::I am an engineer. I am a philosopher. I am a Man of the West.	2009-01-06 00:12:40 | TMSTKSBK
	Western Civilization is in a deplorable state. Our culture, as a whole, is shallow. This, by virtue of having been allowed to metastize for decades, has led our once-noble society to the brink of ruin. Although the comparison has been made before, the culture is at the stage when the Roman Empire was distributing free bread, and providing circuses to its populace, in order to keep them quiet and compliant. Our society, also, is given "free bread" (welfare), and has an ever-expanding array of "circuses" (television, movies, the internet, tabloids...) to keep them occupied with trivial thoughts. Much like the Roman Emperors, our leaders have capitulated to the whims of the mob, and permitted them to revel in their basest states. Think deep thoughts. Stop wondering about what will happen in your favorite show's next episode. Instead, contemplate how you can further society as a whole. Think about where society needs to go to preserve it from those who would destroy it from without or from within. This is not an easy task. It requires more effort than changing the channel on your TV. If it were simple, there would be no need for a mass societal movement toward revitalizing the philosophy our nation, our culture was founded upon. We are, by nature, an open civilization. This is excellent, and highly to be praised. But this should not be espoused to the occlusion of our initial premise. The premise is that man, allowed to work toward an end goal of his choice, will be more productive, more efficient, more innovative, more valuable than any number of men set to a task by force. Western Civilization stands at the brink of utter ruin. Join the fight to preserve free thought, free speech, free movement, the freedom, indeed, to be free. Proclaim your allegiance to mankind from the citadels. Fight to preserve every person's ability to think freely for himself or herself. Become yourself what you see that the culture needs. I challenge you to adhere to the six tenets of reform: Think deeply. Learn deeply. Question deeply. Engage deeply. Refute deeply. Prove deeply. Think carefully about what you know. Learn new skills, new information, new concepts, so that you may examine your opinions in a greater context. Question why others hold the opinions they do. Question why you hold the opinions you do. Engage yourself and others in discussion on issues you are an expert in, or are a novice in. Teach where you can, learn always. Refute falsehood where it raises its head. Do not permit untruths and half-truths to continue when you can destroy them. State and prove what is truth always. Let none call you false. Remember the concepts of yes and no, right and wrong, on and off. Opposites exist in this world, and the opposite of your culture deprives you of the right to an opinion. Tolerate new points of view, but do not compromise your foundations. Respect others' rights to their own opinions. Examine your own opinions carefully and continually. Do not be afraid, however, to debate what is perceived as truth by yourself or by another. Learn where others stand on issues, so that you may, yourself, more carefully craft your own opinion on the issue.
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