Wise words. I think the author is a psychiatrist, so he's probably dealt with these types. He and Yale Kramer (another psychiatrist) publish the Horsefeathers! web site.
1 posted on
02/12/2003 8:09:07 AM PST by
BurkesLaw
To: BurkesLaw
BTTT
2 posted on
02/12/2003 8:22:02 AM PST by
Gritty
To: BurkesLaw
BOOKMARKED
BUMP
3 posted on
02/12/2003 8:26:28 AM PST by
ppaul
To: BurkesLaw
bump
To: demosthenes the elder
Interesting.
5 posted on
02/12/2003 8:30:11 AM PST by
dyed_in_the_wool
(I am Jack's smirking revenge.)
To: BurkesLaw
Bumping a penetrating analysis.
To: BurkesLaw
Our debate today between liberals and conservatives is really a new version of the longstanding debate between utopians and anti-utopians. The latter are naturally regarded as less morally worthy than those who embrace a self flattering fantasy of universal love. As Thomas Sowell pointed out in A Conflict of Visions, none of us sees reality whole. Utopians have the grandiose idea that they do see enough of reality to be able to dispense with tradition's wisdom. The most obvious fallacy of that conceit is the fact that any given language is itself meaningless apart from tradition--and where is your vaunted rationality without language? No one learns their first language from a dictionary; they instead learn it in the bosom of their family, and in their culture. Subsequent "book larnin" from dictionaries can then amplifiy the child's knowledge of his native tounge or teach it other languages--but what is the meaning of a Spanish-English dictionary if you know neither Spanish nor English? It is gibberish, at most.
To: BurkesLaw
Bump for Later
8 posted on
02/12/2003 8:36:54 AM PST by
gridlock
(All we are saying, Is give war a chance....)
To: BurkesLaw
Bump for later.
10 posted on
02/12/2003 9:08:04 AM PST by
Huck
To: BurkesLaw
The battle in places like Europe is not between Islam and Christianity (that battle is over, as Christianity as a force has almost disappeared in Europe), but
between Islam and Secular Humanism/Socialism. Adherents of the latter 'religion' haven't yet realized who their real enemy is.
11 posted on
02/12/2003 9:13:06 AM PST by
expatpat
To: BurkesLaw
Why do verbally gifted and creative individuals lend themselves to this sort of idiocy?"Check your premises."
12 posted on
02/12/2003 9:19:01 AM PST by
Redcloak
(Jøìn thë Çøålìtìon tø Prëvënt the Åbûsë of Ûnnëçëssårìlÿ Lëngthÿ, Vërbøsë ånd Nønsënsìçål Tåg Lìnës)
To: BurkesLaw
One of the best posts in a while. Thanx.
13 posted on
02/12/2003 9:37:53 AM PST by
friendly
To: BurkesLaw
This has always been my take on the liberal and libertarian perspectives. And with a blind eye to the very nature of man with all his shortcomings, they will never understand why Utopia is unattainable.
To: BurkesLaw
good article
To: BurkesLaw; lawgirl; Polybius
16 posted on
02/12/2003 10:42:41 AM PST by
Paul Ross
(From the State Looking Forward to Global Warming! Let's Drown France!)
To: BurkesLaw
Bump for later.
17 posted on
02/12/2003 10:46:53 AM PST by
StriperSniper
(Start heating the TAR, I'll go get the FEATHERS.)
To: BurkesLaw
Liberals and libertarians (liberaltarians) do not accept that the innate desire for perfection and harmony deep within every human being cannot be fulfilled in the world of birth and death. As a monotheist, my understanding is that every soul is created by/coming from God, and that being (currently) separated from Him, it is our deepest desire and need to reunite with Him in love. When this need is neither recognized nor acted upon, it is misdirected and misapplied in the world.
In other words, if we don't seek the Kingdom of God in the right place, we try to imitate and create one on earth. And the result? Hell on earth.
Can't have the kingdom of God without God. It turns quickly into the worst hell anyone could ever imagine, ruled by imitation gods who become the worst enemies of the world.
To: BurkesLaw
Both yearn for an unattainable perfection that can only require the annihilation of those who stand in the way. I don't see it. Annihilation of those that stand in the way is not required by the utopian vision. Seclusion would suffice.
Afghanistan should have been Osama's utopia as the most pure implementation of sharia law. Does anyone doubt the world would fate would be much different were it all dominated by Islam?
Likewise the Soviet Union should have been the Communist's utopia, but it was indeed fantasy and after enough years reality set in and brought about the collapse of the communist state.
Annihilation of those that stand is the way is about winning. It's not about limiting outside influence. It's about validating your own beliefs by killing others. It's about power and exerting it over other people. It's about status and greed and probably lust.
22 posted on
02/12/2003 3:23:09 PM PST by
DannyTN
(Note left on my door by a pack of neighborhood dogs.)
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