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Dissent As A Virtue

Perhaps one of the most disturbing ideas in the world is the idea that everybody must think alike. That everybody must dress alike. That everybody must eat alike. All in all, the idea is that everyone must be alike. Ask anybody outright and most would reply that they do not believe in this idea, but more often than not they are lying. Most people are not tolerant of those that are different. When someone dresses differently, we often stare. Sometimes, depending on the type of dress, we are openly hostile towards them. When someone conjures up and expresses an unorthodox idea, we attack them and force our own ideas upon them. When somebody eats a strange diet, or rejects the mainstream diet, they are attacked almost universally. Everybody wants to claim the title of "progressive" or "forward thinking" yet nobody can seem to think outside the paradigm of what they know and understand. Radical change is not only unwelcome in this world, it is feared. Any ideas that do not fit inside the box that society has carved out for itself are immediately discarded. This idea of non-conformity as some kind of disease, rather than a virtue, is disturbing and it holds back our potential as a species. Individuality and originality is dead. Even the most controversial of ideas are often derived from another. People are afraid of change. This is, in part, due to our public education system which punishes individuality, but it stems from a much larger issue. It stems from a hunger for acceptance. Acceptance into society, while not necessarily a bad thing, becomes rather dangerous when it becomes an addiction. When it becomes a desire that trumps the desire to grow and learn, it becomes unhealthy. We should not be afraid to dissent from the norm. To dissent is to embrace the unknown. To think. To dream. To imagine a brighter world. To live for the future, not the past. This dissent should be something to strive for. Dissent spurs revolution. Dissent spurs innovation. Dissent spurs originality. Dissent has the ability to radically change society for the better. Dissent, in essence, is the only way to make the world a better place. The world can never be truly changed through the pre-existing paradox, but rather the paradox must be made obselete by an entirely new idea. An idea that, generally accepted by the mass of society, is just that. Crazy.
 
Very thoughtful and it has been something I have been thinking about for a while.
 
Nice essay.

Be sure Taliban and ISIS get a copy!

Oh. Wait. It's not their kids who have to go through our awful, conformist, dissent-stifling educational system.
 
There is something about dissent that confuses me... During the 2004 election campaign, the left proclaimed over and over that dissent was patriotic (falsely attributing it to Thomas Jefferson) when so many came out against Bush and the Iraq war... Why is it that since Obama became president, the left no longer sees dissent as patriotic, but rather a product of racism?
 
Sorry ... your comments are intellectually corrupt. You use some examples, and then magically, apply that to all differences. Are there those who strive for conformity in all things? Absolutely. But, there are many more who look for diversity, for change, and for collisions of ideas and concepts.

Nice rant, but frankly, not very honest.
 
Grim17;bt2816 said:
There is something about dissent that confuses me... During the 2004 election campaign, the left proclaimed over and over that dissent was patriotic (falsely attributing it to Thomas Jefferson) when so many came out against Bush and the Iraq war... Why is it that since Obama became president, the left no longer sees dissent as patriotic, but rather a product of racism?

Because partisan politics is a team sport, and die hard fans of team sports are compulsive liars, just like a basketball player who clearly touched the ball last before it went out of bounds and not just him but his entire team including the coaching staff all yell out, "They touched it last." That's partisan politics for you.
 
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