John C. Wright's Journal

A reader remarks:

The left is not a set of ideals, it is a set of tactics for power and status. That makes the only ‘ideals’ pride and selfishness, and we all know where those come from.

I respectfully disagree. In my experience (which may be atypical) Leftists are proud, but they are not selfish.

They are self absorbed. What they seek is an inexpensive and unearned sense of moral superiority.

They are stung with the memory of many sins, but, in their crippled moral vocabulary, they have no words and no concepts to define such things. They feel the emotion of guilt but do not know what it is called or what it is. The language of Newspeak has left them with no terms for these ideas.

Perhaps, following the atheist Freud, they think guilt springs from undue repression of authentic emotions and passions, and that therefore the feeling is never valid. The solution to guilt would then be to indulge more deeply in whatever sin provoked it, affirming all the while one’s own self-esteem.

Perhaps, following the atheist Marx, they think religion is the opiate of the masses, and guilt merely one part of a system of control by whatever secret and hidden social forces oppress the masses to the benefit of the elite. The solution to guilt would then be to indulge in subversion or violent revolution or the social order, to be an agent of chaos, and to commit more sins and crimes in the name of the coming utopia.

Perhaps, following the atheist Nietzsche, they think religion the province of the unenlightened, and that the true man, the superman, is beyond good and evil, and by strength of will alone, breaks free of all such moral categories, and heroically creates his own morality, indeed, creates his own reality, where he is god, and he alone is responsible to himself. The solution of guilt would then be in indulge in all evils passion or perverted reason can imagine, piling horror atop holocaust, can call it good.

Please note that all these atheist solutions are unreasonable, because they deny the chain of cause-and-effect leading to guilt. Guilt is caused when one sees that one has violated moral law. Moral law is a reality. It is a central part of what makes man Man. Atheism denies reality and man.

And so, tormented by un-admitted, irrational guilt, they indulge in jealous hatred of men happier, better, more productive and more honest than they.

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Leftists, from an intellectual point of view, are nonbeings. They are empty people; hollow men. In a discussion, they neither move the needle an inch to one side nor to the other, because they can contribute nothing to the discussion but noise.

Here is a recent example. This gem of perfectly polished nonsense was left on my blog:

“Ann Coulter has said that the US should carry out genocide in the Middle East, and Dana Loesch has encouraged violence against her political opponents. Neither are qualified to speak on any sort of political issue, much less womens rights…”

Leftists are non-rational, and cannot argue. Because they cannot argue, they must silence any argument unheard.

There are two ways to silence an argument unheard. One is to say that the wording of the opponent is so impolite and offensive and insensitive, that it is beneath one’s dignity to argue. This is called political correctness.

Please note that these hollow men are never able to be polite themselves, nor able to say things that do not offend. The rule does not apply to them, only to you.

The other is to invent some spurious accusation against the opponent, and then say that, due to the guilt of the opponent, the opponent has lost the right to speak at all. This is a strawman argument, combined with ‘no platformming’.

Please note that these hollow men are never disqualified themselves, no matter their lies, no matter how outrageous their lies.

The rule does not apply to them, only to you. Once one sees the Leftist pathetic inability to put statements in a row to form an argument, one cannot un-see it.

It is glaring.

And the form never changes. The Left is as stiff and rigid in their thinking, speech, and forms of action as the stylized singers in a Japanese kabuki play.

Notice, please, that even when I say directly to a hollow man  what the flaws in his argument are, he does not answer (except with more of the same) does not react (except with more of the same) and cannot correct this argument to avoid the flaw.

Hypocrisy is not an accidentally side effect of Leftism. It is the point of Leftism.

You cannot argue with a hypocrite since his stance is all play-acting. He does not have any case, any evidence, nothing.

All he has is a false accusation that you are rude, and a false accusation that you have done something that disqualifies you from speaking.

We have become obsessed and sickened with rights, and reached the point where, whenever someone or anyone wants to coerce any good thing, material or imponderable, of his neighbors, be it money or health care or honors or dignities or even pronoun-use, he claims to have a right to invade their rights. In the name of invented and unnatural rights, he forces his neighbors to provide for his wants and needs; and then for his entertainments; and now not only for his whims and sins, but for his insane whims and sins, as mad as those of Caligula and Nero.

Be done with the Bills of Rights. We understand our rights.

What we need now is a Bill of Responsibilities.

THE BILL OF RESPONSIBILITIES

We, the people of the United States of America, recognize that each of us is given by our Creator a special role and purpose in life, with solemn and unalienable duties and responsibilities affixed thereto.

Necessity may, from time to time, excuse prompt execution of said duties, but no power on earth lawfully can abrogate, excuse, subdivide, share, or render collective.

We who are governed by a corrupt, swollen, and reckless federal government, now vow to shoulder the responsibilities we neglected, which neglect allowed evil politicians, activist judges, crony capitalists, nihilist entertainers, atheist teachers & professors, and dishonest newsmen to worm themselves into positions of power and influence in our civic and private lives.

We are free men. We kneel no longer, but stand each man on his own two feet.

We shoulder each man his own load without complaint, but stand ever ready to aid any weaker brother in need to help carry his.

1. Congress shall have no excuse to impose further on our freedom of  religion or the free exercise thereof.

We have the responsibility to worship publicly and unashamedly, each man as his conscience sees fit; to eschew false, frivolous, or satanic heresies and cults; and a further responsibility never to use the love of God as an excuse for human hate, acts of force, violence, or terror.

We have the responsibility to avoid prostituting the press and to avoid propaganda, fake news, and character assassination. The press shall not be used as an instrument to stir up riots or treason.

We have the responsibility to speak the truth to all men, humbly and in a civil fashion, but to avoid slanderous, libelous, blasphemous and scandalous material.

We have the responsibility to assemble for the common good as needed, to support patriotism and local loyalties by the accustomed public rites and ceremonies; to salute the flag; and to use our sovereign powers as citizens discreetly, wisely, justly, and for the common good rather than partisan advantage: but always to be zealous and well informed in public questions, and never to vote without due study the issues or the character of the candidates.

We have a responsibility to treat all men with dignity, despite deep disagreements, to allow them a platform, and to be familiar with their stance.

2. We have the responsibility to use firearms bravely, wisely and safely, to defend our freedoms, families and property. This is an individual responsibility.

3. We have the responsibility to house, pay, and care for our armed services, and see to it that soldiers, sailors, and airmen are properly honored and rewarded.

4. We have the responsibility to resist regulations and agencies intruding on our rights, or police attempting an unlawful search or seizure, by force if need be.

5. We have the responsibility as jurors to render fair and impartial justice, regardless of partisan loyalty; and to nullify unjust or unconscionable laws; to impose no undue burdens in civil cases; nor to impose liability when no human power is at fault.

We have the responsibility as citizens voluntarily to aid the police to enforce the law; to volunteer during emergencies for rescue and charitable aid.

6. We have the responsibility to render our communities civilized, safe and law abiding, which entails a duty to treat marriage as sacrosanct, human life as sacrosanct, including unborn life, property and privacy as sacrosanct, honest work as an honor no matter how humble or hard; and moreover entails that husbands and fathers have a duty to act the role of breadwinner, head of household, leader and father, and that wives and mothers a role as caregiver and queen, to economize, civilize, and domesticate the wildness of children and bachelors.

On good and honorable men rests the protection of civilization. On good and virtuous wives rests the fate of civilization. Parents have the sole responsibility to raise and educate our children.

7. We have a sacred responsibility not to ask the government for hand-outs, charity, tax breaks peculiar to specific business or parties, or for special laws to protect one group in a favored way, despite any past collective injustices or collective guilt. Collectivism is an escape from responsibility, and we damn and condemn it.

We have a responsibility to judge each man by the content of his character, and to eschew factionalism. No man is to be praised or condemned for his membership in a collective.

We will not weaponize the laws or the institutions of society against each other, openly or in secret.

8. We have the responsibility to remain ever vigilant of our liberties.

We have the responsibility to disobey unjust laws, to impeach activist judges, and remove any public servant guilty of peculation, corruption, or partisanship, regardless of any attachment of personal or partisan loyalty.

9. The enumeration of certain responsibilities in this Bill of Responsibilities shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

10. The responsibilities not delegated to the individuals are reserved to local institutions such as churches and private charities, municipal governments, or the states respectively. The Federal government is responsible for the items listed in the Constitution, and for nothing else, no matter how necessary or convenient.