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Why Critical Thinking is Inseparable From Freedom
Why Critical Thinking is Inseparable From Freedom
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Critical thinking is inseparable from freedom as much as gold is inseparable from sound money and sound banking. In fact, one can consider this article as the perfect companion to the article I wrote ten years ago calledGold and Economic Freedom, Reinterpreted for the 21st Century. The reason I founded the comprehensive online education academy, skwealthacademy, which I am readying for launch, is because of my observation of the rapid deterioration of critical thinking skills, which has sparked the creation of social environments in which it is nearly impossible to present an opposition view to a mainstream narrative without this view being politicized for political agendas instead of being analyzed for its merit, or lack thereof. Owners of the most popular social media apps like Instagram, YouTube and Facebook have weaponized social media to create maximum dissension and minimum intellect and rationality, and have created forums of discourse in which it is nearly impossible to disagree with someone over an issue that is prominent in the national or global media and expect a civil response. One of the marks of a civil society has always been the ability to have civil discussions about topics and to consider the merits of an opposition view before dismissing it, and as these types of civil discussions are quickly disappearing, it also marks the disappearance of civility and humanity from society. The owners of social media have weaponized social media for crowd control purposes, to instill obedience in the masses and to dumb us down. Before observing people blankly staring at their phones in every aspect of public life, in theaters, in restaurants, in schools, in offices, in public transit systems and even when walking down the street, can you recall a time in which the world was as polarized as it is now?
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The Real Problem Is the Politicization of Everything
The Real Problem Is the Politicization of Everything
The Covington Catholic High School fiasco that has developed over the last weeks has shown more than ever why many are skeptical about the media these days. Facts and context — the reality on the ground — were put in the background in favor of a fable that confirmed a political allegory.
What is most shocking is that in today’s world, this is not an exception anymore. Much blame may be shifted to social media as a phenomenon that makes people feel safe in the anonymity of the online world and thus less inhibited than they would otherwise be. Still, the Covington Catholic saga is simply a symptom of a much bigger problem: the politicization of society — or, indeed, everything in life.
Needless to say, politicization is not new. But it feels as though, in today’s dramatically polarized climate, it is more extreme than in decades before. The Gillette ad, perhaps the only other “news story” that has garnered as much attention as Covington Catholic this year, is a prime example: regardless of what one thinks of it in the end, the question needs to be put forward why Gillette even thought it necessary to make a political statement in a commercial for razors. One needs to ask, to mention another example, why Ben & Jerry’s ever felt the need to launch a new ice creamnamed for “the Resistance.”
Consumed and Blinded
These days, it seems almost an impossibility to meet family and loved ones and not discuss Trump, Brexit, or the European elections. It seems unavoidable to be quickly judged by other humans not by your character but your political views. Everyone who is generally a Trump supporter has to be a fascist with whom one cannot interact anymore. Everyone who is generally a Democrat has to be a socialist or member of the elite with whom one cannot interact anymore.
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