Politics, Partisanship, and Propaganda
I am growing weary of the "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is an idiot" memes from my right-wing acquaintances. If only the problem were so simple. AOC, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth "Fauxcahontas" Warren, et al. aren't dangerous because they're stupid, but because they're experts in things that are wrong, and they're willing to stoop to any fallacy or sophistry to defend their claims or attack their critics. If one disagrees with such "progressives," a moral, rational, compassionate basis for that disagreement can't be considered. The only allowable interpretation for dissent is either stunted capacity for empathy or malevolent disdain for others.
I'm sure any right-wing readers are ready to start celebrating this article after that paragraph, but hold yer horses. The right appeals to emotion, fallacies, and false premises for its arguments, too. This is a bipartisan flaw. The nature of politics turns any dispute into a zero-sum game, and drives disagreement into a perverse factionalism of extremes where sociopaths strive for power and will say anything to get the gullible public to support their ambitions. Labels are used to obfuscate, not to inform. Sloganeering replaces sound arguments. The Green New Deal and "social justice" are no more or less a con job than "build the wall" and "make America great again."
Politicians in general suffer from the Dunning-Kruger effect where they believe their usurped power gives them special authority and wisdom to guide society. They don't even know what they don't know. They firmly believe that any problems can be solved by writing more laws and enforcing them with violence. The partisan disputes are never over the legitimacy of this belief, only in how it should be applied against us. Bipartisanship isn't a victory for liberty, it is a victory for the iron fist of The State.
Freedom doesn't flow from seats of political power. Society isn't built on the foundation of sound government. The economy doesn't need to be restrained and managed by wise bureaucrats. These lies are inculcated by propaganda, and must be un-learned if we are to achieve real progress toward liberty, equality, and justice. neither Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez nor Donald Trump are idiots who got elected, they're false messiahs worshipped by the cult of politics. The cult is the real threat, not the figureheads it elevates.
Start building a voluntary society without their permission. They'll never grant it anyway. If you place your faith in silver-tongued politicians to provide peace and prosperity, that makes you the idiot, not the charlatans selling people the lies they want to hear.
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She's an evil political predator, but she knows what she's doing. Just like all the rest of the congressvermin and presidents.
Lumping all politicians into one 'evil' group is an arrogant and dangerous attitude, that gets us presidents like DT.
Claiming authority over the life, liberty, and property of strangers is an arrogant and dangerous attitude. That is what politicians do. There is no representation. There is no agent/principal relationship. Blaming a consistent philosophy of liberty for electing Trump is like blaming a consistent philosophy of peace for Al Qaeda.
"Evil": any act which intentionally harms any person who isn't currently initiating force or violating private property; harms someone who does not deserve to be harmed at this moment.
Philip Zimbardo, in The Lucifer Effect, defines it thusly: “Evil consists in intentionally behaving in ways that harm, abuse, demean, dehumanize, or destroy innocent others—or using one’s authority and systemic power to encourage or permit others to do so on your behalf.” So he includes the use of (imaginary) political "authority" to influence others to be evil under his definition of evil. I agree.
Do all politicians use politics? Yes. Then all politicians are committing evil.
Would you argue against lumping all rapists into one "evil" group based on the definitional act they commit? If so, why the inconsistency?
Recognizing reality isn't "arrogant and dangerous". Burying your head in the sand because it hurts your feelings is.
Idiots they are not, that is for sure. There is a genius in the way this web is woven.
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~ AOC
Why does she assert that her proposals are morally right? They are built on a foundation of stolen money and usurped authority. It poisons the well to start the debate by condemning all opposition as based in immorality.
They are built on the idea that we can redistribute our fed assets in order to fully integrate renewable energy and fund the livelihood of the people. She is a welcome voice in this time that we live in, where a shift in our mentality about our environmental impact must be the foremost concern.
Government isn't us. There is no "we." Government cannot create wealth through central planning. Taxation is extortion, and removes power from the people. The economic calculation problem is real. Opportunity costs exist. Government is not immune to the waste and abuse inherent in monopoly power. Yes, it is good to reduce pollution and change resource usage toward renewables and recyclables in general, but politicians lack the knowledge necessary to weigh costs and benefits, and substitute violence for reason.
This is my point - AOC is an outlier! Just give her the time of day, substituting violence for reason is one of her cornerstone values.
Also, I understand the whole Libertarian “taxation is theft/extortion” argument (I’ve been on Steem long enough to have this conversation several times, the Libertarians obviously love it here). It is only true if the taxes don’t serve the people, which they do, but not to the extent that many (including myself) feel is possible. I would say education, libraries, firefighters, public parks, etc. are pretty empowering to the people. The taxpayer money we throw at the war machine however, is excessive. If corporations paid their taxes, and our priorities were realigned somewhat, we would come closer to realizing our societal potential.
Translation:
"It's not theft if it goes to programs that I like."
You can vilify taxes with the word 'theft', or consider them simply part of our 'social contract' in a Social Democracy, but any way you slice it, taxes are ideally how Americans pay in for the greater good of all. Paying taxes is part of being an American, and as such should sustain the livelihood of the people. Maybe that blows, maybe it's theft, but it is just part of our reality. Because this is part of the American condition, we should be able to assure that taxpayer dollars go to the things that cause us to grow and prosper as a people.
There is no social contract.
So if a mugger gives some of the stolen loot (minus his expenses, of course) to widows and orphans, it's not theft. Because he would be "serving the people".
I LOVE libraries, parks, and education (which is why I despise "public schools"). But there's nothing I want bad enough to rob you at gunpoint to get it. Nothing. If something can't be funded voluntarily it needs to die.
Ok lol! Enjoy life in your commune!
That doesn't make any sense. Advocating liberty is antithetical to advocating communism.
She isn't different. Her means are identical to those used by Trump. She demands obedience under penalty of theft, kidnapping, or murder.
If her ideas are really good, why can't she find a way to enact them voluntarily? Politics is antithetical to cooperative problem solving.
When government monopolizes a service, it doesn't transform extortion into a blessing. It transforms a necessary service into a bureaucracy.
lolwut? All I said was listen to some of her ideas sometime, which this line shows you clearly have not.
Although our current Congress + presidential cabinet is a shit show, politics is actually meant to be synonymous with cooperative problem solving. This all goes out the window when bipartisanship, civility, and common sense is nowhere to be found. Imposing term limits on members of Congress would be a great start to revitalizing their efficiency in solving some problems.
I have listened to her ideas. I still disagree with her ends and means. That means compliance will be coerced under threat and duress if she gets her way. That isn't cooperation.
There is nothing cooperative about politics. Politics is an artificial zero-sum game. There is no representation. Democracy is a myth. It is no more legitimate than astrology is a science.
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