Friday, December 16, 2016

Labels, Labels






I'm thinking about labels. Let's take "progressive" for instance. Why do people throw that term around like it's a bad thing? If you had cancer, wouldn't you prefer a progressive doctor? Don't you want the one who's up to date on research and treatment options? You wouldn't want the one who is stuck using outdated methods from back when America was "great," would you? If you have to have a surgery or a c-section, don't you want a progressive surgeon? One you uses anesthesia and sterilization techniques? Would you prefer an appendectomy where they open you up neck to genitals the way they did it in the good old days? Personally, I'd prefer something a little more with the times.


What if we think about education or banking communications? Should we go back to the days of one-room school houses, the great train robbery, and mail by Pony Express? Of course not. Progress is a good thing, right?

I mean, seriously. At the time the Constitution was framed, people had some great ideas to be sure. Then they went home and had the doc come over for a quick blood-letting for their headaches and bouts with pneumonia. We've learned a few things and advanced a little since that time. It seems quite foolish to me to pretend that's a bad thing.

Look. Science is real. It is the thing that brought us the abilities to buy a house on your iPhone, bomb a country from an armchair in Nebraska, make opinions about important topics based on a meme by Jenny McCarthy, and not die a slow, itchy, agonizing death from a simple vaginal yeast infection. So, no, your conspiracy theory about climate change does not equal science. Your Google search about Common Core does not make you an expert in Education, with all due respect to Mrs DeVos.
Not everything on a Facebook meme is real, and you hearing something on the Faux News Network is not equivalent to a factual understanding of history or the ability to find and understand legitimate sources for information. Not bothering to figure out what is reliable information does not mean you're dumb. It means you're lazy. If acknowledging that makes me a crazy "progressive," bring on the label.

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