Pop Quiz
What President said: “Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive a scientific-technological elite.”?
What political leader said: “I believe in individualism in all of these things-up to the point where the individualist starts to operate at the expense of society.”?
What educator said: “Conflict is the gadfly of thought. It stirs us to observation and memory. It instigates invention. It shocks us out of sheep-like passivity, and sets us at noting and contriving…conflict is a sine qua non of reflection and ingenuity.”?
What world leader said: “But it would be absolutely mistaken to regard a wealth of theoretical knowledge as characteristic proof for the qualities and abilities of a leader.”?
Who said: “Deal with the world as it is, not how you’d like it to be.”?
What politician said: “When fascism comes to the US it will come as anti-fascism.”?
Answers at the end of this post.
“The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.” Albert Dick
Our political vocabulary has become jabberwocky. We have no linguistic common currency. It is time to create a lexicon for discussing the important issues of the day.
Classical liberalism is the political doctrine that provided the framework for founding of the United States. It was, at the time, a unique political philosophy. Practitioners of liberalism advocate free markets, civil liberties under the rule of law, based on limited government, economic freedom and political freedom. The economy is predicated on private ownership. The Constitution is the scaffolding for a liberal society. Adam Smith, author of Wealth of Nations, was a classical liberal but today he is villainized because the left has reduced the economic elements of classic liberalism to one word…capitalism. That term, in turn, has been reduced to a four letter word. Students are taught that capitalism is marked by greed and predatory behavior and that it is a tool of oppression. The proper term for this economic system is free enterprise.
Politicians and political pundits throw the term fascism around with reckless abandon. They favor that term, which they can’t define, because Hitler is portrayed as a fascist. Fascism is marked by private ownership of economic assets but management of those assets is strictly controlled by the government. The US is basically a fascist economy because of the legal and regulatory restrictions on the conduct of business. The best recent example is the attempt by the Biden administration to force COVID vaccinations on all US businesses. Fascism is an authoritarian system but, as practiced by Mussolini and FDR, Italians and the Americans retained a number of basic freedoms.
The totalitarian version of fascism is Nazism. Hitler had the full support of major industrialists for most of his tenure even as he extended his power to control the entirety of the German population. To suggest that any US government official has crossed the line from fascism to Nazism is preposterous even as the more deranged denizens of the leftist fever swamp use the term “Nazi” to describe Trump and his army of deplorables. For example, on July 16, 2018 the WAPO printed the following: “It’s not wrong to compare Trump’s America to the Holocaust.” Fever swamp indeed!
The third form of government is socialism and this seemingly benign term is embraced by such ignorant souls as Bernie Sanders and AOC. They attempt to sugar coat the concept by calling it “Democratic Socialism”. Socialism is marked by government ownership of economic assets which are then managed by an array of elite bureaucrats who are deemed to be elite solely by virtue of their academic pedigrees. Recently Mayor Pete was described as an “intellectual”. The use of that term to describe Buttagieg brings to mind the words of Inigo Montoya who questions Vizzini’s use of the word “inconceivable”: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” Buttagieg says less using more words than anyone on the American political scene. He is the prototypical bureaucrat…he has no idea what he is doing but he can describe his goals and objectives using his “tongue purttier than a twenty-dollar whore.” (Slim Pickens in Blazing Saddles) Socialism is an authoritarian system.
Socialism, however, inevitably transitions to the totalitarian system known as Communism. The result of that transition is artfully described by Eric Blair in 1984. The instinct of every socialist is to achieve totalitarian control over all of society by supporting the transition to full blown Communism. Communism in the 20th Century was directly responsible for the deaths of more than 100 million people. Communist USSR was the exemplar of this inevitability…Venezuela, Laos, China and Cuba are tragic examples of the dream of every misguided Socialist.
So how does Marxism fit into this definitional bouillabaisse? Karl Marx was the George Soros of his era, a political contrarian bent on destroying the social structure. He stood for nothing positive and he had no understanding of economics. Marxism is really just an argument for a revolution by the oppressed (proletariat) against what Marx perceived to be the oppressors (the ruling class). Marx’ “class struggle” is the basis for Critical Theory, the philosophical blueprint for the destruction of civil society.
Note: America is not just fascist, it has also become a gerontocracy.
We must teach our children to understand the language if we are ever to avoid a similar result in America.
Other things you should discuss with your children:
The National Museum of African American History and Culture, a taxpayer funded project of the Smithsonian Museum, has identified a number of so-called “white concepts” which create cultural barriers to nonwhites: individualism, the nuclear family, the scientific method, hard work as a key to success, delayed gratification, decision making and being polite. In short they are supporting a recipe for social failure and, coincidentally, an excuse for the anarchic behavior of Antifa and BLM.
We should ask why Christine Blasey Ford’s picture isn’t on milk cartons…her disappearance has been complete. How about Ray Epps? He is on video inciting January 6th protesters to breach the Capitol yet he has never been charged by the FBI. Rumor has it he was working with the FBI and/or the CIA.
The accomplishments and words of Winsome Sears, Thomas Sowell, Candace Owens and Mark Robinson (among others) rather than LeBron James, Ibram Kendi, Cori Bush and Al (not so) Sharpton. Is the left afraid of individualism in the Black community?
The causes and adverse effects of the financial cancer that is inflation. A lesson in controlling inflation: Team Biden is trying to keep prices low in the world of drugs by allowing the unfettered importation of fentanyl and methamphetamine across the southern border. Supply goes up, prices go down. Sadly for Janet Yellen illegal drugs are not part of the formula for tracking inflation.
Explain why German euthanasia clinics require COVID vaccinations.
The new McCarthyism: Are you now or have you ever been a supporter of Donald Trump?
If Roe v. Wade cannot be reversed because it has been the law of the land for almost 50 years then shouldn’t we rethink the Brown v Board of Education decision which ended segregation because it reversed Plessy v. Ferguson which had been the law of the land for almost 60 years?
It appears that the COVID lock downs have the same success rate as wage and price controls. They don’t solve the problem, they merely postpone the effects. When the Nixon Administration removed the ill-advised wage and price controls imposed in the 1970’s they unleashed the inflation demon…a house warming gift for the hapless Carter Administration. Turns out that when you end the lock downs there is a burst of new COVID cases. Go figure.
Pop Quiz answers:
What President said: “Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive a scientific-technological elite.”? Dwight Eisenhower…paging Anthony Fauci!
Who said: “I believe in individualism in all of these things-up to the point where the individualist starts to operate at the expense of society.”? FDR…individualism is the bane of all authoritarian and totalitarian regimes.
What educator said: “Conflict is the gadfly of thought. It stirs us to observation and memory. It instigates invention. It shocks us out of sheep-like passivity, and sets us at noting and contriving…conflict is a sine qua non of reflection and ingenuity.”? John Dewey
What world leader said: “But it would be absolutely mistaken to regard a wealth of theoretical knowledge as characteristic proof for the qualities and abilities of a leader.”? Adolf Hitler…Mayor Pete call your office.
Who said: “Deal with the world as it is, not how you’d like it to be.”? Jack Welch
What politician said: “When fascism comes to the US it will come as anti-fascism.”? Huey Long, a lifelong Democrat anticipating Fa-Antifa
The Observer
Educating people on the language used is important, as you point out. Today’s politicians would have made Joseph Goebbels a fan of their methods. Somehow the media is helping all this as though we have nationalized media (one of Goebbels’ most effective moves).
Ron
The amount of wisdom in this brief blog is simply inestimable. It can only be properly appreciated with a grand cigar and a very superior old pale cognac.
It should be widely disseminated.
Unfortunately, the likelihood of broad dissemination and understanding across the population is practically nil, as much of our public teacher corps is incapable of understanding it, and the majority of our parents do not have enough time after a rigorous afternoon of watching Oprah, The Price is Right and The View.
By the way, the group of quotes extraordinarily worth remembering. And, as you might guess, I did get the Jack Welch quote.