image credit: drray.com
Starting off 2020 on a philosophical note. . . Dennis Prager recently published “Greta Thunberg: A Living
Explanation of the Left” at Real Clear Politics. His article considers the
difference between a “liberal” and a “leftist,” and why conservative and
leftists are unable to communicate with each other. He begins:
It is not easy to understand what
the left -- as opposed to liberals -- stands for. If you ask a Christian what
to read to learn the basics of Christianity, you will be told the Bible. If you
ask a (religious) Jew, you will be told the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud. If you
ask a Mormon, you will be told the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Ask a Muslim
and you will be told the Quran.
But if you ask a leftist what one
or two books you should read to understand leftism, every leftist will give you
a different answer -- or need some time to think it over. Few, if any, will
suggest Marx's "Das Kapital" because almost no leftists have read it
and because you will either not finish the book or reject it as incoherent.
So, then, how is one to understand
what leftism stands for?
The truth is -- it is almost
impossible. What leftist in history would have ever imagined that to be a
leftist, one would have to believe that men give birth or men have periods, or
that it is fair to women to have to compete in sports with biological males who
identify as females?
There are two primary reasons it is
so difficult, if not impossible, to define leftism. One is that it ultimately
stands for chaos:
-- Open borders.
-- "Non-binary" genders.
-- Nonsensical and scatological
"art."
-- "Music" without
tonality, melody or harmony.
-- Drag Queen Story Hour for
5-year-olds.
-- Rejection of the concept of
better or worse civilizations.
-- Rejection of the concept of
better or worse art.
-- Removal of Shakespeare's
picture from a university English department because he was a white male.
-- The end of all use of fossil
fuels -- even in transportation (as per the recent recommendation by the head
of the U.N. World Meteorological Organization).
-- The dismantling of capitalism,
the economic engine that has lifted billions of people out of abject poverty.
And much more.
The other major reason it is
impossible to define leftism is that it is emotion-based. Leftism consists of
causes that give those who otherwise lack meaning something to cling to for
meaning.
Two things about Greta Thunberg, Time magazine's 2019 person of the year, embody these explanations.
Mr. Prager goes on to illustrate the emotional need for
“meaning” by examining the strange case of St. Greta. It explains why those who employ facts and
logic have little chance of persuading those whose grasp of facts and logic are
subordinate to their emotional needs. But is also helps those who employ logic and facts to understand the rantings of Robert De Niro, Bette Midler, Cher, mainstream media hosts such as Don Lemon and Joy Reid, etc. Read the rest here.
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