CENSORSHIP 2023

Can books doom civilization?
Should they be censored?
Should history be censored?
How about words?
George Carlin proudly proclaimed his 7 words that could not be said on television. To this those ‘words’ are bleeped’ on TV and relegated to cable shows or movies.
But, unlike sticks and stones, words cannot harm us, unless strung together into hate phrases meant to incite riots.
Our cherished 1^st Amendment preaches that.
So, should books be banned?
We rate movies as fit for certain age groups but allow parents to be the ultimate deciders.
What about schoolbooks?
Take Isaac Newton sitting under a tree and an apple supposedly falls on his head leading him to discover gravity and write about it in his 1687 “Philosophy Naturalis Principia Mathematica”?
At the time this was a radical idea.
If he was shunned as a heretic and the book banned, then what of all the discoveries based thereon?
Where would be today?
Well, for one thing we would not be on the moon, or mars, or even, perhaps in the air!
Did George Washington cut down that cherry tree?
Was there a race massacre in Tulsa Oklahoma in 1921?
One of those two is true, yet the false one is in history books and celebrated in folklore.
What terrible harm could there be from teaching both events as they really were?
An old western trope states that when the legend becomes fact, print the legend.
But in an educated society the legend must be noted with an asterisk directing the reader to a footnote explaining the difference.
We live in a time when many believe the moon landing was faked, the Earth is flat, and a Jewish rabbi, born in the middle east over 2,000 years ago, was white, had blond hair and blue eyes!
Events that are happening today are already being ignored and stricken from history books.
If we continue down this road of ignorance how long before we have to deal with versions of Orwell’s Ministry of Truth in our daily lives?
It has been said that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.
But if we allow censorship to keep our children from learning about history, good or bad, we’re all doomed!

A GREEN NEW APPLE?

When that apple fell on Sir Isaac Newton's head after he presumably said ouch he asked, "Why?"
WHY!
It's a uniquely human thing to do.
When we lose the drive to ask why something happened we also lose the ability to fix it if it's bad or replicate it if good.
WHY?
What caused that apple to fall?
The 'whys' are usually followed by theories, investigations, conclusions and verifications.
This process has no agenda other than finding the cause and effect and getting at the truth.
It is not political, it's science.
And the people who ploy their talents in that field are called scientists.
Scientists DO have an agenda, getting at the truth!
Sir Isaac finally concluded that the Earth had an inherent property that pulled the apple downward.
Gravity!
Gravity caused the apple to fall and gravity keeps us from flying off into space when we jump.
Did the world immediately give Sir Newton the keys to the kingdom.
Of course not.
Many ridiculed him but in the end his shoulders were the platform upon which other scientists stood to reach higher.

That was then but now is now.
Now we have many problems facing us and one of them is causing disasters across the planet.
Storms!
What causes storms to be strong and get stronger and more frequent?
WHY?
Storms are caused by many factors but their strength increases when they form or travel over oceans.

And simply put, the warmer the water the stronger the storm.

What is causing the waters to be warmer now than they ever were in recorded history?

WHY?

There are many factors that are out of our control.

But we may be able to control some. And if so we owe it to ourselves to find ways to reverse the pattern.

It could be hard and take a long time but if we roll up our sleeves and get to work on that which we can control we can slow down the process perhaps long enough for us to find a permanent cure.

But no problem ever got fixed by doing nothing.

Some of our political leaders are talking about a "Green New Deal."

Is this the solution?

Perhaps yes, perhaps no.

BUT IT'S A START!

Are the proponents of this 'new deal' being ridiculed?

Of course they are.

The reasons for the ridicule include honest skepticism from some and dishonest greed upon the part of the industries that like the status quo.

Their bottom lines will be affected by changes suggested therein.

But even that can be worked out to everyone's satisfaction if we work together intelligently, using science and facts.

Gravity is real, and so is climate change and global warming.

And it doesn't take a sledge hammer to prove it when a simple apple can do the job.