JayMan · @JayMan471
5th Jun 2015 from TwitLonger
Here's currently accepted social doctrine in America
Here's currently accepted social doctrine in America (and many other Western countries, for that matter):
*The primary causes of social inequality are lack of opportunity and various other advantages/disadvantages individuals encounter in life.
*Little is accepted to be inherited, and of those things, they are mostly things like appearance and height or the like, never behavior or intelligence, and all of these things can be shaped by upbringing/experience anyway.
*In fact, how people turn out is primarily due to how they were raised, and whatever influences their parents exposed them to or whatever discipline their parents applied or failed to apply.
*One's political views or religious inklings all come down to one's life circumstances, or, at best, the region in which they live/grow up.
*Poverty and broken homes are the primary causes of crime, drug use, and delinquency.
*Poor people are poor because they grew up suffering the aforementioned things, or because they haven't been given enough opportunities in life.
*Rich people are rich because of they've been handed everything in their lives, and having been given the best opportunities including the best private schools and the best college educations, they perpetuate the cycle of privilege.
*The above reasons are why wealth or destitution seem to run in families.
*Group differences are entirely caused by how individuals in each were brought up and other forms of social conditioning.
*Following the above, all differences between racial or ethnic groups are entirely due to "culture" or at best, a legacy of discrimination and victimization.
*Sex differences end at plumbing. Whatever sex differences there are, they're only the ones that make women look better than men in all relevant circumstances.
*Women earn ~75 cents on the dollar compared to men, and aren't found in senior leadership positions, and this is entirely because of discrimination and a workplace/society that doesn't value women/is actively conspiring to keep them down.
*While little to nothing is biologically inherited (and whatever little is lends itself to environmental manipulation), one thing that is absolutely 100% genetic and inborn is sexual orientation. Of course this can be no other way.
*Since sex (or more precisely, the ultimately superfluous concept of "gender") is a social construct, one change one's sex at will, and doctors and surgeons can make the appropriate changes possible. (However, oddly, no one thinks it's possible to change to become a race other than that one was biologically born.)
*One's health and lifespan are primarily due to one's diet and exercise habits.
*Inequalities in health outcomes are due to the poor habits of certain people, but sometimes isn't their fault because of "food deserts" or lack of information on healthy eating/exercise habits. Alternatively, some people are just too undisciplined to eat right/exercise so bring their health woes on themselves.
*Better education is the key to alleviating social ills and erasing (or at least reducing) social inequality. This because education needs improvement due either to a lack of funding or bad teachers. Alternatively, this is due to a lack of strong moral fiber in our classrooms and homes
Here's the thing: every one of these is DEMONSTRABLY FALSE. They're all bullshit. Yet, these are the official doctrine/assumptions in society (with some modulation depending on what side of the political spectrum you're on). All mainstream discourse proceeds from the viewpoint that these are correct. Yet you have people like me who know that they are hokum to boldface lies. You can imagine the difficulty I face just turning on a news broadcast.