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‘Sometimes, the First Duty of Intelligent Men Is the Restatement of the Obvious’

Dr. Bastiat
@drbastiat
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The title above is a quote from George Orwell, of course. Chesterton said something similar: "Every high civilization decays by forgetting obvious things." It's important to remind ourselves of what makes Western Civilization so great, of course. But there are other reasons for their emphasis on the obvious. As Orwell explains: "So much of left-wing thought is kind of like playing with fire by those who don't even know that fire is hot."

So many leftists from Western countries passionately promote ideas that would quickly destroy the culture that has given them such wonderful lives. Everyone from Bernie Sanders to Greta Thunberg to Barack Obama to John Lennon to Pete Buttigieg to Susan Rice to David Hogg to Anderson Cooper to AOC to Mark Zuckerberg to Elizabeth Warren to all the rest of them. They each have their own pet causes, but they band together in agreement on issues that would destroy their ability to promote their own pet causes. Or even live their lives. It's remarkable.

Republicans can talk policy specifics at times, but they should focus on the restatement of the obvious. Those basic concepts that support Western culture. They should point out the destructive impact of Democrat policies on the culture that has given us all such wonderful lives. Any question that any reporter asks should be diverted into a simple explanation of obvious things. Over and over and over again.

Orwell was right. The first duty of intelligent people is the restatement of the obvious. Western culture depends on it. Obviously.

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Discussion (25)

  • Ekosj@Ekosj

    I’ve written about this before… We need a 490BC Project. That is as opposed to a 1619 Project.

    https://ricochet.com/805870/we-need-a-490-bc-projecthow-the-ancient-greeks-created-and-saved-western-culture/

    In 490 BC, at Marathon, the Greeks saved Western Civilisation from being suffocated in its crèche by the Persian empire. Perhaps they can save us again.

    When Americans knew classical history, they could reach beyond partisan differences by drawing on the shared roots of our civilization. American students once learned, for example, about the Greek victory at Marathon in 490 B.C. This kept Greece from being swallowed up by the Persian Empire and ushered in the Golden Age of Athenian democracy which, for all its shortcomings, was a pathbreaking achievement. Democratic Athens, counterbalanced by Sparta’s tripartite system, led to broad-based polities and ultimately the Roman Republic. From there we trace a clear line to Magna Carta and the Renaissance republics, to the Enlightenment, and ultimately to the American Founding in the years around 1776.

    Without classical knowledge, Americans are likely to misconstrue the achievements of 1776—not to mention other significant historical moments (as evidenced in recent inconclusive contentions over the events of 1619). Unfortunately, contemporary school curricula leave students with major gaps in their knowledge of classical history and the humanities more broadly.

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