Indeed, the term “pragmatic” is used interchangeably with
“practical.” However, this is misleading. What works in the near term does not always prove to work in the
long term. True Pragmatism does not preach convenient
expedients. It says merely that the truth is not
something abstract. It is found in reality. The reality is that what works for
one person does not always or necessarily work for
another person. What is good for
most people is not necessarily good for all people. But politicians like
to collectivize the concept of
“the people.” There are deep and significant reasons why this concept is not
merely wrong but fraudulent. Collectives do not exist in human society or in
human nature. The concept of collectivism is
ant-individual and a deliberate invention of those seeking power.
In fact, it
can and has proven to lead to dictatorships. It is the
concept of collectivism that enables politicians to
promise to “feed the people,” a promise that is false at its root, because there
is no such thing as a collective stomach. Each person has his own individual
stomach, each with individual needs. Society consists not of a collective of
“the people” but of “many persons.” Groups do exist, but they are not
collectives, because groups consist of individual members coming together for a
purpose, usually, although not always, by choice. Even prisoners locked up
against their will are not cogs in a wheel. They are individuals who have placed
themselves there by their individual actions.
No “one size fits all” policy works in a society of individual
citizens. One size fits all is a convenient tool for the lies and expedience of
politicians who want an easy way to promise what they have no intention of delivering. The
concept of “the most good for the most people” is an
illusion imposed on them by “authority,” usually the government. It is always a
fraud, because what is said to be best for a collective can never be best for
each and every individual, not because one person’s best is never another
person’s best, but because no single specific best can be tailored to every
member of society. That’s why we have individual freedom! Obamacare is a perfect example of collective false
promises.
Truth is truth in nature and in reality. Facts are indisputable and,
according to James and Pearce, truth will eventually show itself immutably. The
problem is in finding out what the truth is. Human thinking is complex and what
is true may be hidden beneath many layers of experience and interpretation,
making the absolute truth difficult or impossible to find at any given moment.
Consequently, human beings can be easily fooled by definitions of truth that are
intended to distract them from reality, where the truth actually exists. Lies
can often be foggy and difficult to discern, thus, they are a convenient weapon
for public officials. In fact, each person must determine what the truth is
according to the most reliable information available to him at any given moment
and upon his best, sincerest effort to find out what it is. This leads to the only reasonable conclusion that human
beings need some guidelines
which can be applied always and without hesitation in any given situation where
a decision of what to do must be made. The best
guidelines for civilized human beings are those
“universal” truths which lead to goodness embodied in the last five of the Ten Commandments. I say the last
five, because not everyone has a monotheistic or even a theistic view of right
and wrong, goodness and badness, correct vs. incorrect behavior.
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