This post has been sitting in the queue since before Thanksgiving. My fiance and I drove to Washington for the holiday, and the Cult was forced to languish. So be it ... the Greeks would understand.
The ancient Greeks had a word: Polis. Today, some motorcycle enthusiasts are injecting the substance into their discussions about bikes. Over at The Kneeslider, Paul Crowe* asks a question and immediately answers it in the same pargraph:
Is it possible to look at electric motorcycles or any similar technology without immediately assessing the political motivations of the builders, supporters or critics? We can discuss whether they are practical without getting political.
Most of the commenters agree. But there are those who don't:
I know you want to keep the discussion civilized and focus on motorcycles, but the belief that our consumer choices are not political is absurd. The decisions we make as consumers have much farther-reaching implications than the decisions we make as voters. Vote with your wallet to ensure the type of world you want to live in; if you continually buy from companies that screw their workers by moving to a cheaper labour market, screw their consumers by abandoning product support when it is no longer profitable, and screw everybody by engaging in environmentally destructive business practices, do not be surprised when you get screwed.
Also:
Now I do not argue that politics should be included here at TheKneeslider.
But it is important to note that American politics has sunk below rationality and is often the deliberate sowing of falsity in an attempt to override facts with emotion, delude as many people as possible, and thus affect what happens in Washington. It is not sound politics. It is a cynical, low strategy bleeding out into areas of our life where it shouldn’t be. And one has to speak up (civilly) when the b.s. that passes for politics and entered into our lives is used to refute what is not political.
As for me, I like discussing politics (but not with my family). What do you think?
* I don't know Paul Crowe, and I don't frequent the Kneeslider, but it appears that Paul is THE Kneeslider.
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