Non-Sequiturs - How We Are All Controlled In England recently there was a story about a woman who lost her licence to sell alcohol because there were too many motorcyclists congregating at her bar, and that there “may” have been an accident. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/shropshire/4631429.stm The response to this has been amazing, there has been support from all over the country. This is good, because it means people are spotting the thing we are talking about. In this situation, the police are taking a fact and using it to take action which is totally irrelevant to this fact, i.e. they are punishing an innocent land lady because her customers are motorcyclists. They have no grounds on which to base their actions, just something made up to justify it. Hooded tops have recently been banned from many public places, because apparently it “advocates unruly behaviour”. These kinds of rules do nothing but give the police more power and/or paperwork. It is pitiful that we live in a society where these petty and prejudice ideas are enforced. The problem with them is that they hold no substance – they are not based on any constitution or basic rule of society. They exist purely outside the realms of common sense. Let me illustrate. If you make up a rule that addresses a group of people in particular, you most likely incorporate people from other walks of life that are totally innocent. For example, the ban on hooded tops is an attempt to stop antisocial behavior from unruly teenagers. However, surely if the rule is to be taken as written, (which if it isn’t, then it’s a worthless rule that has no grounds) then Muslim women who hide their faces should be included. That’s only fair though, right? You can’t discriminate when you’re talking about a law. These two stories are examples of non sequiturs. Remember that phrase because it is important. Here is its definition courtesy of dictionary.com:
1. An inference or conclusion that does not follow from the premises
or evidence. In this situation, action is being taken on something that has absolutely nothing to do with the problem. Hooded tops do not make people unruly, they are just an attribute of some of the guilty people. It is also an attribute of some innocent people, who are made to suffer at the expense of this ridiculous rule, whilst the problem itself is not properly addressed. I could give you a million examples of non sequiturs right now. There is an article called The Death of Common Sense here that details some huge ones that have happened over the past few years. Learn to spot them, because they are everywhere. People can and have tricked you using them. It happens a lot in emotional blackmail. “Don’t punish me dad I love you” might sound familiar to some of you. What has love got to do with what your child just did wrong? See – even kids do it! Teachers do it, preachers do it, children do it, the police do it, politicians and the media do it like it’s going out of fashion. The people to watch are those who hold some authority. They will hold on to their power by justifying it with non sequiturs. At the same time they will be controlling you. Let’s put a stop to all this “nonsense”. Don’t stand for non-sequiturs. Make sure that what people say and do, and especially demand of you, has a logical premise. If you spot any non sequiturs, either in your own personal life, or the media, politics, or education, we are making it our mission to broadcast them to the masses in order to stop their spread. Please post them at our forum http://www.poweressence.com/forum for the world to see! Our new E-book EVOLVE contains a large section full of examples of non-sequiturs that currently affect our society and our lives. Read EVOLVE to see exactly the huge damage these are doing to our world (far more than any war), and the amazing implications of eradicating them! |