When you have all stripes of the political spectrum hating you, you know you have treated them all equally. In my world there is no room for dogma. To my detriment I also have little room for ignorance; that is, someone who claims to have knowledge but possesses very little.

Confucius wrote it first and Henry David Thoreau repeated this in his writings. ‘To know that you know what you know, and not to know what you do not know, that is true knowledge’.

Knowledge requires considered thought and critical thinking skills. Today’s general society lacks this ability. Traditional schooling along with almost all major mediums of information, ie; news, entertainment and the internet, survive primarily due to the general public’s inability to think critically. The passive acceptance of life as it is without challenging the leadership of our communities perpetuates this situation.

This all has to do with our ability to reason.

REASON - WHY THE LACK OF IT CAUSES SUCH FRUSTRATION

Reason does not mean excuse. Saying, ‘that is the reason I did that’, to excuse the action can be a partially correct concept but only when one is describing the entire thought process, the reasoning, behind the action. Logic is an integral part of reason.

Reason is the ability of comprehending, inferring, or thinking, and the use of logic. It is otherwise known as the intellect.

After many years of writing and reporting on the website TerraceDaily.ca, along with editing and approving comments appended to the compositions, I have discovered a society sadly lacking in this ability. Our political leaders may suffer the greatest as we have discovered they avoid reason at all costs.

Community members take great umbrage with the writing style, the grammar or the punctuation regarding the stories posted on the Terrace Daily. Some curse the journalistic style and others question the value of the website labelling it in demeaning terms. Few however address the topics presented with a reasoned discussion or engage in a pure debate. This is common today on almost all internet discussion groups.

The most common retort when someone desires to take issue with the subject being presented is a personal attack on the author. This is generally called an ad hominem attack.

ad hominen an attempt to negate the truth of a claim by pointing out a negative characteristic or unrelated belief of the person presenting the claim

These attacks usually side track the debate into different topics and generally end in foul language between juvenile participants having the reasoned person earlier disengaging.

Political leaders however, and this includes our Prime Minister and the Premiers of BC and Alberta, simply refuse to even acknowledge a reasoned discussion.

We write this to bring attention to the most serious and critical debates currently underway across Canada and specifically concerning the West Coast of BC with the NW Coastal Rainforests, Environment and First Nations peoples. The Premiers and Prime Ministers personally, and through their staff and offices, have refused to even acknowledge a twice sent letter. A note stating, “We have received your letter, thank-you” would have at least been respectful, yet they all refuse even that courtesy.

We wrote directly to these three important leaders in an effort to engage in a ‘reasoned’ debate; to address these serious issues in a thoughtful comprehensive manner. Not as a challenge and not in a lengthy diatribe, but in a ‘reasoned’, logical and intellectual fashion. No response after two attempts to both Premier Redford and Prime Minister Harper and a third attempt with Premier Clark through an email exchange with a communications staffer. Still not even an acknowledgement.

Maybe those who are reading this will follow the link to the first letter below and after reading it, finding it ‘reasonable’, will take a moment to re-email it, re-direct it again to these leaders. The email addresses are at the end of the letter.

If we cannot encourage our leaders to engage in reasoned debate on our societies most important issues we really are in jeopardy.

After five years of encouraging thought and discussion on the issues facing the Northwest Coastal regions of BC, having even our leadership refusing to engage in ‘reasoned’ debate, has our frustration level peaking. Therefore, in an effort to resolve this dilemma, we ask our readers to assist us.

Please take a moment and consider the following letter and the associated links. Maybe with a concerted effort we could at least get a reply addressing the issues. We ask that it be circulated widely.

The local economic development agencies would also do well to consider the issues discussed in the letter. Support for the concepts presented and a resolution of some of the issues addressed might bring a level of prosperity far greater than that envisioned with the resource projects currently on the table. Consider a new shipyard for freighter re-fits and a rail tanker fabrication plant. Consider the Northwest becoming a leader in international developments. Consider all the opposition with the wild protests and demonstrations coming to an end.

Further, a resolution to some of the issues debated would provide security for the proposed projects as well. Ignoring the seriousness of the matter will bring insecurity to the developers and international interests, therefore it is in everyone’s best interests.

Thanks for your time.

And Happy Thanksgiving.

We will take time with our families as you should with yours.

Here is the link.