Posted by DonnaNJ on 12/17/08
Last updated 12/17/08

com⋅pla⋅cen⋅cy–noun, plural -cies.

willful ignorance

(idiomatic), also called vincible ignorance is a bad faith decision to avoid becoming informed about something so as to avoid having to make undesirable decisions that such information might prompt.

One of my greatest blessings and curses in life has been my insatiable need to analyze things. I cannot take anything at face value and oftentimes research a subject that I am interested in, to the extreme. This is how I was taught to approach arguments, though. I was taught that you cannot believe everything you read, so I tried to read as much as I could and base my educated opinions on common underlying themes, separating the facts from opinion as best as I could.

In my personal quest to obtain knowledge, I have often been viewed as overly-analytical, bordering on OCD. That's fine. I can take it. I am not a proponent of "ignorance is bliss", so I have made a life-long commitment to be as educated as I possibly can be, while being open to new thoughts and ideas when they are logically presented. In my quest, I have come across a phenomenon that I am having trouble qualifying. I hear many people complaining about the conditions in which they live - too much taxation, too much government, not enough social benefits, too little government, and the list goes on. I watch very intelligent people blindly stand behind and defend a particular political party or candidate, to the point where they will not listen to logic or reason, because the ideologies of those particular parties have been so ingrained in their thought processes. I confess I was one of those people once. I was a staunch Republican, so I thought, and I was brought up with opinions that that was the only good governing party. The Democrats would just tax you to death and throw the money away on inefficient government programs. I started to really examine what my beliefs truly were, and why, during this past election. I determined that I am a Republican that does not exist anymore, so to associate myself with the Republican Party, as it stands today, is a sham. When I figured this out, I was fortunate enough to have a friend who was involved in the Campaign for Liberty and was throwing out important issues that neither major party was addressing. I always knew that I was not pleased with the choices I had in the elective process, but I did not quite understand WHY I felt that way. I have found out that I felt that way because nothing has materially changed, no matter who was in control in Washington. The public has been carefully molded to focus on questions that are not pertinent to getting us back to the true power we once were. You can promise to redistribute the wealth all you want, but if we continue to treat our deficit like the elephant in the room and continue to bailout failing businesses and presenting taxpayer money like it’s the main course of a buffet line, you won't have to redistribute wealth, because we will all be poor. I have made an effort to discuss these concepts with people in various public settings - home, social gatherings, work, and forum friends - and I have been struck by a very scary, yet common theme: people do not WANT to ask the questions, because they seem to think the answers are too complex for them to comprehend. They tell me that “this stuff is too complex” or “I was never good at economics”, etc. This frightens me on so many levels, not the least of which is the fact that these same people are voting and perpetuating the same ineffective two-party system that has been failing abysmally for years. In one forum, I actually suggested starting a reading group, where people could share ideas and intelligently argue points, so that we could collectively become more informed. I don't endorse one-sided arguments, so I wanted people with different views to join. My philosophy is that I don't have all the answers, so if I am presented with information that does not jibe with my beliefs, I am forced to do one of two things. I could either research that viewpoint and see where the argument fails, or realize that it does not fail and I have been mistaken. I don't mind being wrong, but I mind being misinformed, so I feel I win either way. Well, to make a long story short, the experiment failed terribly. It wasn’t a slight against me personally – I have a lot of friends there – they just felt that politics and economics were too out of their leagues and that they could not intelligently discuss them. I find it funny, when the whole purpose of the thread was to actually help people become more educated, through sharing of ideas and interaction. In fact, I was gently reprimanded by asking if we could “dumb it down a bit”. I wish I could say that this was an isolated case, but I see examples of this desire to bury our heads in the sand all around me. It is very disheartening.

So all of these realizations made me wonder – is the typical person complacent, or is s/he willfully ignorant? Either answer is distressing. How do you combat either one? Is it a mixture of both? Probably, and, if so, where does one start to reverse this phenomenon? How do you get people to stop thinking about what the government and the media wants to put on the agenda and start asking the questions that really do need to be answered? How do we engage our senators and congressmen so that we are heard and they actually respond to those of us who are trying to make effective changes? How do we stop the canned responses we get when we do make the effort to write to a representative and, instead, get a real and open discourse with these people? It is my belief that these are the questions we need to answer, as a group, if we are to succeed in making changes to the status quo. People tend to dislike or fear change and have even less of an inclination to create change when they feel powerless and uneducated on various issues. Many people express dissatisfaction but do not make any earnest attempt to become more involved in their local and federal representation. It is easier to go on with daily life and let the “professionals” take care of “all that other stuff”. Well, we can see how well the ‘professionals” have been doing. Perhaps it is time for all Americans to pull their heads out of the sand and realize that the Powers That Be only make things seem more complex than they truly are. I’m employed in the financial industry and, though I am not an economist, I don’t truly believe that the typical senator or congressman knows any more about economic policies than I do. They need to be advised, just like we do, so there is no reason we can’t become more involved. Involvement and understanding are what will let us know if a plan is working or able to work. However, there is a method to their madness. Keep people quiet by confusing or confounding them. Make it seem like you know more than they do and that they should defer to your “expertise” and “wisdom”. I can’t allow that for myself. I won’t allow it. The heart of these issues is not complex and, if we become more educated and ask the right questions, we have a much better chance of succeeding in bringing back liberty the way our Forefathers saw it, with limited external involvement from the government and a move away from debilitating debt. If they see we are not sheep, but are instead knowledgeable and, thus, powerful individuals, they cannot continue to ignore our demands. These representatives need to be reminded that they are public servants, not prom kings and queens. The office should not be viewed as a prize they have won which can now be held aloft; it should be viewed as an opportunity to work for the protection of their citizens’ rights. Not just for the current generation, but by implementing plans that will protect future ones as well. The seat has become more important than the people that the seat represents. That is a travesty. That is what we need to change. We are responsible for our inaction as much as our actions.

Posted 12/17/08 Edward Hipps Langhorne, PA

ummm...that's a pretty good "first" blog D. : D I also had no idea you were told nicely to "dumb it down". Yikes. I don't think you'll be told that here.

Posted 12/17/08 camoe Lafayette, CO

I've thought the same and think that complacency and ignorance are a good part of it. I think some can see what is going on, and do so from time to time, and choose to remain apathetic. Why, well for some it's pretty depressing. Once you start learning how far our country has changed, well, it's pretty sad. The allusions to the "red pill/blue pill" in the Matrix are spot on. Some people just want to stay asleep. Ignorance is truly bliss for many. Lastly, I thnk that alot of people are just too lazy to learn some of this and some are just not capable. There are some people who's minds just turn off when the words, "Federal Reserve" come up. The programming that we need to fight through is immense. Great post BTW and I appreciate your ability to critically contemplate contrasting views. We need more of that.

Posted 12/18/08 camoe Lafayette, CO

I've thought the same and think that complacency and ignorance are a good part of it. I think some can see what is going on, and do so from time to time, and choose to remain apathetic. Why, well for some it's pretty depressing. Once you start learning how far our country has changed, well, it's pretty sad. The allusions to the "red pill/blue pill" in the Matrix are spot on. Some people just want to stay asleep. Ignorance is truly bliss for many. Lastly, I thnk that alot of people are just too lazy to learn some of this and some are just not capable. There are some people who's minds just turn off when the words, "Federal Reserve" come up. The programming that we need to fight through is immense. Great post BTW and I appreciate your ability to critically contemplate contrasting views. We need more of that.

Posted 12/27/08 wrdiii lebanon, NJ

Very well put. I think most people are more concerned with "what about me?" than "what ever happened to America?" They watch tv and relate to it too well, When the news comes on they catch the weather and sports. People I know worry about their kids but not the right issues. They worry about collage but not the kids paying off the federal dept., someone shooting up the school but not a war on terror, new team uniforms but not catching mersa from the turf playing fields... I have found that the "average corporate person goofed off plenty and all seems to have worked out, so why worry now? I have also found most blue collar people goofed off plenty and now have to work and feel they got a bad deal, so any hand out is earned/deserved. It is a bad combanation that won't be easy to change. Maybe a strong ressecion is what is needed to put peoples pespective into "proper" pespective. This has become a nation of "wanters" no doers or earners. We all want a 6000 sf house and a new big car and everything else we don't need. When we become a nation of people who want any car, food and a house that is cheap to heat we will be on the right track. Good blog, Keep up the good work.