Home » Richard Fernandez on the professional left

Comments

Richard Fernandez on the professional left — 20 Comments

  1. The jig is exposed but is the jig up? Even if Tea Party types trounce the Democrats in November, will they dismantle any of the Professional Left’s tools of monopoly. Eliminating a department or two… agriculture, education, HUD… all rat holes of corruption and systemic societal looting and destruction.

    We need something like the 1990s ‘Contract With America.’ I think the only thing simple enough would be to pledge to balance the budget. People would definitely go for the idea and may even be willing to allow the starvation of government programs that otherwise would be sacred cows.

    Pledge now, candidates, Balanced Budget!

  2. The most revolutionary thing in the world is to try to live your life as you want to.

    That would make a good bumper sticker.

    Seriously, we need to start thinking of ways to spread the limited-government, free-market, individual-liberty message in simple, easily digestible soundbites. For a lot of people, trying to get them to read Hayek, the Federalist Papers, or even the recent Codevilla essay just ain’t gonna work. (Heck, I haven’t even read the Federalist Papers.)

  3. We have something like the Contract with America.

    It’s known as the Contract from America

    Given the subject matter of neo’s post this bears repeating:

    “Men by their constitutions are naturally divided into two parties:

    1. Those who fear and distrust the people, and wish to draw all powers from them into the hands of the higher classes.

    2. Those who identify themselves with the people, have confidence in them, cherish and consider them as the most honest and safe, although not [always] the most wise depository of the public interests.

    In every country these two parties exist, and in every one where they are free to think, speak, and write, they will declare themselves.” —Thomas Jefferson to Henry Lee, 1824

    This is nothing new, liberty must ever be defended and occasionally with the blood of patriots.

  4. “a conveyor belt geared towards controlling admission into a cherished inner sanctum”…read C S Lewis on The Inner Circle, also his novel “That Hideous Strength,” in which the action is driven largely by the protagonist’s strong desire to be a member of that circle.

  5. One of the reasons that the Left does so well working with foreign intelligence agencies, Islamic extremists and even criminal syndicates and crooked unions is that they architectured like them.

    That’s not the only similarity. They’re all sneaky, criminal, undemocratic, and anti-American, too. The differences between them are trivial.

  6. “”That would make a good bumper sticker.””

    How about “How did we not see flower children turning into rigid tyrants?”

  7. SteveH, that is a thing that I have spent a lot of time wondering about. How did hippies grow up to be oligarchical dictators? I have seen it on a personal level too – my coworkers who used to be hippies are far and away the most rigid regimented people in the office – while still putting on a show about how tolerant and open they are. Strangely enough, they think they are unpopular in the office because no one understands them. Um, no it’s because we don’t like being ruled with an iron fist, that is why.

  8. Anna, i know the type very well. And in high school they knew the life story of every musician in every cool band. Which looking back should have been my first clue we’d be dealing with obssessive repulsive know it all kids in grown up bodies one day.

  9. Anna– imagine being a hippy, way back when, that didn’t think free love was all that great. Or thought guns were handy for something. Or that liked wearing a bra. (I know I much prefer it!)
    Imagining the sheer outrage?

    Not like the dictating is new, it’s just that they’re the ones in power, now.

  10. I think there are several stickers,something like:
    “You can’t rage against the machine when you ARE the machine.”

    “Truth to Power means unpopular targets, not the easy ones.”

    “You are your father’s generation.”

  11. anna and SteveH, yes, I have seen it too. They put on a show about how tolerant and open they are–and you aren’t. It’s always an exercise in feeling and showing superiority.

    Their tolerance, or their show of it anyway, is additionally patronizing–in some nearly indefinable way. They patronize those whom they believe (in true life), by accident of birth and culture, to be inferior. They don’t, I think, really imagine Muslims, or black Africans, or Indian Hindus, or Orientals, or any “other,” to be their equals. But they cannot comprehend that Americans, with whom they share a culture, an education (at least roughly), and a heritage, might think differently from them. They cannot comprehend that we do no see the same things when we look out of our eyes that they see when they look out of theirs. It dumbfounds me, I’ve tied my brain in not a few knots trying to figure out why it is so. But it is. They will not tolerate white Americans who think differently from them. They seem to think that, for example, a really religious, believing American cannot have a legitimate case to make. Oh, now and then one or another of them will study us as might an anthropologist, but it’s only an exercise–they really hate us, and think us not worth tolerating. But they have no trouble thinking that a Muslim can legitimately believe teen-aged daughters should be murdered for dishonoring their families–that’s what the Muslims believe, don’t you know, so it is real to them. It is simply patronizing.

    And I do not for the life of me understand it.

  12. Sorry. Left out a “close italics,” there. Golly, I wish we had a preview function! Oh well, never mind.

  13. See also this: http://tinyurl.com/26uy6z7

    These are the kinds of things that remind me of the fact that, in the old Soviet Union, political dissidents were often placed in mental hospitals.

    And then there’s also the fact that, when I read Wretchard’s post this morning (happily quoted by Neo this afternoon), I was yet again, and no doubt not for the last time, reminded of the Illuminati Trilogy: http://tinyurl.com/2dswbfy

    I know sophisticated folk are not supposed to believe in conspiracy theories. But still, one wonders sometimes. . . .

  14. Foxfier,

    LOL!!! Well, I’m about as conservative as they come, and I haven’t worn a bra in years!

  15. Amateurs vs profis: Amateurs have to keep learning and measure their actions by their effects. Profis have a piece of paper saying they know what they need to know, and they don’t worry about effects. Government by the first encourages personal growth based on life experience. It also encourages creativity because thinking outside the box is the norm. Government by the second leads to mental stagnation, both for the profis and for their underlings.

  16. Betsybounds- without getting into TMI area, let’s leave it that I wish I could, but life is much more comfortable if I don’t forgo!

    But it goes back to the lib/concerv, pro/amateurs divide that Expat mentions; most conservatives I know don’t care that you don’t wear a bra, or that my mom (double mastectomy) doesn’t wear a bra, so long as it’s not, ahem, disturbingly apparent that is the case. Even then, the most I’ve ever seen happen is a tendency to offer a jacket.

    On the other hand, I’ve been chewed out on ideological grounds for wearing comfortable foundation garments. Never mind that not doing so would effectively remove me from doing heavy *laundry*, let alone the more physical jobs I tend to do– the ideology is all. (Tried to write “idiotology.” >.

  17. The only real stronghold against usurpation of power by Professional Left is US constitution. So strategically it makes sense to concentrate efforts on defending this constitution by all possible means, including people’s right to armed rebellion against tyranny. Specter of socialism is haunting America now. To expell it, use the specter of new Revolutionary War. Just make Washington know that this option is on the table, and they will retreat.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HTML tags allowed in your comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>