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The Condescension Explosion
The very idea of condescension has always filled me with disgust. Actually, rage is probably the better word. The very idea that someone thought he was better than me, and would therefore feel all warm inside, by telling me what I can and cannot do, was not likely a prescription that was guaranteed to keep my blood pressure under control.
You can say the whole Leftist idea is one of condescension. These people really do think they are better than others. They are the anointed ones, the “experts,” who know how society should be run for the benefit of all.
I think the most appalling type of condescension is when the Left uses it on groups. Wasn’t it Harry Reid who speculated that if you are Hispanic you can’t possibly be a Republican? Or how about when the left takes black people for granted, that every one, or nearly every one, will vote Democrat? I just read a piece the other day, about my state, New Jersey, quoting a black pastor, who is voting for the Republican because the incumbent Democrat, Bob Menendez, never comes by his church, except at election time, maybe not even then.
Now, the condescenders are fixing their gaze on women. This is why I titled this essay the way I did. I think the Left is really scared that people are on to the act. But they can’t help themselves. Condescension is in their DNA. So, they double-down, using the convenience of this woman, Christine Ford, coming forth, to try and get half the population on their side.
Look, I do not know what happened to Mrs. Ford. I think something did happen to her. Watching her testimony, it is clear to me that she is troubled, and has been for a long time. That, and the fact that she is on the Left, makes it easy for her to think that Kavanaugh should not be on the Court.
While I do not know what the deal is with this woman, I feel confident in saying that Mr. Kavanaugh (now Justice Kavanaugh, thank goodness) did nothing for which he should be ashamed. There is no evidence. Rachel Mitchell, the sex-crimes prosecutor, whom the Republicans brought on to examine Dr. Ford, wrote that she could see no way that Brett Kavanaugh could be indicted for these charges. And Mrs. Ford’s testimony is filled with more holes than the best Swiss Cheese on the market. Besides, there has never been any other of this type of accusation made against Mr. Kavanaugh. And everyone knows that this type of thing does not occur in a vacuum.
However, the Left thinks that women believe Mrs. Ford overwhelmingly. I have more confidence in women than our “betters” believe. They think the overwhelming number of women think alike, instead of as individuals.
This is not the first time that these people have made the bald-faced statement that women think alike. For years, they’ve been telling us that not only do most woman support abortion, but they are so gung-ho about it, that it determines their votes. But back in July, pollster Celinda Lake, who is a Democratic pollster, made this comment: “Women are much less likely to be pro-choice” than men.
For decades, the Left in general, and the Democrats in particular, have been telling us that they are the ones who care. To my way of thinking, people who really care start with respect. They realize that people are individuals, made in God’s image. And they deserve the type of respect that will show that they are taken seriously.
While we’ve known for decades that the Left (which includes most “reporters”) harbors this disrespectful attitude towards people, with this latest assault on the reasoning faculties of woman, we can always hope that, come November 6th, that they will achieve the drubbing at the polls they richly deserve.
Published in General
Condescension implies feelings of superiority over another human being. You can be in complete disagreement with someone’s ideas and still not feel superior to them, that they are beneath you. This is known as understanding, tolerance, kindness, decency, consideration, or compassion. If what you are saying is true, then every single person in the World is condescending of all the other people.
You can feel like you’re better than some people without actively expressing your condescension. You can also feel like other people are objectively better than you but fail to make yourself like them. But it’s pretty obvious that many people on the right express condescension for people on the left, the same as it goes the other way.
I would agree that there is some condescension from Conservatives towards Liberals (or Leftists), I can be guilty of it myself sometimes. But it seems way more prevalent the other way around, based solely on the fact that Leftists are far more likely than Conservatives are to terminate friendships because of political and ideological reasons.
Umm, think ya used enough condescension thar, Butch?
I have to confess, Larry, that I am totally flummoxed by the few people who want to turn this around. Do you think that every time somebody thinks a thought is silly, he is being condescending? Are you one of those people who think no idea is better than another? We seem to have plenty of those, in this egalitarian world we seem to have morphed into. I was just hoping that a conservative was not among these people.
Not so much turn this around as point out that feeling you are superior to other people is much more common and much less important than people make it out to be.
This isn’t necessarily about your post and more about the general tenor of anti-left posts on this site. If anything, recent events have illuminated more than ever than the animating motivation on the right comes from shared hatred for the left.
And that’s OK. It’s ok to hold people in contempt and to think you’re superior to them. In polite society we shouldn’t express those feelings, but when people violate these social taboos I think the healthiest response is to be confident in one’s own superiority.
George, I’m not interested in flummoxing you, or in hurting your feelings. I think we have a semantic difference here, more than anything else. What turns a feeling of contempt into “condescension”? Is it when that feeling of contempt is vocalized? Is it when the feeling of contempt is directed at a person’s moral character rather than just their ideas? I think any of the definitions that arise from different answers to those questions is fair.
Me, I’m happy to admit/announce that I am sometimes condescending to the left and to particular lefties. As I said above, I will hold my tongue if there is a reason to do so. I have friends on the left and I value their friendship more than I value the satisfaction that might come from telling them what I think of their ideas. So I just shut up. Ditto for lefty co-workers. But if someone who I don’t particularly value starts up with me and says something like “Check your privilege,” my immediate response is going to be “Check your stupidity.”
Two things:
This has taken a weird turn, but I have one other thing to add. And maybe this is because I have always thought that condescension implies some level of dismissal. And maybe that’s incorrect. A hardline difference I see between the right and left, from my own observations, is the right’s willingness and ferver with engaging and dismantling the left’s awful arguments and positions. A large swath of the left dismisses and refuses to engage in debate and argumentation with the right based a sense of superiority. To me, that’s the difference.
It has taken a weird turn. Let me add a third thing to the two I just wrote:
3. I suspect there are others who feel this way, but I shan’t speculate. I will just repeat what I implied – or actually said, I think: I would never say I am a superior person than someone else. But acts and ideas are a whole different thing. Sure, I think my ideas are better than a liberal’s ideas, or else I would have them. And, as far of actions I may take: I think opening a door for a lady, or saying “thank you” when someone does something nice for me is a better thing than not doing those thing. It does not make me better; but it possibly does make me more thoughtful.
It seems that condescension is like bias in that it’s easy to see it in others, but difficult to see it in ourselves.
I’m probably like almost everyone else in this regard.
Maybe there is a touch of condescension in most people; I am not sure. But this thought, to me, gives an excuse to those who really abuse this trait. I wish people would get out this egalitarian pickle, that says each of us guilty of something. It throws a hammer in to the gears of an ordered society.