Most of my future blog posts will likely be based on current events and whatever is going on in the world. I tend to react to events instead of anticipate them – then again, who beyond Nate Silver does any different? Having said that, I’m currently working on a series of posts that will be less reactionary.
For my next trick – commonly held myths about American politics! Hurray! *cue sound of crickets*
The basic gist is that my own liberal and anti-religious biases are frequently inflamed by what I deem to be morons in the media and public life. Many people tend to believe amazingly dumb things about the state of our world, and I wish to fan the flames of that anger… err… I mean, attempt to influence the debate. In all seriousness, I have no delusions that I will change people’s minds. However, when I see egregious myths and misconceptions propagated in the media by otherwise well-meaning people, I want to counter them.
I’m going to write a series over the next few weeks (and likely months) dedicated to countering the worst (primarily right-wing) myths, lies, and errors regarding politics. Most of this has an American bias, as that is the country I am from and have the most working knowledge. My expertise outside of North America is sadly lacking, though I will occasionally leak what little knowledge I have out onto the page about topics like Ukraine, Taiwan, and India – to name but a few areas of international interest.
In the meantime, here are the primary topics I will be covering shortly. Firearms policy will likely be the first topic covered, as it is constantly a major talking point of both the American right, and the non-elected American left.
Commonly held political myths to be refuted:
*Individual possession of firearms is a long-standing American right.
*More guns equal less crime.
*The American budget deficit is a dire and pressing issue.
*Social Security is in danger of insolvency.
*Illegal immigrants pose a serious threat to American safety and/or prosperity.
*Socialism exists in any meaningful way in the American political system.
*America was founded as a Christian nation.
*The size of government is a pressing issue.
*We need to “fix problems on Earth before venturing into space.”
That last one is a little less ideologically-based than the others, but it nonetheless important to refute.
Many of these are pretty obvious to the politically-aware, but they persist widely enough that it doesn’t hurt to counter the spread of such foolishness. I will attempt to get into the history of these myths, and explain the facts, as straight-forwardly as possible. I am not immune to bias, of course, but I believe I can logically explain myself in such a way that contributes to the debate, rather than drags it further into the mud.
Oh, and beyond politics, I am going to restart my boxing blog soon! Hopefully in the next day or two I will have the URL up and my old Blogger posts loaded. New content will likely be less frequent than this blog, but there will be some boxing talk forthcoming.
Update:
Here’s the link to the new boxing blog:
All my reposts from Blogger and Facebook have been uploaded and the blog is ready to go.
A Skewed Perspective 