Sometimes the metaphors walk up and smack ya right in the face.
Here's a picture of Lee Jun-seok, captain of the ferry that sank off the coast of South Korea recently:
Captain Lee has been arrested because he left the ship before doing everything he was supposed to do to ensure the safety of his passengers. Weirdly (to me anyway) the conduct of a ship's captain is generally prescribed in terms of "should" instead of "must", but according to S Korea's laws, this guy split early and now he's in deep shit.
What if I look at this from a different perspective though? Am I not supposed to try to see things from the point of view of people with whom I disagree? Shouldn't I be willing to consider others' opinions and philosophies? What if I never stop asking rhetorical questions?
Maybe I should wait until I have a chance to ask somebody directly, but I don't see it as a big stretch to imagine the reaction of Paul Ryan (eg) to Lee's behavior. I should hope Mr Ryan would react with the same disgust and horror as the rest of us, but in one way (one that feels pretty important to me) Lee did exactly what I think Ryan and his fellows are always saying we should all do. Lee found himself in dire circumstances, and simply turned his back on the people who were looking to him for help and guidance.
The Straw Man risk notwithstanding, it can't be all that hard for any of us to believe there's a tiny inkling of thought on the part of our current batch of "conservatives" that sounds like this: "those dead passengers should've had the gumption to save themselves - but they didn't - they had grown complacently dependent on the superior capabilities and sheer awesomeness of Capt Lee and his crew, and they were obviously just waiting around expecting a handout. See what happens to stupid moochers!?!"
Wanna go full Romney with it? "...do whatever it takes - borrow some money from your parents if you have to - so you can buy your own rescue boat..."
In the end - look at that picture again - having tended to his own interests to the exclusion of everything else, Capt Lee loses everything worth saving in the first place.
Just sayin' - the Slippery Slope can be a real thing.
Here's a picture of Lee Jun-seok, captain of the ferry that sank off the coast of South Korea recently:
Captain Lee has been arrested because he left the ship before doing everything he was supposed to do to ensure the safety of his passengers. Weirdly (to me anyway) the conduct of a ship's captain is generally prescribed in terms of "should" instead of "must", but according to S Korea's laws, this guy split early and now he's in deep shit.
What if I look at this from a different perspective though? Am I not supposed to try to see things from the point of view of people with whom I disagree? Shouldn't I be willing to consider others' opinions and philosophies? What if I never stop asking rhetorical questions?
Maybe I should wait until I have a chance to ask somebody directly, but I don't see it as a big stretch to imagine the reaction of Paul Ryan (eg) to Lee's behavior. I should hope Mr Ryan would react with the same disgust and horror as the rest of us, but in one way (one that feels pretty important to me) Lee did exactly what I think Ryan and his fellows are always saying we should all do. Lee found himself in dire circumstances, and simply turned his back on the people who were looking to him for help and guidance.
The Straw Man risk notwithstanding, it can't be all that hard for any of us to believe there's a tiny inkling of thought on the part of our current batch of "conservatives" that sounds like this: "those dead passengers should've had the gumption to save themselves - but they didn't - they had grown complacently dependent on the superior capabilities and sheer awesomeness of Capt Lee and his crew, and they were obviously just waiting around expecting a handout. See what happens to stupid moochers!?!"
Wanna go full Romney with it? "...do whatever it takes - borrow some money from your parents if you have to - so you can buy your own rescue boat..."
In the end - look at that picture again - having tended to his own interests to the exclusion of everything else, Capt Lee loses everything worth saving in the first place.
Just sayin' - the Slippery Slope can be a real thing.
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