~ Thomas Sowell
Mandatory reading for ALL FReepers and Patriots:
Posted on 04/05/2020 9:01:30 AM PDT by Kaslin
“The beauty of doing nothing is that you can do it perfectly. Only when you do something is it almost impossible to do it without mistakes. Therefore people who are contributing nothing to society, except their constant criticisms, can feel both intellectually and morally superior.”
Such masterful writing shines like a beacon, cutting through the swirling unintelligent abyss that is Twitter. Thomas Sowell’s words are, as always, both succinct and accurate, and are no more relevant to our lives than today.
Not only are many of those who contribute nothing to society often the ones to be allocated the most authority on matters of politics or morality, the net has been cast wider than ever before. Now, the notion of speech is given the same respect as the notion of action. People are congratulated for “speaking their truth,” “speaking truth to power,” or simply speaking at all. Whether their speech is accurate, productive, or results in any objective good is irrelevant.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has pushed this problem to the forefront. One example was brought to us by the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Last week, he chose to send President Trump an open “serious letter,” where the goal was clearly to grandstand rather than join forces. Just this weekend, Schumer criticized Trump by stating that “In America, patriots speak truth to power. President Trump has turned that inside out. When you tell the truth, he fires you.”
Chuck Schumer is not only wrong in basic terms - the president has every right to select the members of his own administration - he is also wrong in fundamental American terms. In Schumer’s version of America, the sign of a patriot is someone who “speaks truth to power.” Luckily for those of us who enjoy the freedom and liberty guaranteed by our unalienable rights and protected by the United States Constitution, the true patriots who founded this nation did much more than simply “speak.”
The problem of unproductive speech being viewed as synonymous with action is not limited to the political class. With the coronavirus outbreak spreading across both the country and the globe, we have seen many in the United States spring to action. When Mike Lindell (the “My Pillow Guy”) announced that his company would - voluntarily - aim to increase its daily output of cotton face masks from 10,000 to 50,000, one would assume that this would be cause for celebration.
Instead, many fell over themselves to mock a citizen of the United States for the crime of putting his money where his mouth is and doing something. MSNBC’s Ali Velshi scoffed, tweeting “Trump just called the “My Pillow” guy up to the podium in the Rose Garden. You cannot make this stuff up,” Tom Nichols sarcastically cheered with “Well, imagine my relief that the My Pillow guy is on the job,” and Jonathan Chait jeered with “Look, it’s hard to fill up 90 minutes worth of material every single day, so you need to get some sponsored material/infomercials.”
Besides pontificating on Twitter, what are people like Ali Velshi, Tom Nichols, and Jonathan Chait actually doing to fight the coronavirus? If they are even doing anything concrete, it is hugely doubtful that it could ever compare to the impact Mike Lindell and his company will have. But, in our world where speech is celebrated as action, cynical and unproductive mockery is enough. If it can be used to ridicule someone who happens to be acting upon their sincere religious beliefs in order to help their community, even better.
Thomas Sowell wrote that “The beauty of doing nothing is that you can do it perfectly.” As we struggle to gain ground against this pandemic, we should no longer be wasting our time on the words of those who contribute nothing. Instead, we should applaud those whose actions - whether flawed or not - bring us closer to victory.
They’re self-appointed opinion makers. They’re not doing nothing; they’re making opinions. That’s what makes them so proud.
Or as a wise electrical engineer told me years ago — “everything is easy until you do it.”
Nicely written. Reminds me of back in the Clinton days when they ended undesirable things by decree. Not action, mind you, just decree. The deficit was tamed because they said it was. Murders were halted because they all agreed to stop it, etc. Remember their answer to unemployed inner city youths? Midnight basketball.
Trump, for all his faults, is a “doer”. He’s a “fixer”. He sees a problem and he takes real steps, real actions, to fix the problem. The Deep State never wants to fix problems (except throw more money and bureaucracy at it). If a problem is fixed, how can they use it to demonize the opposition or promise to fix it in the next campaign? Trump doesn’t view the world that way, which is one more reason why Washington hates him.
The American press are not paid to distribute information.
They are paid to attack Republicans.
Sweden has officially decided to “do nothing”. Eventually it will become obvious that this was either a genius idea or a foolish one.
In a way, Sweden really doesn’t have a choice, it’s not as if the Muslims there will obey the lockdown anyway, they think they are immune, and they want nothing more than to spread it to their “evil hosts”.
And they know the Swedes won’t do a damn thing to stop them.
As Scott Adams said in Dilbert once, “anything I don’t understand must be easy to do.
Kinda like farming? You plow the field and plant the seed, and up comes corn. Anybody can do it.
...Michael Bloomberg
The Young Ones - we sow the seed, nature grows the seed and then we eat the seed
They think they run everything.
Bitching about everything while doing nothing but bitching about everything, isn’t running things.
“People say nothing is impossible; but I do nothing every day”.
“Sometimes the best something is to do nothing.”
Philosophy of Winnie the Pooh.
THEY SAID IT COULDN’T BE DONE
by
Benny Hill
They said that it could not be done,
He said, “Just let me try.”
They said, “Other men have tried and failed,”
He answered, “But not I.”
They said, “It is impossible,”
He said, “There’s no such word.”
He closed his mind, he closed his heart...
To everything he heard.
He said, “Within the heart of man,
There is a tiny seed.
It grows until it blossoms,
It’s called the will to succeed.
Its roots are strength, its stem is hope,
Its petals inspiration,
Its thorns protect its strong green leaves,
With grim determination.
“Its stamens are its skills
Which help to shape each plan,
For there’s nothing in the universe
Beyond the scope of man.”
They thought that it could not be done,
Some even said they knew it,
But he faced up to what could not be done...
AND HE COULDN’T BLOODY DO IT!!!!!
~ Thomas Sowell
Mandatory reading for ALL FReepers and Patriots:
The article I just read says Sweden’s leader is telling the country “Brace for Impact” because of their decisions.
I’ve always wondered if the libtards in their constant mention in of Dunning Kruger ever do so in front of a mirror.
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