Stances & Statements
TRUTH / KNOWLEDGE - Part 4
Transparency / Information Suppression
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Philosophy
Philosophy is a major foundation of Utopian Survivalism, as we are constantly pursuing truth, the nature of our universe, and our purpose and place within it. We encourage everyone to take the time to explore philosophy and think like a philosopher. There is a wealth of great wisdom from those of the past, Stoicism in particular has been a great influence on our Utopian virtues, as you will see in the Principles section with many quotes from stoics such as Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus.
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Transparency / Information Suppression
Information is sometimes withheld from the public for reasons that are socially responsible, but in many cases a lack of transparency is a result of selfish and unethical reasons. In regard to omitting information for socially beneficial reasons, a main issue with transparency comes down to the simple idea that some people cannot handle the truth. While some people may have emotional trauma or an incredible anger when informed about certain truths, other people who do not take proper responsibility over themselves, will take that information, and use it to harm others. Knowledge is power, and unfortunately, power is often misused. While we support the idea of general transparency, education, science, discovery, and pursuit of greater knowledge, with the goal of finding the ultimate truth if that even exists. One must be responsible in how information is disseminated among the public. While debatable, a potential example of irresponsible use of information might be the Anarchist Cookbook. While the author’s intentions may have been in the right place, and perhaps led to positive outcomes like providing the information to assist with developing a defensive strategy for an oppressed people to fight a corrupt government, it also certainly led to people who were unwell using the information for committing senseless acts of violence.
With this being said, it’s not surprising that governments suppress information on many subjects, with an emphasis on advanced technology. When trying to keep this knowledge/power from adversaries, it goes without saying it is best to keep it out of the hands of the public, who to this day still have problems being responsible with alcohol, driving cars, and guns, among other freedoms.
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The News
It’s good to be informed and in the habit of regularly reading and or watching the news. Whatever your news sources are, they should be credible ones. Ideally, you will draw from several news sources. An example, in my opinion, of a respectable source of current information, is that of google news, which draws news reports from many sources, such as BBC news, NBC news, Associated Press, etc. Of course, there are sources of news that have no business providing such an important public service, as they are largely biased opinions with political agendas, such as Fox News, which has been a complete disgrace to news and journalism since its inception. Some people avoid watching the news to avoid seeing the negative events that are happening in the world, and that is understandable, but one must not have their head in the sand so to speak. If possible, find ways of being informed of what is happening in the world while still respecting your emotional and mental health.
Communication
As human beings we communicate in a number of ways, verbally with language, written language, body language, art and expression, as well as other forms of communication. The main idea of communication is to take our thoughts and feelings and organize them in a way that can be understood by others. Human communication has been essential to our success as a species. We must work at being good communicators, with speaking, writing, listening, and general communication skills so that we can have a better understanding of our world and the people in our lives. Miscommunications between people can cause significant problems and are a great example of how important it is to learn and practice good communication skills.