Posted on 08/04/2003 7:33:05 PM PDT by hole_n_one
A classic question. One standard answer is that leftism, for many of its adherents, is a pseudo-religious commitment rooted in extreme egotism. With the caveat that all such big-picture theories need to admit many exceptions, I think there is considerable merit to this view. What, after all, characterizes modern leftism? The diagnosis might begin with:
(1) Rejection of conventional religious belief, primarily because acceptance of a God implies duties independent of and higher than one's own impulses. A great portion of "progressive" theorizing on religious, social, cultural, and psychological questions is, in fact, simply an attempt to rationalize bad behavior.
(2) Hatred of market arrangements largely, I think, because the essential discipline of the market is that one gets up every day and works to satisfy other people rather than oneself. Leftists thus tend to hold commercial activity in contempt because it is, for the most part, not directly ego-gratifying.
(3) Furious resentment of anyone who is significantly more successful and/or happier than the wretched little radicals feel themselves to be. Again, egotism is the root of the evil. Hence the prediliction for collectivist arrangements to eliminate the risk of others getting ahead. When leftists achieve power, of course, colletivism for the masses is commonly coupled with insider dealing to benefit the leftists themselves, who feel themselves morally entitled to a superior position because of the non-commercial purity of their motives. For the leftist, equality is an empty slogan; the real point is to keep anyone else from achieving a superior position, which is intolerable to the egotist.
To sum it up, political leftism is a religious heresy frequently rooted in disorders of the spirit. Eric Hoffer, among many others, was right about this. Leftism as a secular religion tends to attract people in emotional distress who reject the idea that they need to compose themselves spiritually first, and instead project their distress onto society/political opponents/class enemies, etc. That does not mean all leftists treat others badly, but the tendency is there.
I'll tell you one thing, I'll be looking at the Prez in a new way now when he's making speeches in a spiffy suit. Counting the number of buttons and all that, LOL.
Viva Monsieur de Paris, ooo la la.
Leni
If this is the part you are referring to, it says nothing about them living together........
de Paris, who has never married and lives in an apartment on Pennsylvania Avenue eight blocks from the White House, often works late into the evening in his two-room shop with his assistant, 75-year-old Armenian-American Nubar Sahaykan.
Clinton expected to have these suits delivered........without the hassle of a meanial person taking measurments and "Chalking a Line"
I love the taylor tape around his neck!
MM
It must be about being out of power. I bet when we find Saddam, his hair will e white too. :)
Given that this article is 7 months old, I think that's a reasonable assumption to make.
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