Thursday, October 04, 2007

Groupthinking Global Dogma

The lesson of the early Kennedy era was how groupthink almost plunged the US into a nuclear confrontation. Apparently, that is a lesson easily forgotten by contemporary ideologues who still view the end as justifying the means.

Contrast this ideology with a more enlightened view of environmentalism and the real state of the world.

Dogma is the prescription for groupthink. Too often dogma appears to be the default condition of both the educational system and of the media: the two key components of a free democracy that must foster independent thought if a democracy is to be sustainable.

Dogma and groupthink are the handmaidens of totalitarianism. Authoritative dictate, even when wrapped in green and justified by appeals to scientific "consensus" (an oxymoron in itself), is just a euphemism for totalitarian control. And those who seek control don't much care what the future looks like, just as long as they are the one's that are in control.

Power over is the antithesis of empowerment.

Dogma is power over people.

Empowerment entails individual accountability, individual responsibility and independent thought -- not groupthink.