SHIP OF FOOLS

   * Why would we continue to believe that war would ever result in peace and harmony? War only produces hatred, misery and resentfulness.

 * Justice is not much more than a money making scheme for the state and counties. Money speaks, the poor do time. Justice is one of life's finer purchases, not unlike a good bottle of wine, or a luxury car.

   * The Earth is not warming, it’s all just a liberal plot. For what exact purpose, I’m not entirely sure. But, even if the Earth were not warming due to our stupidity, I would still support the contention, if for no other reason than to aggravate all the right-wing knuckleheads. 

 * Everyone should own and carry a gun. This will cause criminals to behave themselves. Actually, the criminals will end up being the people carrying the guns. 

 * Why should women have control over their own bodies? The argument seems obvious: if a man impregnates a woman, she should be the last one to say what should happen. On the Ship of Fools, women have no rights.

  There are no easy answers. There are no easy problems. Everything seems connected to everything else. The web of life has been woven tightly and reverberates with every move. To focus on a single problem with hopes of solving it is a distant memory. The complexity of our world requires problem solvers to look beyond singular solutions and envision multiple answers to complex problems, any one of which may need to be brought forward  only after it has been discussed how it will affect our great-great-great grandchildren. Most of our problem solving takes into account only us. We are not visionaries. We tend to be reactionaries. Ethanol is a good example of our short-sightedness. So, far that matter, is our insistence that war can bring about a peaceful world, or that guns can make us safer, or that drugs will go away if we put everyone in jail. All are elementary miscalculations made by short-sighted thinkers who have jumped on board the Ship of Fools.