wilful ignorance

I call it willful ignorance, and it's much like what happens to the frog in hot water, but you can't blame an animal with an IQ of under 7. You can, however, blame humans, most of which have an IQ well over 7.

The frog in question will, if dropped in boiling water, immediately leap out. The same frog placed in cool water that is gradually warmed to boiling, will simply sit there, unaware of its impending doom.

As the various problems in our society become crises, the public just sits in that national tub of warming water, ignoring the signs around them. Crises, what crises?  A short list would include foreign policy, domestic politics, the economy, education, outmoded religious notions, the environment and public discourse. And that was the very short list.

Anyone who has been forced to confront even a smattering of history can see that a society that follows unsustainable social policies ends up on the trash heap of history. Quite likely, as in our society, most people were totally taken by surprise when everything suddenly came down around their ears.

People believe, without thinking about it, that we can continue to pollute our water and still have water to drink, that we can starve education and still have a creative, dynamic work force, that we can neglect our infrastructure and still have active trade, that we can cling to antiquated religious notions and still not descend into barbarism, that we can continue to trust one or the other major political parties to fix things, when neither have had a workable solution in years, that we can continue to make war when there is no money to pay for it or that we can continue to spend without going broke.

Unfortunately, most people don't want to hear this. When someone tries to break through the insulation of willful ignorance, they put their fingers in their ears and shout, "Lalalalala." 

This attitude probably wouldn't bother me as much if I were not in the same leaky boat with these folks.