The older I get and the more skeptical I become.
I already wrote about this topic a few months ago, but in view of what is happening in the world, I think that it is worth repeating.
A skeptic is a person who is not easily convinced, and I am such a person. I am indeed a doubting Thomas.
I want the proof by A + B that what I read is accurate (and makes sense) before accepting it. “Creationism” for instance does not make any sense to me.
Russia sending 300 “humanitarian” trucks to Ukraine doesn’t make sense either.
According to the Wall Street Journal:
“At the site where the vehicles are parked, Russian officials showed reporters the contents of the trucks, some of which are apparently military vehicles with green paint showing through a fresh white layer. The trucks were in many cases only partly filled with items such as buckwheat, baby food and sleeping bags.”
Russian citizens will of course accept Moscow’s “humanitarian” version as the only truth, just as Ferguson’s citizenry will accept the cold killing of an unarmed teenager as gospel truth.
The real truth is more nuanced than that. A video clip recently released shows the victim robbing a grocery store and shoving a grocery clerk; this clearly establishes that he is no angel.
There is of course absolutely no excuse for gunning down an unarmed person, but it illustrates the fact that no one should rush to judgment.
Nobody knows for sure what exactly happened in polarized Ferguson and I don’t believe that there are any “impartial” witnesses.
If the cop is guilty as charged, he should be prosecuted, but “protest” demonstrations turning into looting mobs do not shed a very positive light on the protesters.
And if there is to be outrage and demonstrations for a single killing, where is the world outrage (especially the Muslim outrage) against Islamic fanatics for murdering thousands of people worldwide and taking their women in slavery?
The world is strangely silent about this.
The truth is not easy to obtain and it will often emerge months or years after the facts.
So again, do not rush to judgment.
Today you should view everything you hear or read with a very healthy dose of skepticism.
Beware of people who promise you extravagant returns on your investments.
Beware of demagogues. Beware of clerics. Beware of politicians. Beware of screaming headlines.
“The skeptic does not mean him who doubts, but him who investigates or researches, as opposed to him who asserts and thinks that he has found.”
Miguel de Unamuno (Spanish Author and Philosopher, 1864-1936)
Do not believe what you want to believe!
Believe what is reasonably believable.
And take everything you hear with a (big) spoonful of salt.
Cynically yours,
Alain