RE: The Struggles for Voices: Power Dynamics and Free Speech

Hello to you,

yeah, once in a while I check up on you, but not too often, in order to not make it so intense.

You said:

While I get your point on having a clear answer in Aye or Nay, on the basis of ground principles, I am wondeing how are we to unite everyone to have the same principle. Something that I decide to be right on the basis of my principle might be totally wrong according to the principle the other person holds.

Live by this principles of yours, would be my answer. There is not much more you can do other than to be a role model for your family, your kids and other people near you. That in itself is already an achievement, people tend to forget that, with the media business we are all hypnotized by. Say "no" where the regulations and governmental decisions give you a chance.

Right now, we here in Germany can say "no" to the new electronic patient file system. But when people stay un-informed and only buy into the "everything new is great" attitude, we will end up with getting this as a habit (if a majority does not use their right to reject it). This happened with paying cashless and with the mobile phone here in my town for public transportation, and now the few left over folks not wanting it, are being forced by the habits of the rest of the population - where the young dominate over the old ones and rarely think of them and what modernity does to their daily lives in terms of how to navigate through life.

Being informed is difficult, since it is always a balancing act between fear mongering and real concerns or even real benefits when it comes to regulations. There is much to take care of in terms of "what do I think is needed for the style of my life/world-view"?

With principles I am meaning a religious foundation. For us Christians it's the ten commandments, for example. Being conservative, for that matter, is pro life, pro family, pro children, pro marriage. If governments give benefits on these things or motivates its people to live by those principles, it can be taken as a sane sign. Of course, if you are educated in these matters, you can spot a liar or hypocrite. If one is not religiously or ethically trained, you probably are gullible towards propaganda and such. You know what I mean.

Today's world is a place where there is ambiguity about principles. Nothing is clear, everything is clouded by ideaologies of feeling.

True. It began many years ago, who knows how many. If you are clear yourself, you won't let you being bamboozled by the ambiguities of others. It's crucial to answer only with facts and not with feelings if you get into a debate.

Putting the Divine guidelines aside,

do not put them aside. That is already where one loses ground. It is not that you have to preach them. Mostly, it is even better not to mention them but to think of them whenever one gets into a conflict or difficult situation. It'll give you the strength to say the right things in the right situation. To trust yourself and also trust others.

there is a total emphasis on feeling. If we observe we realize, the thing that we have given the status of god is our Feelings.

HaHa! Seems like that. It will regulate itself eventually. Question is, if we will witness a down regulation of this nonsense. Or if we have to live with it for the rest of our lives. I hope not, but who knows.

Things that one's regarded as delusions or psychopathologies are now being advocated as a right of individual. All based on the feeling.

Correct. I call it making the exceptions from the (divine) rules the new rules. But it is a logical fallacy. You cannot make a principle out of the exception of a given principle. Try it out. It won't work.

"Do not lie."
However, there are exceptions where you do have to lie (you can easily deduce the reasons)
For example: you don't reveal someone's whereabouts because you fear that they will be wrongly imprisoned.

But the principle is: "don't lie."
There are exceptions. But it is not formulated according to its exceptions, because after all, it does not say:
"Lie because ... you want to protect someone."
What would be the exception to this formulation?
There would be no exception for protection, there are simply countless other exceptions that you can think of.

Make that mental experiment with other regulations of yours. You'll be delighted by the logic of the principles, I think, at least I was.

This (not so) new normal is mainly the result of the fact that we have allowed more and more exceptions to our principles over the years. This makes us weak and insecure.
‘Living your life the way you want’ is a hollow phrase. There is no such thing. Nobody can do that. And no one ever will be able to.

‘Make yourself independent as a woman.’ From whom? From my husband? Why? What do I exchange this intimate dependence for?

Read Rachel Wilsons Book. It is a shocking lecture and I would not know if it is something you might want to read. Make research on her youtube appearances. She is opting for emancipation but not in the postmodern way.

So far, have a good day. Greetings to you and your family