What does it mean to be open-minded? Are all philosophies equally valid? Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong all had philosophies but millions of people died as a result. I would assert that some philosophies are demonstrably false and others outright destructive. The validity of morality and economics, like mathematics, is determined by the application of basic principles. These are the tools one must use to make sense of a world of conflicting ideologies. Principles must be universalizable, reproducible, and logical for them to be valid. They are not contingent upon feelings, emotions, the weather, religion, age, place of birth, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. This would place them in the category of beliefs.

Most action originates from thought. All the wealth that has been created was first the incorporeal contemplation of an intrepid individual who dared to imagine a better world. It takes supreme courage to proclaim, “I want to improve the world for my brothers and sisters by serving them!” The power of ideas can never be underestimated. It is only by the steady refinement of our intellect that civilization has been conceivable. Celebrate the principles and ideas that have made progress possible, nay inevitable!

If you do not stand for something, you will fall for anything.

Malcolm X

Do not be so open-minded that your brains fall out.

G.K. Chesterton

Hold Your Principles Dear – Steemit

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