Place the smallest speck of dust you can find on your fingertip. Imagine that is our solar system. At this scale, to cross our entire galaxy would take you to the horizon. Traveling to the edge of the observable universe would place you in the vicinity of Mars.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with government. The effectiveness of the system is directly proportional to the active involvement of the populace. A corrupt government reflects the disengagement of its citizens.
There is perhaps no greater weapon to parry the bludgeon of dull-minded opinion than a well-honed Occam’s Razor.
Belief in astrology is the equivalent of believing earthworms form from raindrops.
“We’re all trying to help you. We’ve petitioned the governor, but he doesn’t want to appear soft on people who’ve been falsely imprisoned.” — Leela, Futurama
“I had the misfortune to be nourished by the dreams and visions of Great Americans — the poets and the seers. Some other breed of men has won out. The world which is in the making fills me with dread. . . . It is a world suited for monomaniacs obsessed with the idea of progress – but a false progress, a progress that stinks. It is a world cluttered with useless objects which men and women, in order to be exploited and degraded, are taught to regard as useful. The dreamer whose dreams are non-utilitarian has no place in the world. Whatever does not lend itself to being bought and sold, whether in the realm of things, ideas, principles, dreams or hopes, is debarred. In this world the poet is anathema, the thinker is a fool, the artist the escapist, the man of vision a criminal.” — Henry Miller, The Air-Conditioned Nightmare
When the US launches a drone and kills an Al-Qaeda leader, are we justified in killing his wife, children, and grandchildren? Are they culpable by virtue of being related? Does the threat the terrorist presents supersede the recruiting tool we provide by murdering family, particularly children?
Republicans: speed bumps on the road to progress. And as it stands, our wheels are gonna need alignment.
Rob a bank, get a jail cell. Rob someone with a bank, get a mansion.
Much good has come from socialism, both in the US and around the world, without resorting to totalitarianism. Don’t worry, your TV is safe.