We cannot allow ourselves to be ruled by our emotions
The more I’ve thought about the mess in Michigan and Florida, I begin to understand why some people feel those states must be given a chance to revote. It’s because they are allowing themselves to be swayed by their emotional reaction to the situation.
“It’s not fair that the people of Michigan and Florida won’t have their votes counted,” I’ve heard people say. “The DNC shouldn’t be able to disenfranchise the voters of those states,” others have said. An initial reaction like this is understandable, because they come from an emotional place within a person. The idea of someone being treated unfairly triggers an emotional response in most people (decent people, anyway). It’s easy to do, as we simply imagine our self in the place of a voter in Michigan or Florida. How would we feel if our vote wasn’t going to be counted? We wouldn’t be happy about it.
Our society becomes a very dangerous place when we allow ourselves to be governed by our emotions, rather than by logic and reason. Of course, we are human animals, so emotions will always play a part in our lives. But we must not allow our emotions to make decisions for us. We must instead use reason, fact, and logic.
If everyone could look at the situation in Michigan and Florida with logic and reason, I find it difficult to believe that many would still feel that it is wrong to not seat the delegates from those states.
By using reason and logic, everyone should understand how important it is to have rules. Without rules, we have no government. Instead, we have anarchy. Along with rules comes the penalties for breaking them. Without penalties for breaking the rules, some (and often many) people would not follow the rules when it did not suit them. Again, this leads to anarchy. Rules are the most important aspect of a civil society. The Constitution is nothing more than a set of rules. It is the most important set of rules we have.
If you agree that rules are the most important aspect in our society, and without them our society turns to chaos, then I think it is easy to understand the logic in the argument that Michigan and Florida, just like the other 48 states, must follow the rules set out by the DNC.
A rule was broken, and in a civil society, we have punishments for breaking rules. If we do not, the rules become meaningless. They become only suggestions or recommendations. How would it sound to say “We, the society, suggest you do not speed” or “We, the society, recommend you do not kill anyone”? Any reasonable person would say that is absurd, and they would be correct. The rules must mean something, and in order for them to mean something, there must be a consequence if they are broken.
So, using logic and reason, we see that rules are the most important aspect to our society, and that there must be punishment for breaking the rules. Michigan and Florida broke the rules, and therefore they must be punished for doing so. It really is that simple.
If people can divorce themselves from their emotional reaction over the situation, and look at it with logic and reason, I believe any reasonable person will come to the same conclusion.
“It’s not fair that the people of Michigan and Florida won’t have their votes counted,” I’ve heard people say. “The DNC shouldn’t be able to disenfranchise the voters of those states,” others have said. An initial reaction like this is understandable, because they come from an emotional place within a person. The idea of someone being treated unfairly triggers an emotional response in most people (decent people, anyway). It’s easy to do, as we simply imagine our self in the place of a voter in Michigan or Florida. How would we feel if our vote wasn’t going to be counted? We wouldn’t be happy about it.
Our society becomes a very dangerous place when we allow ourselves to be governed by our emotions, rather than by logic and reason. Of course, we are human animals, so emotions will always play a part in our lives. But we must not allow our emotions to make decisions for us. We must instead use reason, fact, and logic.
If everyone could look at the situation in Michigan and Florida with logic and reason, I find it difficult to believe that many would still feel that it is wrong to not seat the delegates from those states.
By using reason and logic, everyone should understand how important it is to have rules. Without rules, we have no government. Instead, we have anarchy. Along with rules comes the penalties for breaking them. Without penalties for breaking the rules, some (and often many) people would not follow the rules when it did not suit them. Again, this leads to anarchy. Rules are the most important aspect of a civil society. The Constitution is nothing more than a set of rules. It is the most important set of rules we have.
If you agree that rules are the most important aspect in our society, and without them our society turns to chaos, then I think it is easy to understand the logic in the argument that Michigan and Florida, just like the other 48 states, must follow the rules set out by the DNC.
A rule was broken, and in a civil society, we have punishments for breaking rules. If we do not, the rules become meaningless. They become only suggestions or recommendations. How would it sound to say “We, the society, suggest you do not speed” or “We, the society, recommend you do not kill anyone”? Any reasonable person would say that is absurd, and they would be correct. The rules must mean something, and in order for them to mean something, there must be a consequence if they are broken.
So, using logic and reason, we see that rules are the most important aspect to our society, and that there must be punishment for breaking the rules. Michigan and Florida broke the rules, and therefore they must be punished for doing so. It really is that simple.
If people can divorce themselves from their emotional reaction over the situation, and look at it with logic and reason, I believe any reasonable person will come to the same conclusion.
posted by Matt Compton at 1:11 AM
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