Get educated, and eat all the jelly beans

By Letter to the Editor on December 28, 2017.

Re: “Politics 101: Governments should always encourage self-reliance,” Dec. 18

The writer labours under a faulty definition of identity politics. He declares that it is governments that engage in identity politics. Wikipedia declares that “Identity politics are used by minority and civil rights organizations to form a coalition with members of the majority.”

The writer declares “You see, we are too uneducated and unintelligent to run our own lives or spend our own money wisely,” and that therefore governments must do these things for us. While this remark is facetious, if the two words “and unintelligent” are removed, this statement is true. Provincial governments make a effort to ensure children and adolescents receive an education which focuses on how to think, not an indoctrination which focuses on what to think. Citizens have an obligation to continue to educate themselves their entire lives which unfortunately not enough of us do. This is precisely where all our problems arise. Identity politics, a concept of political science, not to mention the concepts of economics, psychology, neuroscience, biology, the earth and space sciences, medicine and health, philosophy, sociology and history are dangerously misunderstood. Anyone who can read can get a pretty good grip on some of these subjects by putting Google to good use.

If more of us had a solid grip on the nature of the universe and the people who live in it, the requirement for government would be much reduced.

If three jelly beans in 1,000 are faulty and we love jelly beans, we should use science to determine which ones are misguided, use science to make them whole again and then enjoy them all.

Fred Lewis

Medicine Hat

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