• Dr. Wesker@lemmy.sdf.org
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    9 months ago

    Define enlightened. I think people might be more informed in certain cases, but not more enlightened.

    • Daft_ish@lemmy.worldOP
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      9 months ago

      Not the definition but an historical definition.

      A philosophical movement of the 1700s that emphasized the use of reason to scrutinize previously accepted doctrines and traditions and that brought about many humanitarian reforms.

        • The Dark Lord ☑️@lemmy.ca
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          9 months ago

          I disagree. We’ve had many political revolutions overthrowing leaders, religion has been on a heavy decline, and most people accept that science or basic logic is the most important element in an argument, not authority.

          We just see so many people NOT doing that, and we hate it. We live in a world where the person doing the stupidest thing that day makes the front page, and we’re enlightened enough to critique it.

          Stupid people will always exist. The idea that we hear about them more now and we hate them for it actually proves we’ve become more enlightened.

            • The Dark Lord ☑️@lemmy.ca
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              9 months ago

              Of America, not of the world. Believe it or not, there are so many other people in the world outside of America.

              Also, look at the presidents of the past. America has had many pro-slavery Presidents. Trump was awful, but he wasn’t even the worst President. The fact that so many people felt he was awful also shows that America has progressed.

              But back to my first point, you’re looking at a country of 350m out of 8 billion people in the world. The world has moved on from so many of the things that the US continues to struggle with. As a people, we’ve advanced much further than we’ve been in the past.

              Edit: wrote a “k” not an “m” for America’s population.

              • z00s@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                “Other people were worse” has never been a good argument, much leas for presidents.

                350k?

                The far right is on the rise all across the world, not just the US.

                He was voted in by the people, ergo, the majority is not enlightened.

              • im sorry i broke the code@sh.itjust.works
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                9 months ago

                Counterpoints:

                • china, Russia and the whole clusterfuck that is Middle East are a thing;
                • The far right is on the rise throughout all of Europe.;
                • Polarisation of public discourse is now the norm;
                • idiomaddict@feddit.de
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                  9 months ago

                  100 years ago, the only one of those that was better was possibly the Middle East, depending on where. The Chinese and Russian populations are significantly less oppressed and more educated than they were 100 years ago, which doesn’t minimize what they’re currently going through, but 1924 was not a good year for Russia or China