The prevention of rational politics

The beliefs of conservatives are fairly simple. We tend to believe in limited government, personal liberty, personal responsibility, equality before the law, property rights, freedom of speech, strong national defense, and so on. We argue about the details, of course. But in general, most conservatives would give similar answers to questions about their belief systems.

Imagine trying to come up with a similar basic list of the beliefs of leftists. No leftist is going to say that they believe in tyrannical control over every living thing. Ok, so what will they say? Women’s Studies professors might mention the right of trans-sexual children to sex change surgeries without parental notification. Soccer Moms might not support that, but they may want more tax money for schools. Unionized factory workers might be uninterested in that, but they may want higher tariffs on foreign goods. Environmentalists may not care about tariffs, but they may want to do away with fossil fuels, which the union members might dislike.

So why do leftists vote for things that they can’t even agree on themselves? And why do they change their belief systems so often? Trans-sexual rights are popular now, but were unheard of just a few years ago. What ever happened to baby seals and The War on Poverty? Why do they keep changing their beliefs, and why are their beliefs so difficult to nail down?

I have come to believe that modern leftists really don't believe in much. But they hate Western Civilization, they hate Israel, they hate America, and they hate anyone who doesn't hate those things. Because they hate you, they find themselves passionately supporting whatever you don't like, no matter how absurd it is.

Trans-sexual surgeries for convicted murderers? End fossil fuels? Abortions for young girls? Defund the police? Once one of them blows up in their face, they move on to the next one. Whatever. The topic doesn't matter. They just hate Western Civilization. And they hate you. So whatever, as long as it angers you.

But those arguments are simply annoying. I find the way the left argues them to be much, MUCH more destructive. Let me try to explain why:

Take gun control. Republicans point out that liberalizing concealed carry laws does not result in increased crime rates. In fact, crime rates tend to drop after passing such laws. So, therefore, it seems rational to support more permissive concealed carry laws. Simple.

Ok, now think about the way leftists approach gun laws.

Leftists have decided that gun ownership is bad, probably because you think gun ownership is good. Whatever. So they list statistics, showing the danger of widespread gun ownership. The problem is, the statistics do not support their view, so they come up with creative terms and even more creative statistics to support their opinions.

They don’t discuss gun homicide rates. They discuss “gun violence.” More than half of which is suicides, which is more a problem of mental health, which they would rather not talk about. Most of the actual gun homicides are young black urban men shooting one another, which is more a problem of family structure and social pathologies, which they REALLY would rather not talk about.

An honest discussion of those statistics wouldn’t even make sense:

Leftist: “Yeah, so, like, guns are bad. I mean, somebody might shoot you. After all, suicide rates are skyrocketing.”

Me: “So, you’re worried that I might shoot me?”

Leftist: “No, silly – think about the epidemic of gun violence in cities, with gangs, the drug trade, and generations of young boys without fathers.”

Me: “So think you can get urban young black men to raise their children by preventing rural old white men from buying shotguns for duck hunting?”

Leftist: “Why are you conservatives so irrational?”

I can’t even discuss such things with leftists, because I’m trying to think rationally, and the leftist is trying to prevent rational thought.

Very important point: The leftist is not simply thinking irrationally. The leftist is trying to prevent rational thought.

I used to be annoyed by the habit of leftists to insist on obscuring reality with intentionally misleading data and language. But now I’m starting to view it as more than just annoying.

For example, I’m much more pro-choice than any leftist. I think that you should be able to choose for yourself whether you own a gun, or what type of car to buy, or how to educate your children, and so on. But I think killing babies is wrong, so leftists say I’m not Pro-Choice.

Their words are so misleading that they make rational thought on the topic impossible. Which is the whole point. Because they know that if anyone thinks rationally, they will lose the debate. So they can't allow that.

Again, they are not just thinking irrationally. They are intentionally trying to prevent rational thought.

And that is dangerous.

Because then the only form of political debate we’ll see is irrational. Snide memes. Haughty bumper stickers. College kids shouting down speakers with chants that don’t even make sense.

Our politics will then predictably degenerate into hyper-partisan grudge matches over topics that aren’t even real. We can’t debate reality, if one side refuses to acknowledge its existence. And more importantly, if that side uses misleading statistics and language to prevent anyone from thinking rationally.

The Democrats have been playing these destructive games for years now. And what did it get us? Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Those who find them unqualified haven’t thought this through. They are extremely well qualified for leadership positions in the political system that the modern left has built.

One reason Trump was such an effective president is that he is well-suited to our current political system. He's really good at it. I miss Reagan, but what I really miss was a political system that Reagan was well-suited for. Back when rational thought and civil debate were still allowed. Today, Reagan would be helpless. Today, we need Trump. Which I resent.

But it's not Trump's fault:

Those “Coexist” bumper stickers, the “Keep Your Laws Off My Body” t-shirts, the Black Lives Matter signs in people’s lawns – those aren’t just left-wing silliness. Those are destructive. They prevent rational thought. They don’t allow us to consider reality in our decision-making. Everything just turns into rapidly escalating insult contests. And eventually, the two best-qualified people for the presidency are Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Our political system, and thus our country, cannot withstand the intentional destruction of rational thought and thoughtful dialogue.

It seems like this has happened so fast. But I think we just didn’t understand what was happening until it was far too late.

As usual, I hope I’m wrong about all this…