Smart vs Intelligent

In my own life and in the world around me I see mounting evidence that pure intelligence does not necessarily equate to smart action and decision.   It is like having a computer with impressive capacity and power, but using it for worthless ends.  Someone else may have a computer of modest capabilities yet uses it to good purpose and profit.

At one time I could listen to talk radio, to get different angles on what is supposedly being done in the world of laws and spending public money.  When Air America was around I tried to listen to that but found it so full of angry rants which cloaked whatever kernels of fact there were in over the top hostility and violent self righteousness that I had to give it up.

The stuff that is out there now often contains material with which I agree, but presented in such a way that discredits the message, and often contains additional, irrelevant tenets with which I disagree.  Or I do not see it as a suitable matter for the forums they seek to influence.

It is hardly worth weighing in on current public debates.  Mostly what we have circulating constitutes an odd pop news phenomenon.  What wins is the caricature that has the air of being cool and trendy.  Often, when one sees some delineation between the approved sides as they go to battle, he might easily image he is watching the GlobeTrotters play the Washington Senators.

To actually be a big fan of either team, one must suspend disbelief and embrace the world of fantasy.

Glad I don't live in LaJolla.  They have a huge stink problem because they can't legally clean the bird poop off the cliffs, and they have seal issues which are rather misanthropic.

Public policy arguments invariably stray from the principles invoved and devolve into personal attacks and/or hysterical hyperbole.

This is where labels like "the 1%" tend to lose me.  For one thing not all the wealthiest 1% think the same, accumulate their wealth similarly, or interact equally with the public treasury.  It is a label because people flock to causes with some one or some group to hate.  Suggesting they be killed, shot, etc. is OK because it is righteous indignation.  Or self righteous, easily grabbed vanity.

I'm no fan of the feudal system, kings, and elitism in law making.  The controlled and directed hatred, and the fueling of base and petty qualities is the business of such systems.  People only strengthen the power of these tyrants when they fall into the trap of personal attack and studied ignorance of fact.

These are times when I prefer to ignore some nagging personal questions and assessments.   Those people who thrive do, rather than worry.  That is how it appears to me.

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