Sunday, June 23, 2013
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Paradigmagogues
Like it or not, I've invented a new word. I like it.
Paradigmagogue is a portmanteau of paradigm and demagogue.
Some invented words are silly, tongue-in-cheek puns or something, but this word has purpose. I invented this term to warn you of those to whom it best applies: politicians.
Politicians differ from statesmen or patriotic laymen in that they have one goal: winning elections. Statesmen understand the workings of governance and economics, studying and applying principles to circumstances and situations that would otherwise pose a puzzling conundrum; politicians differ from the blue-collar worker in that the politicians are willing to grab that shovel, rake, or pull knobs and switches on a tractor only if a camera is pointing at them. They aren't interested in work or progress, they are interested in their own personal success. There is nothing real to them but filling a suit and holding down a chair. Bearing the title of an office gives them some degree of dignity that they otherwise wouldn't have. And they must hold that title or lose that dignity. Holding the title requires votes, so they go about getting votes.
This is where an industry is born.
The most worthless of men - the lazy, uninspired, unskilled - when given ample opportunity for education, will tend to learn the trade of politics. Politics makes for a tremendously lucrative career. Moreover, it is luxuriant, glamorous, and generally a class within itself, an attribute shared by only a few professions. So you can see why it is so important to hold on and never want to let go once you've become inducted into the "Order of the Parasites." In many cases, the benefits of being a public leech carry on for the rest of your life, including lifetime healthcare, retirement benefits, and even Secret Service (depending on how large a vampire you are).
Now, the question, again, comes down to votes and how to get them.
Republicans are conservatives. Supposed to be, anyway. Confusion and chaos ensues when someone forgets that fact and behaves no differently than their Democrat counterpart. Democrats are supposed to be statist, so there are few issues with their idiot constituents when they behave as such. When statists make up the majority of both parties, and few apparent differences beside a color code and a different letter after their names make deciding between them a matter best settled by eeny-meeny-miney-moe, there needs to be conflict.
There are two categories of rhetoric a paradigmagogue wants to hear.
Category 1: Calls for Compromise.
"Washington can't get anything done!"
"Gridlock is hurting the economy!"
"When are they going to compromise?"
"Do-Nothing Congress needs to stop the bickering..."
MUSIC to a paradigmagogue's ears!
It makes their job so much easier to just go along with the statism that they probably would rather see implemented, anyway, than to actually stand for something. Standing up for convictions requires a spine, and the paradigmagogue is an invertebrate of the highest class.
Category 2: Hegelian Dialectic.
"The [other party] is [saying or doing something you don't like], and we need to do something about it!"
This sums up all that is the paradigmagogue.
The classic "problem-reaction-solution" routine that has empowered (R)'s and (D)'s for decades.
The other party has said something with which you really disagree, because the media told you to disagree. Now, your party has this guy running, and it didn't seem like he really cared about much of anything before, but now he's running ads and such against the party-puppet that said that disagreeable thing. This pleases you. This soothes that feeling of needing to do something to "get" that other party, right? You're gonna vote "against" that other party, right?
You are empowering parasites. They only get to the top by climbing on top of the one above them. They place themselves in batting orders to load the bases and make a grand slam without having to try too hard.
Voting against someone is a vote that is thrown away. It is a vote that says, "The system is so broken, I'm just going through the motions to make it look like I care." To vote against someone without inherently wanting the man you're voting for to win is to promote a false choice. It is to tie your own, preferred number of wraps around the noose that will hang you.
Sure, I sound all dramatic comparing an election and politics to being killed... but elections and politics do kill.
Politics have murdered, maimed, and destroyed lives, relationships, families, houses, cities, and entire countries for millennia. Think about it. It matters. Act like it.
Stop empowering people who are only empowered because they present themselves to you as a less painful option. Stop the pain. If it matters enough for you to notice and/or vote, it should matter enough for you to make an adult decision to think for yourself. Stop the paradigmagogues from telling you to decide between two evils.
"Never give in to evil, but proceed ever more boldly against it." ~Motto of the Ludwig von Mises Institute.
Paradigmagogue is a portmanteau of paradigm and demagogue.
Some invented words are silly, tongue-in-cheek puns or something, but this word has purpose. I invented this term to warn you of those to whom it best applies: politicians.
Politicians differ from statesmen or patriotic laymen in that they have one goal: winning elections. Statesmen understand the workings of governance and economics, studying and applying principles to circumstances and situations that would otherwise pose a puzzling conundrum; politicians differ from the blue-collar worker in that the politicians are willing to grab that shovel, rake, or pull knobs and switches on a tractor only if a camera is pointing at them. They aren't interested in work or progress, they are interested in their own personal success. There is nothing real to them but filling a suit and holding down a chair. Bearing the title of an office gives them some degree of dignity that they otherwise wouldn't have. And they must hold that title or lose that dignity. Holding the title requires votes, so they go about getting votes.
This is where an industry is born.
The most worthless of men - the lazy, uninspired, unskilled - when given ample opportunity for education, will tend to learn the trade of politics. Politics makes for a tremendously lucrative career. Moreover, it is luxuriant, glamorous, and generally a class within itself, an attribute shared by only a few professions. So you can see why it is so important to hold on and never want to let go once you've become inducted into the "Order of the Parasites." In many cases, the benefits of being a public leech carry on for the rest of your life, including lifetime healthcare, retirement benefits, and even Secret Service (depending on how large a vampire you are).
Now, the question, again, comes down to votes and how to get them.
Republicans are conservatives. Supposed to be, anyway. Confusion and chaos ensues when someone forgets that fact and behaves no differently than their Democrat counterpart. Democrats are supposed to be statist, so there are few issues with their idiot constituents when they behave as such. When statists make up the majority of both parties, and few apparent differences beside a color code and a different letter after their names make deciding between them a matter best settled by eeny-meeny-miney-moe, there needs to be conflict.
There are two categories of rhetoric a paradigmagogue wants to hear.
Category 1: Calls for Compromise.
"Washington can't get anything done!"
"Gridlock is hurting the economy!"
"When are they going to compromise?"
"Do-Nothing Congress needs to stop the bickering..."
MUSIC to a paradigmagogue's ears!
It makes their job so much easier to just go along with the statism that they probably would rather see implemented, anyway, than to actually stand for something. Standing up for convictions requires a spine, and the paradigmagogue is an invertebrate of the highest class.
Category 2: Hegelian Dialectic.
"The [other party] is [saying or doing something you don't like], and we need to do something about it!"
This sums up all that is the paradigmagogue.
The classic "problem-reaction-solution" routine that has empowered (R)'s and (D)'s for decades.
The other party has said something with which you really disagree, because the media told you to disagree. Now, your party has this guy running, and it didn't seem like he really cared about much of anything before, but now he's running ads and such against the party-puppet that said that disagreeable thing. This pleases you. This soothes that feeling of needing to do something to "get" that other party, right? You're gonna vote "against" that other party, right?
You are empowering parasites. They only get to the top by climbing on top of the one above them. They place themselves in batting orders to load the bases and make a grand slam without having to try too hard.
Voting against someone is a vote that is thrown away. It is a vote that says, "The system is so broken, I'm just going through the motions to make it look like I care." To vote against someone without inherently wanting the man you're voting for to win is to promote a false choice. It is to tie your own, preferred number of wraps around the noose that will hang you.
Sure, I sound all dramatic comparing an election and politics to being killed... but elections and politics do kill.
Politics have murdered, maimed, and destroyed lives, relationships, families, houses, cities, and entire countries for millennia. Think about it. It matters. Act like it.
Stop empowering people who are only empowered because they present themselves to you as a less painful option. Stop the pain. If it matters enough for you to notice and/or vote, it should matter enough for you to make an adult decision to think for yourself. Stop the paradigmagogues from telling you to decide between two evils.
"Never give in to evil, but proceed ever more boldly against it." ~Motto of the Ludwig von Mises Institute.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Contest
Since I can't think of anything to say, I'll ask you to say something.
Can you describe President Obama in one word?
Entries will be submitted in a poll, and the winner gets honorable mention.
(Who can resist an award like that?)
Comment your entries below, no limit to the number of entries.
Can you describe President Obama in one word?
Entries will be submitted in a poll, and the winner gets honorable mention.
(Who can resist an award like that?)
Comment your entries below, no limit to the number of entries.
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