Episode 023: Allot Of Redemption

This week, Heit & Cheri address a number of current event topics along with proposing the appropriate philosophical modifications necessary to practice Axiom Amnesia.

Topics discussed include pseudo-intellectual peacocking, symbolic voting, why it’s stupid for Black and Brown people to support Ron Paul, acknowledgement of affirmative action policies as being discriminatory in nature, Eric Holder’s recent statements used to justify the legality of murdering U.S. citizens without due process, Barack Obama’s 3/6/2012 press conference, and comparing and contrasting the benefits and drawbacks of jail and college.

In the end, some of us really need “Allot Of Redemption” during the process of embracing Axiom Amnesia. Give us a call at 202-446-1886 and let us know what you think!

Segment 1

• Guessing at the etymology of the words, “a lot” and “allot.”
• Pseudo intellectuals who peacock and want to be viewed as “deep.”
• Using “flowery” language to repurpose stale ideas, trying to make what has little substance seem as if it has philosophical significance.
• The image of the U.S. troops and civil rights leaders as heroes.
• Challenging the idea of the symbolic vote–the notion of just voting because Blacks and women didn’t always have the right to vote.
• Challenging the idea that voting is the only way to improve conditions for people.
• Challenging the idea that politicians should be trusted to have a person’s best interests at heart.
• Voting makes people feel like they are part of the political process, regardless of whether their vote counts and regardless of whether people do anything beyond just voting. They feel better, so they justify doing it. They justify voting for a particular politician with the attitude that they are the “lesser of two evils.”
• People don’t really have their own ideas, instead their ideas are taken from their heroes and the politicians they believe in. In many cases, the person’s beliefs aren’t even in line with the spoused values of the politician for whom they’re voting.
• It’s stupid for Brown and Black people to back Ron Paul, when he said he doesn’t support the Civil Rights Act of 1964. How can you support a candidate who has/had no concern for whether people like you could even exercise their right to vote.
• People don’t understand what Axiom Amnesia means. The idea is to challenge and get rid of the axioms–widely held beliefs.
• The idea that affirmative action is discriminatory by nature, yet it is acceptable because things would be worse without it.
• Affirmative action policies favor “protected groups” in an attempt to make things more fair for people of color, women, and others.
• How it feels to be on the short end of the affirmative action stick. While the entire group is not as bad off as the “protected groups,” individuals can feel the brunt of those policies.
• Pointing the blame at the wrong folks–be mad at the system.
• Race politics vs. philosophy: “What is discrimination and is it okay?” vs. “Does discrimination make sense when trying to right the wrongs of racial inequality?”
• The challenge of living within the imperfect system of racial inequality–trying to make progress at the same time as trying to do away with the system.

Segment 2

• The U.S. sanctioned murder of Anwar Al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen and how the U.S. has killed U.S. citizens without due process.
• Eric Holder’s recent statements used to justify the legality of murdering U.S. citizens without due process.
• Holder outlined three criteria that must be met to kill U.S. citizens: 1) The government had to determine that the individual being targeted “poses an imminent threat of violent attack against the U.S.” That evaluation would consider the “relevant window of opportunity to act,” the possible harm to civilians, and the likelihood of heading off future attacks. 2) “Capture is not feasible.” 3) The operation would have to be conducted in a manner consistent with four fundamental rules of war: the target must have military value; the target must be lawful, such as combatants or civilians engaged in hostilities; collateral damage must not be excessive; and the weapons chosen must not “inflict unnecessary suffering.”
• Who decides and interprets these criteria for killing U.S. citizens? Essentially, you have government officials justifying what they’ve already intended to do before the evaluation even begins–they are judge, jury and executioner.
• Eric Holder chose to make his statements at Northwestern University’s law school. This interesting choice of venue shows his agenda, because he is addressing the lawyers, judges and politicians of the future, and shaping how they view these decisions. It’s a perverted interpretation and application of the law for this administration to attempt to legally justify the murdering of U.S. citizens.
• Holder gave his speech, but didn’t answer any questions. Why not, if they had a sound reason for assassinating a U.S. citizen?
• Barack Obama gives his first press conference since October 2011.
• Some of the reporters asked difficult questions, but you can’t press the president at his press conference. He’s in control and can avoid questions at will. His answers to questions about the violence in Syria and the Iran’s supposed push to obtain nuclear weapons were lacking and he spent a lot of time saying a while lot of nothing.
• Barack Obama’s interesting body language during the press conference. At one point it looked like he was waiting for the answer of questions to appear on his podium.
• The U.S.’s unequivocal support of Israel. Heit & Cheri challenge listeners to do a bit of research on statements made by Israel heads of state on when Iran would have nukes. They’ve been claiming that Iran will have nukes “any day now” for the past 15 or more years, so why believe them now?
• The hypocrisy of the fact that the U.S. is the only country to have dropped nuclear bombs on a country, yet they are concerned about another country, namely Iran, using them. When you look at the distribution of nukes by country, the U.S. has the most.
• The crime and punishment philosophy that you never forgive the criminal, leaving them with few options for re-entry into the mainstream. Of course, this is by design in order to marginalize those who are considered undesirable.
• Obama brags about the “crippling” sanctions levied by Iranian sanctions.
• The dialogue is not about discussing how Iran and other countries mistreat their people, but rather uses fear mongering tactics like trying to scare the U.S. public into believing that Iranians pose a threat to them.
• We never view how America contributes to its own bad reputation abroad.
• The U.S. hopes Iranian sanctions will cause the people to rise up eventually so they can come in and “liberate” them.

Segment 3

• Comparing and contrasting the benefits and drawbacks of jail and college. You come out of both indoctrinated, yet the assumption is that you must have done something wrong to wind up in prison and you must have done something right to wind up in college.
• Sending people to jail doesn’t make a better society because of how people are treated when they are released from jail/prison.
• Jail is cruel punishment, where people are caged and have no responsibility for managing their own lives, yet we expect them to be successful when they are released–we expect them to be “normal.”
• When a hostage has been held captive, people are very sympathetic the psychological effects of their imprisonment. Ironically, nobody considers the psychological effects on convicted felons after years of incarceration.
• Incarceration helps to contribute to the problem of unrehabilitated prisoners. People who have been in and out of jail never really get a chance to readjust.
• The whole probatio/ parole dilemma in which very few places to get a job because man companies refuse to hire convicted felons. They’re left with few opportunities for employment, which is a condition of their parole or probation.
• What do they teach in college? They teach you how to be a worker bee–one of the cogs in the wheel that makes the economy work. It is supposed to be an investment into a “good job” in the future.
• Credit card companies rope young people into enslavement with credit card offers and debt before they even start their first class.
• Student loans have people so saddled that it is almost unaffordable.
• The debt incurred for education is what keeps people enslaved and working jobs they hate. People know that the bank will take their house or car if they stop paying or cannot afford to pay. They keep people in the game with all the debt they carry in order to support their fancy lifestyles while living the “American Dream.”
• The purpose of the educational industrial complex is to get people into debt by enrolling students in scam programs.
• The effect of criminal records on the students’ ability to pursue certain career fields.
• Challenging the idea that more education is the solution to the socioeconomic ills of the Black community. This doesn’t address the root cause of the problem–the unequal playing field. We have to fix the system, not just how people operate within the system.
• Challenging the idea that you can live off of the debt incurred in college in exchange for a good job that will allow you to carry the debt. At some point, you’ll hit a bump and might not be able to make a payment–unexpected events or increased interest rates could be the cause.

Audio Credits:

“Holder Says OK To Kill U.S. Citizens If Tied To Terrorists” – Newsy Politics via YouTube
“No Redemption” – K-Rino

Sources:

Eric Holder asserts U.S. authority to kill citizens deemed terrorists

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