Theme: Agency

October 11th, 2018 6:29 PM by Richard Nikoley

The problem here is that it’s crucially important what values you’re acting (or fighting, or kicking teeth) FOR. There is no virtue in combat for the sake of combat. That’s for Fight Club and everyone knows what the first rule of Fight Club is. So, everyone fights. Everyone has a degree of blood lust. Everyone wants to kick in the teeth, bash heads and… “Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.” — H. L. Mencken But for what? Let’s be somewhat explicit in dialectic fashion: thesis —> Antithesis —> Synthesis. REPUBLICAN THESIS (loosely, not all-inclusive) – Traditional American Dream – Traditional American Values including core familial values – Traditional forms of child learning, typically including light religious indoctrination – Raising sons and daughters to embrace traditional familial male and female roles – Know-How, Do It Yourself Self sufficiency, including pride as a virtue to be reluctance to ask for help – Business, productivity, entrepreneurship, wealth building – Minimal government interference – Tough on true crime (murder, kidnapping, rape, theft, fraud, etc.) – Charity and missionaryism – Closed borders; be selective and cherry pick immigrants DEMOCRAT ANTITHESIS – The American Dream leaves too many poor, uneducated, and genetically IQ handicapped behind and you should feel ashamed of that – Traditional family values hold down girls and women from reaching their true potential intellectually, academically, and independent financially – Traditional child rearing tends to empower male children and handicap female children such that they are dependent on males – Self sufficiency, know-how, and self dealing, etc. in the trades disadvantages the poor, uneducated, IQ handicapped and so collective bargaining through unions on the private and public levels are necessary, as is affirmative action to award the less fortunate at the expense of penalizing the naturally selected – Capitalism in general places the means of production and prosperity in the hands of entrepreneurs who may not be market driven but politically driven, so fascism is necessary (quibbles I’m sure, but state control through vast regulation of quasi-private enterprise IS what fascism IS) – Maximum governmental regulation (fascism) is necessary and the best means of producing that outcome is through political rent-seeking behavior, turning market entrepreneurs into political entrepreneurs – Criminal prosecution is a tool used by the right to control the underclasses – Grassroots charity comes with ideological strings attached, usually religious and so, this too ought to be a secular and state team effort with corporate charity and United Nations oversight rather than individuals and small groups seeing a need and assuaging it to their abilities – Open borders; lift the poor and underprivileged …Not all-inclusive, such as, strong feminist activism, queer agenda, transgender stuff, etc. In terms of the dialectic synthesis, that’s libertarianism. Strong on markets, self-sufficiency, entrepreneurship, minimal government interference, private charity…but also live and let live on the social issues. The question is, without the Republican and Democrat labels, the memes, the Media, entertainment, and Hollywood narrative crafting either way, which set of values do you more viscerally identify with that the other? Hey, Curt Doolittle, your stream of consciousness and/or sweat and tears lists are always more comprehensive than mine. Anything to add, retract, nuance, etc?