The state of our matrix:
Yet, it is one's beliefs -- ideas -- which guide his actions, and produce results. Thus the real life "matrix" of philosophy is indeed important.
In the sci-fi film, the Matrix was an illusion used to mislead human beings. In reality, philosophy is supposed to be a science, a search for knowledge and formulation of ideas to guide one in the "real world" -- in other words, everything a "matrix" would not be. Yet, the field of philosophy has been turned inside out, into a grotesque characiture of itself, used more to blind and misinform than to forward reason. It has become the equivolent of the sci-fi "matrix": a prison for the mind. It is in response to this that many have shied away from matters of the mind entirely, and this is seen especially evident in that most basic indication of citizen involvement in intellectual matters: Politics.Voter turnout is usally less than half the people who are eligible to vote, and those who do vote often might have just as well stayed home. Instead of deciding on a candidate because they approve of his overall philosophy and approach to government, they vote based on a family tradition of sticking with one party, or vote according to one particular issue, or they vote for whomever promises them money or benefits.
How many people walk into that voting booth understanding the nature of the government created in the U.S. according to the constittution, or why such a government is important? How many walk into that booth knowing exactly what their candidate's political philosophy is, what his take on the purpose of government is?
In any debate on current events, the issues of the day are even more neglected. A chance discussion with any number of young college students will find them shocked at any suggestion that the government should NOT be in control of education.
And the war on terrorism? To hear the multiculturalists and university student newspapers tell it, the terrorists who killed 3,000 American on September 11, 2001, were just "expressing their opinion."
This is the state of our "matrix": The intellectuals in this country are tripping over themselves to denounce this country, and to denounce the mind. The "conservatives" on the right demand the surrender of the mind to reason; the leftists demand the surrender of the mind to psuedo science, enviornmentalist occult, the mob or the race. What about the individual? Notice he is not represented by either side. That is because the mind is an attribute of the individual.
The facts aren't as dismal as they appear, however. Perhaps since 9-11 one of the realizations people had is that their eyes were opened. Yet the terrorist attacks on 9-11 weren't the first, nor was the attack on the U.S.S. Cole earlier. The trend began years ago. Why did this terrorism go unopposed? Why were these attacks on America and our own safety considered unimportant -- but the cries of warlords and tyrants in Somalia and Bosnia for the sacrifice of American soldiers heeded? Altruism has been guiding America's foriegn policy, just as collectivism has been guiding its intellectuals on both the left and right. Thus it is that days before Independece Day, July 04, 2003, President Bush announced he was considering sending U.S. military to Liberia to try and stop a civil war. Why intervene there when there are still plenty of nations that threaten us, and pose a risk of fundamentalist terror? If we are to intervene anywhere it should be Iran, Syria or Palestine, for such places are rife with anti-American terrorism. Yet, instead, the American President ignores our enemies and proposes using our soldiers as sandbags in some irrelevent war. Why? Again, back to the altruist ethics of self-sacrifice; Bush is trying to prove to the world that America isn't "selfish", by proposing to ignore terrorist threats to our survival in order to mollify some tribal conflict. July 5, the Star-Ledger, a major NJ newspaper, carried an article on Supreme Court Justice O'Connor being given a patriotic award. Yet O'Connor could not be less deserving of such recognition given the lack of respect that O'Connor has for the ideals of the United States or the intent of its constitution. It was O'Connor, remember, who was a key force in crafting the majority opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court upholding gov't sponsored racism in university admissions.This is the state of our matrix. America is witnessing what is very probably the high point of rampant, unchecked collectivist, altruistic mania.
Hopefully, it's all down hill from here. After the manipulators in academia and the media and their myths fall, their manifestations in the politcal realm will not have peg leg to stand on. Then those who value the sanctity of the human mind can begin to reclaim the field of philosophy -- and the world.------------
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