Friday 27 January 2012

Political correctness beats cosmopolitan Libertarianism: because sacrificial religion beats hedonic individualism

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The complete and utter feebleness of libertarian ideas (I am speaking as an ex-libertarian) comes from the fact that they are up-against religion: the religion of political correctness.

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The 'secular right' agenda is lukewarm except where it is nationalist: cosmopolitan libertarians are simply not doing politics.

Because of the feebleness of their conviction, libertarians and right wing secular hedonists will sell-out as soon as they get a sniff of power, as soon as anyone offers to buy them off, or as soon as they are threatened.

Indeed, observation and experience shows that people will not sacrifice anything of significance to support sensible secular, materialist, pragmatic, libertarian right wing policies.

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(And anyone who imagines libertarians will sacrifice in support of their supposed ideals, should try sticking their neck out and getting into trouble in support of libertarian ideas, and just see how much effective support rallies to them... Libertarians idea of a bold political stance is to sign their names to a sternly-worded multi-author letter - although most will not risk even that...)

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By contrast, large numbers of religious folk will sacrifice comfort, prosperity, time, money and other resources to pursue their goals.

And the same applies, at a much lower level, to the Leftist religion of political correctness.

Political correctness is the feeblest of religions, as religion go; but any religion will beat no religion.

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Leftists will sacrifice quite a lot for their beliefs.

Albeit these sacrifices tend to be gradual, quietist and passive - and not to require courage; nonetheless, leftists sit for hour after hour in excruciatingly dull committee meetings (until all their opponents have gone), work hard to buy expensive useless stuff-that-Leftists-like, travel to the right places even when they are unpleasant and dangerous, read miserable newspapers, books and blogs - and watch despair-inducing socially aware movies when the world is full of enjoyable edification, they shell-out vastly in taxes and ask for more taxes...

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In sum, Leftists acquiesce in sacrifice of their own long term security and prosperity, their peace and comfort, sacrifice their own childrens' health and happiness, and the H&H of future generations in pursuit of their self-loathing and self-destroying ideas such as multiculturalism, unrestricted mass immigration, egalitarianism, affirmative action, 'democracy', world government, moral and aesthetic inversion, wholesale propaganda.

In general, real leftists trudge through life under a burden of near paralyzing, un-assuageable and self-stoked guilt which they do their best to amplify and spread - so they certainly feel as if they are sacrificing.

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Yes, political correctness is indeed a sacrificial religion - albeit an atheistic religion of this-worldly nihilistic materialism; from which there is no escape except into distraction or oblivion - albeit the feeblest and most depraved of religions: but religion it is.

When the leftist religion is matched-against a devout, theistic and other worldly orthodox traditional religion it is, of course, utterly crushed - sooner or later, unless it can corrupt the theistic religion to worldly hedonism.

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(The success of leftism derives from its power to corrupt enemies, not from intrinsic strength.)

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But libertarianism is the ideology of minimal sacrifice - it is precisely the ideology of those who want-to-do what they want-to-do, nothing else: and they want it now.

This is why political correctness (as we see all around us) wipes the floor with its right wing enemies.

When a sacrificial religion - any religion, even a feeble one - is pitted-against the mere self-gratifying, individualistic, guilt-shrugging, 'glass bead game'-playing of intellectual, libertarian, cosmopolitan secularism - there can be only one winner.

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5 comments:

JP said...

It is difficult to see PC as a feeble religion when it has utterly routed so many other religions and indeed, corrupted and converted them into fellow believers in "diversity, tolerance, and inclusion." PC will not tolerate open displays of religious belief in public life, and PC has prevailed.

Nobody, apparently, was willing to sacrifice to keep what you might call "mainstream Protestant" denominations alive. The only Protestants who still resist are the evangelicals / Southern Baptists. The Anglican church (and its Episcopal version in the USA) came up against the self-gratifying, individualistic, guilt-shrugging, 'glass bead game'-playing cosmopolitan secularism... and LOST. And yet Anglicans in previous centuries were willing to sacrifice a great deal, including their lives...

Bruce Charlton said...

@JP - "PC will not tolerate open displays of religious belief in public life"

This only applies to Christianity because Leftism is primarily about combating Christianity - some other religions are celebrated, protected, deferred-to, organized-around, state subsidized, privileged etc. Especially insofar as they are anti-Christian.

Yes, I agree, PC beat mainstream Christians; done, as I said, by corrupting them.

The deal was that you could have prosperity, lifestyle freedom, subsidies, status, sex - at the cost of subordinating your religion to modernity. Most Christians accepted the price.

The Christian denominations and other religions which are thriving and growing fast are all anti-modern, organized-against the modern.

Brandon said...

"The Christian denominations and other religions which are thriving and growing fast are all anti-modern, organized-against the modern."

Could you give some examples? I would like to join one of these.

Bruce Charlton said...

@Brandon - e.g. Amish, Hutterites, 'Islamist' Muslims, Ultra Orthodox Jews ...

Good luck!

Bruce Charlton said...

@Brandon - the (broadly) *pro*-modern success story have been Mormons.