Degrees

Radical elements of every society disrupt millions of people with acts of violence. The thoughts, feelings, expressions, and distorted realities of these individuals have been flamed by the media, drum beaters, and self-proclaimed leaders of the groups formed around the belief that is the systems of organized government that are the cause of what is wrong with their life and the condition of the world.

Observing the truth about the place of these individuals in the history of humans, it is evident they have always existed in very small %'s of populations on every continent. It is not surprising that they exist because in analysis of beliefs amongst humans there is a disparate specturm of thinking from "left to right" everywhere. The significance of this particular slice of humans, is that their behavior is so extreme and violent that they stand out as the biggest threat to the peace and well being of the rest.

Let's not move away from this reality without pointing out a fact. Sarah Palin has posted on her websites images of rifle sitings, actual cross hairs aimed at the cities and towns on the map of America where she believes there are political servants who deserve to be targeted for their beliefs and votes in Congress. This is the kind of irresponsible action that influences the decisions of assassins and should be illegal and prosecuted as an act of violence.

If you think that America is built on a Constitution that allows, even permits this kind of action under the heading of freedom of speech, than you need to read more, study more, and learn more about the men that wrote the Constitution, know more about what motivated them to be on this continent, where they came from, what those times were about, what was happening in the towns of the early settlements, what they learned in school, in church, and from their families. When you get your degree in History, and have read the biographies of Washington, Jefferson and 10 other of the circle of leaders from 1770, report back about what they were setting out to do in the "New World".

The word "degree" has many meanings. It is a recognition of completing a course of study. Used in forms of measurement, it can be how far in one direction or another is the temperature, an angle in math, and/or the torque of a wrench. It is steps in a process, like degree of difficulty. Relative intensity is measured by a high degree of accuracy. A specific division of crime might be murder in the second degree. As a classification of the severity of an injury, doctors will treat a third-degree burn. A skilled practitioner is said to have a high degree of competence.

Education is vital for humans to be productive and to live peacefully and in harmony with the planet and each other. The further the pendulum swings toward a planet with an ever smaller percentage of people with fresh water and an ever larger population of 7 billion people in which billions of living beings do not have vegetation, are exposed to filth and disease, and are not able to fend for themselves, the more mornings we will tune into reports of chaos, mayhem, and get ever closer to collapse.

Oh, by the way, Mother Earth cares little about these issues. It is going through its own changes and periods of ice ages, earthquakes, violent tornadoes, etc. all in response to the forces bottled up below the crust and the Sun flares, meteors, and celestial events that make what humans do seem beyond trivial.