The Age of Benightedness
Humanity had the Age of Enlightenment; we have now entered the Age of Benightedness, a culture beset and overcome by darkness.
We speak to each other as if we understand our opponents. We think we understand their supporters and how they fund themselves. We treat them as if they were just us with different outlooks on life and government, but based on the results in 2020 and 2022, it appears, at least within the political and cultural leadership on the right, we don’t understand them at all.
We have defined this change as political when we should understand it isn’t political at all. Political results are outcomes, not causes. Andrew Breitbart understood that politics are downstream from culture and if that is true, America has experienced a massive change in culture.
A few subjects to consider – our opposition:
Has no moral concern about lying. They will be whomever they need to be, say whatever they need to say, to fool so-called “independent” voters long enough to get their votes. They will hide anything negative from the public – their health conditions, their real positions, their alliances – as long as they can, especially in states with ridiculously generous early voting dates (as John Fetterman did). and in this category, I include promising the electorate they will do things that they clearly do not have the power do – an example would be student loan “forgiveness”.
Hates free speech. On the matter of free speech, their position could not be clearer. Speech is dangerous. It creates bad thoughts in people not as smart as the ruling class. Misinformation and disinformation are simply information the elites do not want disseminated to the unwashed masses. Eliminating free speech is the precursor to eliminating free thought.
Hates any law that does not benefit them. On the matter of the law, they consider law as meaningless unless it supports or protects something they currently desire. Election laws are a prime example. There are prescribed laws setting forth requirements for acceptance of a ballot as valid, and without fail, every election season, Democrats sue to include ballots that clearly do not meet the legal requirements. As an example of their contradictory notions of law, they often claim that demanding duly passed laws be followed or respected is “voter suppression”, racially discriminatory, xenophobic, authoritarian, or fascistic. One look at the border confirms this.
Unquestioningly support abortion when there is no moral argument for abortion. None. The only way to support the act of aborting a fetus is to ignore the fact the undisturbed fetus becomes a human, to simply ignore the immorality of stopping that process. No matter the condition or situation, abortion represents the ending of a life. We may agree to allow it up to a point as a society, but the fact remains it ends a life. Period.
Are callous and authoritarian collectivists at heart. The elections of Biden and Fetterman prove that the Democrats have found a way to game the system and institute a rule by a secret, select committee through our Constitutional processes. These are two severely cognitively restricted individuals who were elected by people who simply don’t care as long as they will vote the “right” way – as they should be expected to do because the have no will of their own.
I think it is time to admit that we live in a world where postmodernist thought has succeeded, and we should understand that postmodernism exists in contradiction. It is the most anti-intellectual intellectualism known to date.
The paradox of postmodernism is this: in placing all principles under the scrutiny of its skepticism, it must realize that even its own principles are not beyond questioning. As the philosopher Richard Tarnas stated, postmodernism “cannot on its own principles ultimately justify itself any more than can the various metaphysical overviews against which the postmodern mind has defined itself.” In other words, when its own standards are applied to its own precepts, it falls apart as a workable philosophy. Look, our opposition tries to make this about God and religion, but even pagans understand these are the basics:
Even the biggest fool knows that there are objective truths. Something either exists or it doesn’t. Fire burns, water is wet, a rock is still rock no matter if you call it a dog.
The postmodernist claims that there are no rules and words have no meaning is destroyed as they make rules to define their own actions and processes and create their own terms with finite definitions.
History is real. Things happened. There were consequences. People wrote it down.
Reality is objective and real. Gravity is real. If you trip, you will fall. If you don’t eat, you will die. If you decide to stop breathing, you will die. If you stand in front of a tornado, you will likely die (or wake up surrounded by Munchkins).
One can never convince, cajole, convert, or change the postmodernist. In their world, they can never be wrong because they simply modify reality to fit their positions. That’s how you get to the propaganda coming out of an administration that has screwed up literally everything they have touched – but what we must understand is that to them, it isn’t propaganda at all – it is their reality.
In a world lacking absolutes, our opposition is absolutely convinced of two things, 1) their righteousness (even as they deny religion) and 2) your evil (even as they deny evil exists). I have always found it intellectually dishonest that people will join a movement claiming there are no rules or morality and then immediately begin making rules.
This is NOT a political movement. While it was driven in America by political forces for political advantage, this is a fundamental shift in the intellect of people, a complete revision in how they see the world. Political policies have been constructed and enacted that poured trillions upon trillions of dollars into creating a mirage where such irrational and illogical thoughts and lives could exist, but without that support, that world and the beliefs of half of America will end.
The great fiction is that the natural world and natural law is escapable. Take away the modern conveniences we enjoy (just try talking away fossil fuels) and see how long that thought lasts. One cannot change culture with politics. That’s like trying to change a tire with a frying pan or cooking eggs with a lug wrench.
Humanity had the Age of Enlightenment; this is the Age of Benightedness, a culture beset and overcome by darkness.
Your take is damn depressing, but I believe it’s absolutely true. To fight the fight we have to at least get muddy and play the game utilizing tools of their trade like ballot harvesting where it’s been legalized. These election laws are here to stay in those blue states that illegally changed them on the covid pretext.
Only partially heed your senator’s (Romney’s) advice to take the high road assuming the House is won. Specifically, take down Fauci and Mayorkas. Leave Hunter alone for now…. Do not underestimate the Department of Justice.
The communist behaves precisely as described.