JazzboCR wrote:
You all are not reading what I wrote, but merely reflecting your personal dislike and prejudice. What I said was that not everybody's opinion has equal weight and merit. Not just here, not just in this. Does your doctor's opinion about what is ailing you (assuming you are in his/her office for a particular reason) have the same standing as a clerk in a health food store? Try reading more closely next time; it can help you to not make a fool of yourself. Case closed; game over. But do keep it coming--I'm having too much fun.
Jazz, I appreciate what you are saying, but you're looking at it the wrong way. "weight and merit" require consensus, which is itself nothing more than a limited public opinion.
Everyone has a right to have an opinion, and (at least in the USA) has the right to state it. Each of these opinions has value, regardless of the basis they are drawn upon. Yes! You can weigh them and measure them against some other value, but these actions are personal in nature, and are subjectively based upon the individual's understanding, experience and tastes.
In other words (using your example), your measure of the doctors opinion and the clerks opinion may/will be different from my measure. One may carry more 'weight' with one of us, but that would be considered a personal choice. If, on the other hand, we find that our measures agree, then we can conclude a 'merit' of the opinion. *BUT* ... who's to say that we are 'qualified' to decide that merit for other people?
To anyone that truly believes in the Bill of Rights, everyone's opinion should matter, and should be allowed to be publicly stated. As a people, we should be willing to fight to defend an individuals right to speak his opinion. And once stated, we, as a people, can vilify or sanctify it based only upon an established consensus.