One Thing I Learned in the Military

Someone posted to our “Haters Corner” today. I’m glad I put that up on this website. In a reply, I said I am starting to see a correlation between length of service and Conservative values. I know that would be anecdotal. I do wish someone would do a real study on this subject. On to the story!

The person replied (partly) with this comment:

…but please dont claim that your opinion has any relation to the military or being a veteran or length of service. That is patently ludicrous.

http://vets-for-trump.com/index.php/2018/09/04/haters-corner/

The exact opposite is obviously true. Our exposure to environments, cultures and the duration of exposure surely relates to our opinions! To use his words, it is patently ludicrous to think otherwise.

We do not have the same experiences in the military and we bring a certain amount of individualism to the table. However, to think that experience in military culture and longevity do not influence opinion belongs in “opposite world!” Heck, that’s why they shave our heads and put us in uniforms when we enter basic training. When I was 20 I had long hair and now if my hair touches my ears I feel uncomfortable. Talk about having an influence on my opinions!

I could try to unwind all the reasons why someone might say something so illogical but it would take a book. I believe one main reason the Left and Trump haters are losing their logical abilities is emotional in nature.

I do not recall the Sergeant that said it but I will never forget his words. “Emotions eradicate skills.” Many times the arguments I read on Twitter, Facebook and the Comments section are filled with illogical arguments. I’ve seen it on the Left and the Right but more on the Left. 

For a time I wondered why more college educated people were liberal. That was before I realized just how liberal our colleges had become. I’m old enough to be grateful for a classical education filled with critical thinking, the Socratic method, and honest debate. Those days are long gone in most colleges and our prestigious universities.

Today it seems many people, especially younger people, have few thinking skills. Not everyone, just a large number. Young people do not know that we were made great by our honest disagreements that were worked out by logical debate. Debate and classical argumentation takes time and energy. You have to ask a lot of questions and consider the arguments from the other side of the position you hold.

To debate honestly you must be willing understand the position you oppose. You should also have some basic logic skills. I’m not talking a degree in philosophy or logic but a basic understanding of the Law of Non-Contradiction would be very helpful.

In classical logic, the law of non-contradiction (LNC) (also known as the law of contradiction, principle of non-contradiction (PNC), or the principle of contradiction) states that contradictory statements cannot both be true in the same sense at the same time, e.g. the two propositions “A is B” and “A is not B” are mutually exclusive. It is the second of the three classic laws of thought.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_noncontradiction

Another way to put it is if two ideas diametrically oppose one another, one of them is right and the other is wrong or they are both wrong since they cannot both be right. However, I’ve touched on the Law of the Excluded Middle and don’t want to muddy the waters too much. Logic is not that hard. We use it every day without labeling it as such. 

A good example is the Left recently stating that the Wall is “immoral”. That violates the Law of Non-Contradiction. If a wall is immoral then stop putting them up around your home! A wall is neither moral or immoral. It is better to logically argue the purpose and benefits of a wall but the Left wants to shortcut the debate and simply place an illogical label on it and call it immoral! A wall is either beneficial or not beneficial. A wall will not work where you want a door and a door will not work where you want a wall. See, simple logic.

So, I’m back to one thing I learned in the military. Emotion can certainly eradicate your skills. It is not that emotion plays no part in life. It certainly does. However, when emotions become so involved that you cannot think straight you are bound to make mistakes. In war that can get you and or others killed. In politics it just makes you look uneducated. 

Remain skeptical my friends!