Ed, Edd n Eddy

and that all knowledge is founded upon ones own experiences, I had a huge break through in what those experiences were that resulted in my political ideology.



I was a huge Ed, Edd, and Eddy cartoon fan from whenever it started to the 6th/7th grade, maybe later still. But after thinking about what kind of message that show might be giving and what my views are, I have come to this conclusion. In the case of the 3 Ed, and what they do in almost every episode, greed and schemes are put in a negative light, and it always ends badly for them and they end up with nothing or even less. The intellectual, double-d, has a great mind, but the "leader" eddy, manipulates double-d, though its mostly by some sort of physical force, to use that great intelligence to further is own greed to make a profit of just a quarter. Ed, the "dumb" laborer is always kept in the dark and there is zero effort by the capitalist eddy to further his education, but simply keeps him content with his petty desires, in his case gravy and chickens. That all explains my radical approach to money, corporations, profit over everything else, my great sympathy (*probably not the best word) for the laborer, and my urge to eliminate this concept that any action taken is ok as long as you make a profit.



Now further more, and I believe this is even earlier than Ed, Edd, and Eddy, is the cartoon Recess. This show could be what resulted in my negative views on class systems or hierarchy. And to put it over the top, it was a monarchy, king and all, with his trustee brutes and guards and army. And the main characters all had a specific skill and personality trait to contribute to making their miniature society that only existed for 30 minutes a day a better and more equal, egalitarian place.



I haven't adopted this pure empiricist view, but it does explain some important things, and that's enough for it to be looked at again some other time. The thing is, Innatism is such a tempting theory, but empiricism could explain my desire to believe this because of the frequent arguments I get in and always having to defend my values from aggressors; so, Innatism gives me the explanation that it isn't my fault I believe this, whether god put those ideas into my head, or its just how the wires were installed.



This brings me to the very important decision on whether I have no "will" in the matter, and by that of course I am implying free will, or is everything determined by the law of causality, a personal or impersonal force, or whatever else there is. On this, I have to say I am an uncommitted compatibilist, as in I do acknowledge that things have a cause, but that still doesn't mean I lack a free will. So, by this, those two shows I watched when I was young and impressionable are the cause of my views, but I freely chose, that is I wasn't forced or manipulated into agreeing with these values I have now identified.



Nothing is for certain, as I will hopefully discuss the idea that we all have a responsibility to doubt. And it was in my thought process over this concept that I came up with a totally original idea (*though, did it have a cause. Ugh) that however we evolved into possessing this great thing we call Reason (*I have a theory for this, too), in turn making us as Aristotle put it "rational animals", that Reason isn't just an ability or a tool like a sharp rock or stick that our ancestors made, but a mutual companion; a being that exists solely for us, and we are only what we are because of it. Look forward to that!