama is a piece of shit" and sign my name to it. The most powerful man on the planet is, in many ways, no more powerful than me.
Your understanding of humanity is fundamentally flawed because it assumes the past is our destiny. If you believe that, you don't have a single thing to offer the world.
- rayiner 13y agoEloquent. Punchy. Awesome.
- grimtrigger 13y agothank you. This forum has some of the brightest people in the world visiting it... not to mention the richest. If cynicism takes root here, where else is there to turn?
- confluence 13y agoI'll reply to the only part of this comment that barely interested me, and probably the only part that even deserves a response: > Do you think they were successful because they won a lottery? Yes.
- tptacek 13y agoHe wasn't talking about Zuckerberg. What lottery did MLK win?
- chongli 13y agoThe lottery of being born in the right place at the right time. Same goes for any historical figure; transplant any of them out of their historical context and they disappear.
- enraged_camel 13y agoYou live in an interesting reality where any single person's success can be attributed to their circumstance.
- supercanuck 13y agoIt was a fantastic comment, it is a real shame you are not giving it more credit. Extremely arrogant.
- enraged_camel 13y agoArrogance is understating it. He talks about a single sentence being "barely interesting" to him. I wonder who the hell he thinks he is.
- chime 13y agoJust wanted to add that the cynicism quote is by Stephen Colbert; one of my favorite quotes: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/95264-remember-you-cannot-be-both-young-and-wise-young-people http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/95264-remember-you-cannot-be...
- ninjin 13y ago> “Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us.” Source for the quote below, I have to say that the longer version is equally, if not more, powerful. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Colbert
- tsotha 13y ago>But I can go anywhere in the world and say "Barrack Obama is a piece of shit" and sign my name to it. Not if you don't want to get audited by the IRS.
- aptwebapps 13y ago1) Barrack Obama is not Johnny Bravo. 2) There's no way the IRS could audit everyone who said that. Now organizations using the words 'tea party' in their name, on the other hand ...
- tsotha 13y agoIt wasn't just Tea Party groups. It was anybody on Obama's enemies list, including journalists who asked questions he didn't like. All that's going to come out in the hearings.
- aptwebapps 13y agoI haven't really been following the story closely so I will wait and see. But to be honest, I don't really buy that.
- ballard 13y agoCynicism is just a mask of rationalization to be a critical bystander from the sidelines rather than seize the moment.
- johnrob 13y agoYou can achieve almost anything in this world if you're willing to trade your life. However, the original comment seems to have the assumption that the cause in question is not worth dying for. The set of things that governments will kill to protect is larger than the one that people will die defending.
- pessimizer 13y agoThinking that this empty rhetoric could convince any rational person of anything makes you far more cynical than the comment you're replying to. edit: just looked at the replies. Your comment is not only far more cynical than the comment responded to, but an accurate assessment of enough people here to worry me. P.S. Please don't waste time calling me disgusting or arrogant for not being bullish on X.