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Long Read of the Week: “We’re Not Going to Talk Our Way out of This” by Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus“

It’s certainly wonderful to think that “all we need to do is find ways to constructively disagree with each other,” and think that this would solve most, if not all, of our problems. But there’s a tremendous difficulty with applying this to the modern ideological divide between Right and Left, the “reactionary” (true or otherwise) and the progressive. The difficulties lie in that this line of thinking implies that there are two sides which actually want rational discussion and a settling of differences rationally. Yet, there are not.

Indeed, what the Left wants is precisely the opposite of this. The progressive Left has not, does not, and never will seek some sort of accommodation with its ideological enemies. Instead, the Left seeks to acquire for itself the institutional and social power to silence its enemies. Ultimately, this proclivity stems from the very nature of what drives the “progressive idea,” which is that the “arc of history” is always bending towards the advancement of what the Left believes is “progress.” Since this trend is inexorable, there is no need, ultimately, to compromise with the Right, merely find various ways to outlast them and hasten their demise. This sort of thinking is responsible for everything from doxxing to the gulags and explains why progressivism is the single greatest evil that this world has ever seen.

At the risk of sounding like a progressive myself, one of the overarching problems with the modern world – which includes the worldview of the “classically liberal, libertarian” soft centre – is that it still holds onto essentially bourgeois attitudes about social and civic participation. These attitudes include notions of fair play, the “marketplace of ideas,” approaching consensus through reasonable discussion and the free and open exchange of ideas, and so forth. To the average American and Westerner, these all sound like pretty straightforward goals.

But they are not goals which the progressive Left shares. Indeed, the Left has absolutely no desire to see a “free and open exchange of ideas” because when that happens, they lose. When stacked against virtually any alternative, progressivism has a horrible track record, and deep down inside they know this. This is why they spend so much effort using institutional power to suppressed dissenters from their orthodoxy. It’s why when they do appear to be engaging with ideological competitors, it nearly always takes the form of screaming about “fascism,” “racism,” or some other slur designed to signal to their fellows the presence of an enemy, much like the moaning of a brain-dead zombie in a horror movie.

From the progressive Left/SJW perspective, there is literally NO advantage to actually having open and honest dialogue with those on the Right about any topic, and especially not with the genuine-but-currently-dissident Right. They know that when they engage us in the “marketplace of ideas,” they lose. All that can happen for them is to see defections from their ranks and to lose their grip on institutional power. So why would they ever accede to an open exchange build about “rules of fairness,” if they don’t have to?

The short answer is, “they won’t.” So why would we ever expect them to?

While I’m sure most readers have already noticed this, people on the Left are generally not very smart when it comes to metrics like “being able to think logically” or “having a broad, well-rounded knowledge base.”

BUT.

People on the Left – at least the “boss lefties,” not necessarily the random unwashed antifa street drek they use as muscle – are smart when it comes to things like intuiting and using power structures and manipulating public opinion. That’s why well-meaning but ultimately clueless boomer Tea Party types keep getting rolled by them, every time…

RTWT @ The Neo-Ciceronian Times

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • ghostsniper May 9, 2019, 2:16 PM

    “The progressive Left has not, does not, and never will seek some sort of accommodation with its ideological enemies.”

    Here’s the short version for busy peoples:
    The only enemy the communists have are themselves.
    Unless they attempt to cross my property lines or enter my personal space sphere which has a radius of about 6′ in all directions. Then they will have at least 2 enemies, 1 which is highly and instantly reactive. When it snaps skulls pulverize in mid air.

  • John the River May 9, 2019, 2:45 PM

    The problem as I see it.
    The Democrat Party is now pretty much totally over to the Left of the ‘Center of the Line’.
    The GOP is split, it’s members on both sides of the line.
    The American people are either productive tax-paying citizens and with their feet on both sides, but the majority to the Right of center.
    Or they are non tax-paying citizens and non-citizens, many partially or wholly dependent on The Government and wholly subservient to the Democrats.
    The Media, the Education Industry and even the most of the Churches are completely simpatico to the Left.

    And the numbers get worse every year.
    And on top of all this we allowed the previous administrations to import large numbers of Muslims into this country.
    As someone said, “When…in a hole, stop digging”. How?

  • vladdy May 9, 2019, 4:01 PM

    One thing that would help — until we can get rid of gov schools — is to get more conservatives into teaching…and admin.

  • jwm May 9, 2019, 4:56 PM

    Maybe a first step, rhetorically, would be some effective name calling. Forget calling them moonbats, freakazoids, pervs, or whatever. They revel in that shit. They wear it as badge of pride. Leftists are all the things they accuse the “Christian Right” of being: Puritanical, Hidebound, Narrow minded, Uptight, Sanctimonious, Preachy, Bigoted, Ignorant, and Superstitious. Not to mention Ugly, Unattractive, and pretty much Unfuckworthy.

    JWM

  • CC May 10, 2019, 7:41 AM

    It’s impossible to reason with the unreasonable.
    Whatever makes them that way should not be our cross to bear.

  • John A. Fleming May 10, 2019, 10:04 AM

    ghost, when it comes to that, they’re not going to mess with you. That’s what incendiaries are for. Tube launched, and soon drone delivered. At the first sign of resistance, they back off and burn you out. You’re not special enough to risk any more effort on. Best accept it, when they come, one way or another you’re going down.

  • JiminAlaska May 10, 2019, 10:16 AM

    Hum. The insane left controls the government, the media, the monetary exchange systems, the entertainment industry, most of the general marketplace, the education system, many religious institutions, to a great extent travel at home and abroad, etc., etc., etc.

    I’m rather glad that in the year of our Lord, 2019 AD (OOPS they control that too, I should have said, 2019 CE or Common Era.) that I’ve eighty years behind me and am not not eighteen facing a long futile future.

  • ghostsniper May 10, 2019, 2:33 PM

    @John, did I ever tell you about my pet/side project named “Drone Eater”?
    It’s actually a drone aircraft carrier. Been playing around with it for about 2 years. It is powered by a single 2 cycle weedeater engine that’s been blueprinted, bored, ported and relieved, with all new everything and it cranks at about 24k rpm. The hull itself acts as an expansion chamber and muffler and has instantly adjustable solenoid control valves for combustion chamber back pressure regulation. It can be whisper quiet when needed. The hull of the carrier is about 48″ round and only has 1 double propeller right in the middle. The engine shaft is vertical with 1 prop on the top and a counter rotating prop on the bottom (Volvo system). This arrangement removes the necessity of any sort of steering system as the dual electronic transmissions instantly control rotor speed for acceleration and steering.

    That is the mother ship (MS) which houses a fleet of 8 swarm attack/kill drones (SAD) that have the same guidance system but are powered by electric motors which are very quiet. This is as far as the development is so far cause it’s tangled up in the programming sequences. A number of sequences are being prepared so that a simple “choose the number” can be done on the notebook computer then log in the coordinates and then the “deploy” button. Simulation runs are taking place at a cattle ranch in the interior Florida cattle country north of Ocala. Our son’t company is working on the programming.

    I am currently working on a 4 bay docking station on the outside of my workshop for 4 MS’s that will patrol the compound continuously. Each MS will deploy in 2 hour shifts and will have full 360 degree video with NV and IR as well as thermal capabilities which will stream wirelessly to my own 40tb cloud already installed in my office which is networked via satellite to my son’s cloud in Florida. There is a 400 gallon propane tank that is connected to the auto-fueling mechanism. At 0200 the MS will dock, refuel, connect for updates and system checks, then stage for it’s next deployment. This is a one of a kind system and there are lots of challenges but the past successes keep it moving forward.

    It’s the solitary creationists in their garages and basements working long into the night of their own volition that is the mostly hidden source for moving societies forward driven by a vision in their mind’s eye.

  • John A. Fleming May 10, 2019, 5:29 PM

    Aha. Swarmbots are kamikaz, or net deployers, or jammers? A 5ft dia net of kevlar/spectra threads ought to always do it. The MS could then carry multiple reloads of nets. The tyrannocrats operate on unpublished frequencies, so a broadband and L1/L2 jammer will have to get really close. Kamikaz is your best kiss sol’n, but you’ll need something to enhance the collision effectiveness. Nevertheless, it’s the same old problem. You have to be flawless, they only have to be lucky and slip one past you.
    On second thought, it won’t work, acting against a frontal. You lose. They have unguarded flanks and rears to exploit.

  • ghostsniper May 11, 2019, 4:34 AM

    Ever heard of “degaussing”?
    Not the old skool stuff used to fix TV’s and CRT’s, the new stuff.
    It scrambles chips and involves magnets or magnetic beams.
    At a distance, direct contact not necessary.
    It’s like kicking a leg our from under the table.