Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 08/26/2026 6:52:21 AM PDT by Twotone
The people who live and breathe politics often talk as if the upcoming election is the most important election of all time. As they see it, we are in an unprecedented historical moment and the choices we make today will determine the fate of the nation. I understand their perspective and a younger version of me occasionally slipped into that mindset. However, far from being unprecedented, the core challenge facing America today was described more than 2,000 years ago by an ancient Greek philosopher.
Plato, a student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle, imagined prisoners chained inside a dark cave, facing a blank wall. They could not see what was going on behind them, but were able to see shadows cast on the wall, illuminated by a fire.
Naturally, they tried to figure out what was going on by interpreting the shadows. The problem was that the shadows reflected reality but the prisoners came to believe they were reality. In this setting, it’s easy to imagine competing groups of prisoners arguing about how each movement of a shadow should be interpreted.
In our 10-10-80 nation, the comparison to America’s Political Class is chillingly obvious. The ten percenters, imprisoned within their ideological bubbles, have little to no understanding of the 80 percenters they want to rule. Since they don’t know what it’s like in the real world, they misinterpret reality based upon shadows like news coverage, social media firestorms, and low-turnout election results.
The shadows seen by political activists have some basis in reality, of course. Something caused the shadows. But shadows are often distorted in size and shape until they bear little resemblance to the reality behind them.
A good example is current Political Class uproar about former male NBA players wanting to play in the WNBA. To the fringe minority who talk politics daily, this is a really big deal. Fifty-nine percent (59%) of them are following news of the story very closely. However, to the vast majority who discuss politics no more than once a week, only 4% are paying that much attention to it.
A similar thing happened last year with Sydney Sweeney’s “great jeans” ads for American Eagle. Half of the politically obsessed fringe followed that story very closely. Among the more normal Americans, hardly anybody paid attention. Additionally, in both cases, the views of those in the political class were wildly different than the rest of America. A plurality (49%) of people who talk politics daily believe biological males who identify as women should be allowed to play in the WNBA. Among the larger group who tune out politics, only 10% agree.
With Sydney Sweeney, opinion was divided as to whether the ad was a racist nod to white supremacy or just a normal ad. Outside that bubble, however, America shrugged. By a six-to-one margin, these politically disengaged Americans dismissed the controversy, seeing nothing more than an attractive actress in a denim ad.
In other words, the ten percenters were latching onto shadows to fight their own ideological battles. They had little understanding of or interest in the reality that created the shadows.
It’s obviously problematic that those fighting to control the enormous power of government don’t understand the nation they want to rule.
What makes it even worse is the second part of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. In his story, one of the prisoners escapes and finds out that the real world is nothing like what the prisoners had envisioned. Their interpretation of the shadows was way off base.
However, upon learning from someone who had actually seen the reality that was causing the shadows, the other prisoners didn’t change their perspective. Instead, they continued to believe their interpretation of the shadows represented reality.
Sadly, many of the ten percenters today are just as resistant to reality. They routinely chuckle about how voters hate Congress but love their own representative. In reality, half of all voters believe their own representative in Congress trades votes for cash. Few believe their rep is the best person for the job.
Similar misunderstandings can be found on issue after issue touching every aspect of politics and government. Recently, shadows cast by very low-turnout elections created a myth about the rise of Socialism in America. As I’ve recently explained, there has been no real world increase in support for socialism over the past decade. In fact, only about 6% of voters support Socialism as that term is understood by those inside the political bubble.
This particular misunderstanding highlights how dangerous the ten percenters are to America. If ten percenters on the left convince themselves that the American people really want Socialism, they will use the power of government to implement very un-American policies. At the same time, the ten percenters on the right won’t know what to do about it.
The good news is that the 80 percenters continue to embrace our nation’s noble founding ideals of freedom, equality, and self-governance. The challenge before us is to help the ten percenters understand reality and make our government more responsive to people outside the political cave.
|
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
Foaming at the mouth house minority leader Hakeem Jeffries has angrily promised to nuke the filibuster, eliminate the electoral college, and pack the Supreme Court on day one if Dems regain power. But, yeah, no biggie, businesses as usual. Nothing to see here.
It’s been true at least since Wilson, that the Democrats agree with Plato: let the experts decide, keep the workers in the dark, use force to keep the workers in line when necessary. The GOP at least in theory stands for Aristotle, who was the Greek basis for our DofI and the basic organization of limited government with individuals who pursue good lives.
P.S. The reason east Asian societies (Japan, Korea, Singapore) look “better” is that they follow neither of the above, but rather Confucius, organizing their society with interlocking group hierarchies, from the family to the neighborhood to the city to the nation. It’s a great way to live, if you don’t mind not having any personal freedom.
in current US politics the left acti8vists have a ground game. They talk directly to the voter...and non-voter. They seem to tell the voter what the voter wants to hear.
But they are in touch with the voter.
Currently the Right does not have much of a ground game. The right attends “conventions” in Dallas and Las Vegas and wants these central events to change the world. But the activists on the right are not in communication with their own voters. They don’t listen to their own voters and thus don’t communicate well with their own voters.
And most of the people are not paying attention...
The bad news is that they won't know what hit them when it's all taken away.
Plato wrote the Allegory of the Cave. But did he ever go inside a cave? There are caves in Greece.
https://lyceumnow.com/person/scott-rasmussen/
Scott W. Rasmussen is president of RMG Research, founder of the Napolitan Institute and co-founder of ESPN. His new book, “Out of Touch: The Elite One Percent and the Battle for America’s Soul,” defines our 10-10-80 nation and shows how the 80 percent are the best hope for America’s future.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
