The Danger of Making Ruthlessness Seem Reasonable

 

I use a lot of dangerous drugs. Well, not me personally, but on my patients. Of course, I use dangerous drugs only when the disease I’m treating is more dangerous than the drug. In diseases that are not life-threatening, naturally I avoid dangerous drugs and try to stick with safer therapies. Chemotherapy drugs can save your life, but they can also have significant side effects. Side effects that you would not tolerate if you were treating a sinus infection. But if you have cancer, and you’re trying to avoid dying, it may make sense to take a chance on side effects – even very serious side effects. In truly desperate circumstances, there are few actions one would not consider, no matter how drastic.

That’s what always bothered me about the great leftist / progressive / socialist leaders of the 20th century: Hitler, Lenin, Mao, Stalin, and so on. They saw a problem and took drastic measures to fix it. When I consider the horrifyingly drastic measures they took, I wonder, “What possible problem did they see that warranted such drastic actions? Who on earth could have possibly thought that was a good idea?” Even for those who lack sympathy for others, killing millions of people is no small thing. They claimed that they were trying to save or improve their countries for their citizens. Which some considered to be an adequate reason. Think about that. And then, think about Greta Thunberg.

There are many facets of the global warming fraud that I find concerning, but what bothers me the most about it is that its adherents claim to on a mission to save the world. Ok, so what would you not do to save the world? At that point, any action could be considered, right? Even horrible side effects are worthwhile in this case because the patient is dying and we’re desperate. So no action, no matter how drastic, is off the table.

It’s easy to chuckle when a self-important 16-year-old girl explains that the world is ending. It’s ridiculous.

Well, it may be ridiculous, but it’s not funny.

These people are dangerous. Their polarizing extremism encourages ruthless actions that would otherwise be unthinkable. Just ask a dead German Jew from 1943.

A few days ago, at a town hall on CNN, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi explained her concern about President Trump with the following statement: “Civilization as we know it today is at stake in the next election, and certainly, our planet. The damage that this administration has done to America, America’s a great country. We can sustain. Two terms, I don’t know.”

Not that long ago, Mrs. Pelosi would have said no such thing. She might have said, “I have serious disagreements with Mr. Trump’s policy proposals, and I don’t like where he is taking this country. I hope my fellow American citizens will choose to vote Democrat in the next election. Let me explain why I think that would be a good decision.” And she would then outline her specific disagreements with Mr. Trump, and how she would propose to do better for the American people than he would.

This is how the Republicans won the House in 1994. The “Contract with America” explained what they saw as problems, and how they intended to fix those problems. It worked – they won.

I’m not sure that approach would work now. As I often say, I hope I’m wrong about this. But American politics has changed. And more importantly, American society seems to have changed.

There are those who think that the Democrats’ repeated impeachment attempts against Mr. Trump and other extremist tactics are due to their particular dislike for Mr. Trump. I disagree. If Mitt Romney or Scott Walker were president, I suspect the Democrats would be using similarly ruthless tactics. This shift in tactics occurred before, and independent of, the inauguration of Mr. Trump.

President Trump may be a response to this new approach to American politics, but he is not the cause of it.

It seems strange that such extremism and such vicious approaches to politics occur now, in a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity, here in modern America. American politics were vicious and nasty in the mid-1800s, but slavery and other issues were on the verge of tearing our country apart. One can understand how such serious disagreements about such serious issues would lead to divisive politics.

But we’re not arguing about slavery and basic human rights anymore. We’re not even arguing about foreign wars or Prohibition. We’re arguing about transsexual bathrooms. It’s hard to understand such vicious political tactics in times of peaceful prosperity like these.

I’m not sure of the cause, but I suspect it started with the extremist environmental movement. Silent Spring was published in 1962. The Population Bomb was published in 1968. The cold winters of the 1970s led many to believe that we were all about to die in the next ice age.

All of those predictions turned out to be wrong, but the potential power of such messages was hard for some politicians to ignore. Particularly politicians who had no other compelling reasons for anyone to vote for them. Al Gore is an extreme example of this phenomenon, but many others on the left are using this technique now. And when one considers the success rate of leftist policies, one can understand why they use this approach.

A leftist politician no longer has to explain why socialism has never worked anywhere else, and how exactly it will work here. That’s a tough sell. All he/she has to do is convince voters that Republicans are evil capitalists who want to get rich by destroying the world, like a James Bond villain. And then convince those voters that global catastrophe is certain unless they vote for the leftist, who cares for the environment. Skip the details, just paint the picture.

At that point, no actions, no matter how drastic or ruthless, are off the table. Confronting and shaming people in public.  Chasing the families of suspected conservatives out of restaurants. Scaring the families of prominent conservatives. Arresting elderly nobodies like Roger Stone in SWAT raids in the middle of the night, with CNN along to broadcast it worldwide. It seems vicious, but hey, we’re trying to save the world here, so it’s ok. Really. Are you with us, or against us? Are you evil, or nice?

These people are dangerous.

So when I hear Nancy Pelosi say, “Civilization as we know it today is at stake in the next election, and certainly, our planet,” I don’t laugh. When I hear Greta Thunberg say, “For way too long, the politicians and the people in power have gotten away with not doing anything to fight the climate crisis, but we will make sure that they will not get away with it any longer,” I don’t just roll my eyes. When I hear AOC say, “There’s no debate as to whether we should continue producing fossil fuels. There’s no debate,” I don’t wonder what she’s been smoking.

These people are dangerous. They make ruthlessness seem reasonable.

In the past, people have agreed to drastic actions simply to save their country, as they saw it. People actually voted for Adolf Hitler for little more reason than that. What if they thought they were saving the whole world? What would they not do?

Saul Alinsky.The impeachment charade is not a joke. Neither are climate protests, or boycotting businesses suspected of being insufficiently leftist, or economic sanctions against businesses in states that don’t enact your preferred policies regarding transsexual bathrooms. It may seem ridiculous, but it’s not funny.

This is scary stuff. And I don’t see a solution. This is just the way the left does politics now. It wasn’t just Hillary Clinton who learned a lot from Saul Alinsky. The Democrat party has decided that such ruthless tactics are reasonable. I suspect that things will get much worse before they get better.

I really hope I’m wrong about all this…

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  1. David Foster Member
    David Foster
    @DavidFoster

    Related post at the Cat Rotator’s Quarterly:  Modern millenialism

     

    • #1
  2. Dave of Barsham Member
    Dave of Barsham
    @LesserSonofBarsham

    The dream of ruling the world in the early 20th century and the current zeal to “save” it in the 21st aren’t too far removed from one another in what their adherents are willing to do. A few cracked eggs to make the omelette are a small price to pay for the imagined utopia. I can’t personally see what a good remedy is honestly. Even if they’re right on how dire it is, their proposals for fixing it are the stuff of nightmares in terms of personal freedom and economics. Time will tell what direction we take.

    • #2
  3. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    Great post. Thank you!

    • #3
  4. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    Dr. Bastiat: But we’re not arguing about slavery and basic human rights anymore. We’re not even arguing about foreign wars or Prohibition. We’re arguing about transsexual bathrooms. It’s hard to understand such vicious political tactics in times of peaceful prosperity like these

    “Competition in academia is so vicious because the stakes are so small.”  Laurence Peter

     

    • #4
  5. Mark Camp Member
    Mark Camp
    @MarkCamp

    Dr. Bastiat: These people are dangerous. They make ruthlessness seem reasonable.

    Dr. Bastiat: So when I hear Nancy Pelosi say, “Civilization as we know it today is at stake in the next election, and certainly, our planet,” I don’t laugh. When I hear Greta Thunberg say, “For way too long, the politicians and the people in power have gotten away with not doing anything to fight the climate crisis, but we will make sure that they will not get away with it any longer,” I don’t just roll my eyes. When I hear AOC say, “There’s no debate as to whether we should continue producing fossil fuels. There’s no debate,” I don’t wonder what she’s been smoking.

    This is my thinking, too. 

    I am almost as frightened by the fact that Ricocheteers, who are representative of the entire resistance to these dangerous people, have not seemed to agree.  They laugh, roll their eyes, and wonder mockingly what she’s been smoking.

    Now you have spoken up, and I know that there are two of us.

    But two isn’t enough.

    I want to shake my fellow conservatives and yell it at them.  They aren’t funny!  They are dangerous.  We grew up wondering about Nazi Germany and Russia, “how could it have happened?”

    But when we see it ourselves, we laugh.  We don’t see that this is how it happens.

    • #5
  6. Dave of Barsham Member
    Dave of Barsham
    @LesserSonofBarsham

    Mark Camp (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat: These people are dangerous. They make ruthlessness seem reasonable.

    Dr. Bastiat: So when I hear Nancy Pelosi say, “Civilization as we know it today is at stake in the next election, and certainly, our planet,” I don’t laugh. When I hear Greta Thunberg say, “For way too long, the politicians and the people in power have gotten away with not doing anything to fight the climate crisis, but we will make sure that they will not get away with it any longer,” I don’t just roll my eyes. When I hear AOC say, “There’s no debate as to whether we should continue producing fossil fuels. There’s no debate,” I don’t wonder what she’s been smoking.

    This is my thinking, too.

    I am almost as frightened by the fact that Ricocheteers, who are representative of the entire resistance to these dangerous people, have not seemed to agree. They laugh, roll their eyes, and wonder mockingly what she’s been smoking.

    Now you have spoken up, and I know that there are two of us.

    But two isn’t enough.

    I want to shake my fellow conservatives and yell it at them. They aren’t funny! They are dangerous. We grew up wondering about Nazi Germany and Russia, “how could it have happened?”

    But when we see it ourselves, we laugh. We don’t see that this is how it happens.

    I just in the past few months listened to the Gulag Archipelago and read a few other sources on what happened in Russia. It’s astonishing to see the similarities. Immunity to facts, hysteria over minor things, a willingness to upend civilization for imagined ideals that fly in the face of what we know about human nature, it’s all there.  

    • #6
  7. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    Dave of Barsham (View Comment):

    The dream of ruling the world in the early 20th century and the current zeal to “save” it in the 21st aren’t too far removed from one another in what their adherents are willing to do. A few cracked eggs to make the omelette are a small price to pay for the imagined utopia. I can’t personally see what a good remedy is honestly. Even if they’re right on how dire it is, their proposals for fixing it are the stuff of nightmares in terms of personal freedom and economics. Time will tell what direction we take.

    Hang (and make sure that the hanging takes place in full view of the people) no fewer than one hundred known landlords, rich men, bloodsuckers. … Do it in such a fashion that for hundreds of kilometres around the people might see, tremble, know, shout: “they are strangling, and will strangle to death, the bloodsucking kulaks”.

    V.I.Lenin

    • #7
  8. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    Dr. Bastiat:

    This is scary stuff. And I don’t see a solution. This is just the way the left does politics now. It wasn’t just Hillary Clinton who learned a lot from Saul Alinsky. The Democrat party has decided that such ruthless tactics are reasonable. I suspect that things will get much worse before they get better.

    I really hope I’m wrong about all this…

    That’s exactly how I feel.

    Of the many movements I’ve watched come and go, the climate change movement alarms me the most. I keep thinking people will come to their senses, but it seems to be exactly the opposite. People are becoming more and more entrenched in this mindset. This past week I read a local gardening column in which the writer advised Cape Codders to give up trying to grow our beloved blue hydrangeas: “Just forget it from now on because of global warming.

     

    • #8
  9. Mark Camp Member
    Mark Camp
    @MarkCamp

    Dave of Barsham (View Comment):
    I just in the past few months listened to the Gulag Archipelago and read a few other sources on what happened in Russia. It’s astonishing to see the similarities. Immunity to facts, hysteria over minor things, a willingness to upend civilization for imagined ideals that fly in the face of what we know about human nature, it’s all there.

    amen.

    I think more Americans need to read “Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”, “Gulag Archipelago”, books on the Cultural Revolution like “Gang of One: Memoirs of a Red Guard”, and other accounts of societies who have already been through what we are starting into.

    • #9
  10. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    When the Democrats lose power they go to violence.  That is what the civil war was about.  It is what the 60s was about and it will be what this coming civil war (if it will be called that) will be about.  In the end the Democrats will be back in total power of people will die until they are.

    • #10
  11. DonG (skeptic) Coolidge
    DonG (skeptic)
    @DonG

    Dr. Bastiat: There are many facets of the global warming fraud that I find concerning, but what bothers me the most about it is that its adherents claim to on a mission to save the world. Ok, so what would you not do to save the world?

    Things the adherents would not do:
    * stop flying to junkets and conferences on Global Warming
    * attack China and India for emitting CO2
    * worry about the 4 million Africans that die each year for lack of cheap electricity

     

    • #11
  12. DonG (skeptic) Coolidge
    DonG (skeptic)
    @DonG

    MarciN (View Comment):
    climate change movement is scaring the heck out of me for all of the reasons you just gave. It cannot be proven or disproven.

    Sure it can be disproven.  More observational data makes the theory more and more unlikely.  It is possible we could have enough compute power to simulate well enough to disprove. 

    I keep thinking people will come to their senses, but it seems to be exactly the opposite.

    It is a cult and they have gas-lighted most of the country.  People suspect it is a hoax, but are afraid to call out the emperor without clothes.  This issue is my goto for assessing the mental health of America.  Today’s outlook is “guarded”.

     

     

    Here are the patient conditions generally agreed upon, as outlined in the Maryland Hospital Association handbook, and their definitions:

    * Good: Vital signs such as pulse, temperature and blood pressure are stable and within normal limits. The patient is conscious and comfortable. His outlook for recovery is good or excellent.

    * Fair (also satisfactory or stable): Vital signs are stable and within normal limits. The patient is conscious, but he is uncomfortable or may have minor complications. His outlook is favorable.

    * Serious (also poor or guarded): The patient is acutely ill with questionable outlook. Vital signs may be unstable or not within normal limits. A chance for improved outlook.

    * Critical: Questionable outlook. Vital signs are unstable or not within normal limits. There are major complications. Death may be imminent.

    • #12
  13. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    It’s the last gasp of the industrial civilization trying to take back control from post-industrial civilization. It is like monarchists in the early Twentieth Century. There are new ideas on the horizon. And they will be worse.

    • #13
  14. Annefy Member
    Annefy
    @Annefy

    MarciN (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat:

    This is scary stuff. And I don’t see a solution. This is just the way the left does politics now. It wasn’t just Hillary Clinton who learned a lot from Saul Alinsky. The Democrat party has decided that such ruthless tactics are reasonable. I suspect that things will get much worse before they get better.

    I really hope I’m wrong about all this…

    That’s exactly how I feel.

    More than any other movement I’ve watched snowball in America, the climate change movement is scaring the heck out of me for all of the reasons you just gave. It cannot be proven or disproven. I keep thinking people will come to their senses, but it seems to be exactly the opposite. People are becoming more and more entrenched in this mindset. This past week I read a local gardening column in which the writer advised Cape Codders to give up trying to grow our beloved blue hydrangeas: “Just forget it from now on because of global warming.

    I live in a pretty small town. We’ve had a mayor for two 2-year terms. I don’t always agree with him, but he’s taking on – and solved – some tough challenges. Water. Infrastructure. Building a good business base.

    My boss couldn’t wait to show me the bio of someone who is running against him in the Spring (she’s already been labeled as a “carpet bagger”; I don’t know where’s she’s from, but not from around here.) Seems nice enough, young mom with several annoying public policy degrees, cute husband and a couple of cute kids)

    Anyway, her platform is “sustainability” and “the climate crisis”.

    Oh. And her preferred pronouns are “she” and “her”.

    • #14
  15. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Dr. Bastiat: This is scary stuff. And I don’t see a solution. This is just the way the left does politics now. It wasn’t just Hillary Clinton who learned a lot from Saul Alinsky. The Democrat party has decided that such ruthless tactics are reasonable. I suspect that things will get much worse before they get better.

    I’ve read Alinsky’s book (everyone should), and there’s one thing that isn’t working according to his plan. One of his rules is to isolate and marginalize your target, IIRC.  This rule doesn’t seem to be working on Trump.  Oh sure, a bunch of Republicans in the House bailed out in 2018, but in general, Trump is still there.

    • #15
  16. Vectorman Inactive
    Vectorman
    @Vectorman

    I remember watching the first “Survivor” TV program in 2000. One older gentleman tried to organize everyone to build items for the group survival. He was the first one “voted” off the island. I never watched that TV series since then, but it sets a pattern for modern sensibilities. Popularity is more important than solving real problems. 

    • #16
  17. I Walton Member
    I Walton
    @IWalton

    They don’t believe any of the nonsense they broadcast, but they choose to educate the young in unreality, and the young actually took them seriously.  So what do we do about it?  Many of the young have been left with no critical faculties, tools to fix the problem but they’re coming of age.  We must fix the schools and we can’t fix them at the national level.  States have to dismember the educational establishment by moving much more rapidly toward complete school choice.  And that is just one thing that must be done and soon.  But most things are like education.  The national level operates, with minimum overt corruption, but total lack of reality.  We have to have national defense and they are dedicated to running exercises that help them stay real.  They have often failed but we have no choice.  All the other stuff we do at the Federal level should be run,( if not just dismembered) according to the constitution and with our giant states, that’s not enough either.  

    • #17
  18. Songwriter Inactive
    Songwriter
    @user_19450

    Dr. Bastiat: I really hope I’m wrong about all this…

    Sadly, you aren’t.

    • #18
  19. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    Laughter and ridicule are our most potent weapons. The claims of the other side may not be funny, but humor not only disarms our opponents, it helps win over people who are not yet True Believers of the radical cause.

    • #19
  20. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    Remember that the most effective critics of Hitler and Stalin were the people who made fun of them. Being seriously mad about Hitler did not make great movies. Making fun of Hitler did.

    • #20
  21. Misthiocracy grudgingly Member
    Misthiocracy grudgingly
    @Misthiocracy

    “If it saves the life of just one child…”

    • #21
  22. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    David Foster (View Comment):

    Related post at the Cat Rotator’s Quarterly: Modern millenialism

     

    Very good article – thanks for the link.

    • #22
  23. Mark Camp Member
    Mark Camp
    @MarkCamp

    DonG (skeptic) (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat: There are many facets of the global warming fraud that I find concerning, but what bothers me the most about it is that its adherents claim to on a mission to save the world. Ok, so what would you not do to save the world?

    Things the adherents would not do:
    * stop flying to junkets and conferences on Global Warming
    * attack China and India for emitting CO2
    * worry about the 4 million Africans that die each year for lack of cheap electricity

     

    Stop making fun.  Stop rolling your eyes. Stop ridiculing.  These people are dangerous. 

    The world that the Progressivist intellectual leaders are taking you into is not at all like the world you see in the present, where their useless idiots act in ridiculous ways.  You won’t be laughing and mocking then.  They will be mocking you for not seeing where they were leading you. 

    The Progressivist intellectual leaders know you, their enemy.  They know that you don’t know them.

    You need to know your enemy, the way he knows you.

    • #23
  24. David Foster Member
    David Foster
    @DavidFoster

    Mark Camp (View Comment):
    The Progressivist intellectual leaders know you, their enemy.

    Actually, I don’t think they do.  This is one reason why they were so surprised when Trump won the election.

     

    • #24
  25. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    Mark Camp (View Comment):

    DonG (skeptic) (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat: There are many facets of the global warming fraud that I find concerning, but what bothers me the most about it is that its adherents claim to on a mission to save the world. Ok, so what would you not do to save the world?

    Things the adherents would not do:
    * stop flying to junkets and conferences on Global Warming
    * attack China and India for emitting CO2
    * worry about the 4 million Africans that die each year for lack of cheap electricity

     

    Stop making fun. Stop rolling your eyes. Stop ridiculing. These people are dangerous.

    The world that the Progressivist intellectual leaders are taking you into is not at all like the world you see in the present, where their useless idiots act in ridiculous ways. You won’t be laughing and mocking then. They will be mocking you for not seeing where they were leading you.

    The Progressivist intellectual leaders know you, their enemy. They know that you don’t know them.

    You need to know your enemy, the way he knows you.

    Embrace the power of “and.” I think Trump supporters are much more aware of the danger than you give us credit for, and as distinct from Nevers. It is why we’re willing to overlook his flaws and support him. He didn’t cause the Left to be ruthless. They’ve always believed in any means being justified by their utopian ends. He’s just a bigger threat than they’ve faced before and he’s making them reveal their ruthlessness. 

    But, yes, as iWe says, mock them while fighting back in every way possible. They want to enslave us and destroy our way of life. 

    • #25
  26. thelonious Member
    thelonious
    @thelonious

    iWe (View Comment):

    Remember that the most effective critics of Hitler and Stalin were the people who made fun of them. Being seriously mad about Hitler did not make great movies. Making fun of Hitler did.

    Thank goodness for satire. Imagine how many more people would have been killed if they weren’t being made fun of.

    • #26
  27. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):
    But, yes, as iWe says, mock them while fighting back in every way possible. They want to enslave us and destroy our way of life.

     

     

    Do they really? Or do they want to do good without understanding that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

    • #27
  28. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    thelonious (View Comment):

    iWe (View Comment):

    Remember that the most effective critics of Hitler and Stalin were the people who made fun of them. Being seriously mad about Hitler did not make great movies. Making fun of Hitler did.

    Thank goodness for satire. Imagine how many more people would have been killed if they weren’t being made fun of.

    It is a step. What people think matters – and effective ridicule absolutely helps sway public opinion.

     

    • #28
  29. thelonious Member
    thelonious
    @thelonious

    iWe (View Comment):

    thelonious (View Comment):

    iWe (View Comment):

    Remember that the most effective critics of Hitler and Stalin were the people who made fun of them. Being seriously mad about Hitler did not make great movies. Making fun of Hitler did.

    Thank goodness for satire. Imagine how many more people would have been killed if they weren’t being made fun of.

    It is a step. What people think matters – and effective ridicule absolutely helps sway public opinion.

     

    Your 2 examples don’t really make a strong case for the efficacy of satire.

    • #29
  30. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):
    But, yes, as iWe says, mock them while fighting back in every way possible. They want to enslave us and destroy our way of life.

    Do they really? Or do they want to do good without understanding that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

    Mm, I give them credit for being smarter than that. I think they (the politicians) know what they propose is damaging to people and the nation, but they have an insatiable lust for power and an overweening faith in their ability to rule. 

    • #30
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