It is better to be paranoid than ignorant

In closing I will respond to a few comments and then repeat and affirm the opening position. "Ignorance can be tied to apathy and the above poem shows the problem with this." Ignorance is in no way tied to apathy. We live in a time where even the most ignorant of us has an education and general wealth of knowledge that had we lived even a short time ago we would have out shined intellectual giants. Just consider now that even high school students now learn advanced mathematics which allow them to solve problems that stumped recent genius polymaths such as Issac Newton. It is a simple fact of modern life, and will be only more so in years to come, that we have to choose more and more the things which we set aside and are ignorant of and those areas we focus on and excel, again it is just a consequence of the vast amount of knowledge that we have discovered as a species. Thus ignorance is just a choice, it is a rational, reason and informed choice. Just as a modern lawyer will focus and excel in one area, and you don't ask a local civil residential construction lawyer to defend you in an international criminal trial - everyone has to choose what they will learn and what they will abandon, or otherwise live in a state where they are infantile about almost everything - hardly productive. "In regards to the Weavers, if they had abided by the law, they wouldn't have gotten as much trouble initially. However, they would have had everything stripped away gradually." A wonderful assertion, but is there any proof? As a counter example, had I been pulled over by the cops and arrested for selling two sawed off shot guns then I would have not resisted and simply followed procedure. Once released I would have called a few friends of mine, one of which is a senior associate in an international law firm, another is very well experience in gun laws as an owner and international sport shooter (over 30 years of shooting) and another who has a substantial share in a local newspaper. With this only partial list of close associates I would have prepared for and defeated any trumped up charges (minimized the consequences of any real ones) and through other extended friends been able to handle any consequences to my career/family while under taking this defense. And I have this rich circle of friends because unlike Weaver who retreated from society because of a paranoid fear of a coming apocalypse I embrace it and have a stable and functional social network. "How it ended up just proves that Randy Weaver was correct about the corruption of the government." Again, just an assertion without proof. What actually happened when he did actually comply and use due process? He was able to take those individuals who acted unjustly, who are not the "whole government" (which was not out to get him), to task and demand compensation for being treated unfairly. That is what a rational person would have done right from the beginning, but Weaver was not rational, he was an insane paranoid delusional man who endangered himself, his family and law enforcement. "While my opponent keeps bringing up that paranoia is a fear of everything, I would like to remind him that ignorance is not caring or knowing about actual dangers." Ignorance has nothing to do with not caring, note the definition noted in the OP. I have no knowledge of the vast conspiracies of the type which dominated Weaver. I do not sit and consider all the people who could be out to get me, or conspiracies of any type. However, by the fact that I am sane, that I am rational, and that my lack of paranoia has allowed me to create a rich and strong social network of friends, colleagues and associates - I am in a far better position if an actual danger does surface than an insane paranoid like Weaver. In closing being paranoid is a type of insanity, it is a break from reality where one devotes a substantial part of ones life to preparing for imaginary dangers. This becomes such a consuming part of the life of such people that like Weaver they exclude themselves from society and if even a minor stress comes into their lives they imagine apocalyptic threats and as they have no one to turn to they retreat further and lash out even at the people who are trying to help them, such as the people trying to mediate a peaceful solution with Weaver. This is in no way helpful, it creates dangers where they do not exist.