Let me begin with one paragraph I wrote two years ago in, "Wisdom of Crowds".
March 3, 2018
"In America, never had issues coming from a number of various minority groups seem, or made to look, like the voice of a far larger entity, deemed more influential than the majority that is often silenced. When a very thin slice of the population can cause the removal of historical statues, signs or relics in government buildings, or push regulations and laws adversely affecting the majority as to cause them broad hardship, the wisdom of the crowd is rendered inutile. Political correctness has become the chronic disease that plagues our society today. It is almost a sociological pathogen that defies a cure. Common sense is no longer a reliable vaccine because political correctness evolves virally rapidly and uncontrollably".
Writing about a vaccine, though metaphorically then, and two years later for us to be actually waiting for the literal vaccine to save us - a tiny weeny bit of prophetic license?
Now, I must say that political correctness today is still mutating; sometimes it is benign, other times it is malignantly insidious, and sadly they could, if not already, become part of the institutions of learning and government. History books are being revised as we speak, "Huckleberry Finn" and "To Kill a Mocking Bird" are some of the books banned from the school library, and schoolchildren are subjected to subtle indoctrination. A bit of good news is that "Defund The Police" is quickly becoming a slogan going stale before its shelf life's due date. But let us not forget that protests against police brutality have become instruments of violence through wanton destruction of private businesses and public property while others turned into verbal assault and harassments of people in restaurants and on the streets who had nothing to do whatsoever with the grievances the protesters were protesting against.
Sadder still is when a school in Milwaukee, WI, that has its students so well behind in math skills and English proficiency (in America?), are taught daily to be well versed in the BLM movement and other social agenda. These kids won't stand a chance in the real world if they grow up with so much chip on their shoulders.
The wisdom of the crowd has also been dimmed by today's sympathetic attention to the views of a minority against the wishes of an (often) overwhelming majority. This actually happened. When a lone student can cause a teacher to be suspended for the latter's opinion when everyone else in the same class felt no offense was committed then the wisdom of the crowd had been reduced to the opinion of a single individual.
Today, the number of minority millionaires is something to behold; black superstars in sports and entertainment are earning millions and a social platform and megaphone to match, which two to three generations ago (50-75 years) were unheard of, which means that opportunity and chances to excel were not only opened up, so much "bending-over-backwards" on the part of the so called ruling white class was achieved. Yet, race and identity politics are still made the most pressing social and political issue in any election. Today, more and more collective guilt and forced emotional penance are hoisted upon the white majority who now carry these burdens as psychological shackles. The newly elected white President is making sure his cabinet and advisory picks fill the proper "bingo cards" prepared for him. B-3, G-55, and O-63, etc. must be chosen carefully with the right combinations of gender and race. Qualifications are of secondary and tertiary importance.
Readers of this blog know I am not white. Like all immigrants from Asia and other non-white regions of the world who came here for the opportunity are, or should be if they are not, grateful for the chance and privilege denied to millions of others who are clamoring or waiting to come to this country. Multi-generational minorities must recognize that grievances they harbor pale in comparison to what more than half of the world faces today - each of those yearning to have a fraction of what a minority in this country takes for granted.
So, what is "Ignorance of Crowds" and what crowds do I refer to? I can only include just one in the interest of brevity. But it is the most significant one. Though coming from both sides, only one calls for half of the American electorate to be expunged from society.
Crowds No. 1 The elite in the media
They are a crowd all right, usually graduates of Ivy League schools, exclusive residents of either the East or West Coasts and belonging only in a solidly monolithic social circle. Their world is so far removed from the working class of blue collar and farming and rural communities. Yet they condemn half of the electorate in this year's national election as unworthy of a voice in what is still a democratic republic, last I checked. I only picked two examples from this crowd. Here is an actual Wikipedia quote on one crowd member:
"In October 2020, Olbermann called for supporters and "enablers" of Donald Trump, including United States Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett and conservative political commentator Sean Hannity, to be "prosecuted" and "removed from our society".[123][124] Additionally Olbermann labeled Trump a "terrorist" and called his supporters "a blight that will be with us for generations," further stating that Trump's "only barely-human delight comes from the morons in the crowd."[
| Born | Keith Theodore Olbermann[1] January 27, 1959 New York City, New York, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | Cornell University (B.S.) |
| Occupation |
|
Olbermann had bounce around from Fox Sports to CNN to MSNBC and now with ESPN.
Total excision of these "blight" is what Olbermann and many others want but not realizing that these are the same people - farmers, fishermen - from whose labor come the cheeses, steak and lobster, wine and bread that he and his ilk enjoy in their evening soirees and post-concert gatherings in the city they reside in, where trash collectors, truckers butchers, bakers do their jobs so these folks get to enjoy their sheltered lives. Majority of these journalists have never lived in rural communities, let alone visited one. They write from the comfort of airconditioned offices many floors above the din and activities of ordinary people.
| Born | Evan Lionel Richard Osnos 24 December 1976 (age 43) |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Education | A.B. Government |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Occupation | Journalist |
We are not looking at journalists from tabloids or local paper. They come from national media. Almost all products of the finest Ivy League education.
"Earlier that month, Osnos dashed off a post that described—falsely, as it turned out—protests in Lafayette Square on June 1 as “peaceful.” We all know, even if the media refused to report it, that the protesters were not at all peaceful, and in fact were hurling “bricks, frozen water bottles and caustic liquids” at police".
The quotes below are much too appropriate:
These are just two examples. Granted there are those from the opposite side as well - conservative media, columnists and writers - but none call for half of the electorate to be extinguished. Nevertheless, division is no longer just a crack. It is a widening chasm. I'm afraid bridges are no longer what is needed. The two opposite canyons must move back in with tectonic force to close the gap. That will require so much more energy ever called for and nothing less than a national will is needed.
Here is an actual quote from Carl Sagan - astronomer, writer and well known for his "Cosmos" TV series. He wrote it in 1995 but prophetically a description of what is happening today. The reader may see it one way or another but think hard and look beyond the prism of your own preconceived ideas and opinions.
| Born | Carl Edward Sagan November 9, 1934 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Died | December 20, 1996 (aged 62) Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Resting place | Lake View Cemetery (Ithaca, New York) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago (BA, BS, MS, PhD) |
For reference on the blog, "Wisdom of Crowds" two years ago:
https://abreloth.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-wisdom-of-crowds.html
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