Monday, January 07, 2019

Populism And The Cult Of Victimhood

     There's been a small furor over a Tucker Carlson monologue, from Left, Right and points between.

     To me, it's more of the same-old, same-old, the same tired nonsense the more obnoxious rabble-rousers on the Right and Left like to trot out about "bad leaders" and "they" who are keeping you down, and possibly kicking you down to begin with.  It's crap.

     First off, if you need some damn leader to follow or loathe, please look for a new hobby and/or a better religion: this is the United States and our "leaders" are supposed to be doing the legislative and executive grunt work or making sure the streets run on time and the criminals are kept on the run, not to mention avoiding foreign entanglements and providing for the common defense.  They're not supposed to be shining examples on a hill in the sunlight whom you should aspire to emulate.  Most of them are lawyers who weren't all that good at practicing law and thought writing laws might be easier; the evidence suggests they don't have much knack for that, either.

     Second, the person with the largest responsibility for your troubles, the most power to do anything about them and the greatest interest in fixing them is the person you see in the mirror every morning.  Maybe your bootstraps or biceps are so weak or worn that you need a hand up; there's nothing wrong with that, but you have to reach out for it and keep on reaching -- and not to pick your benefactor's pocket, either!

     Third, this is the kind of politics that leads to trouble.  See the run-up to World Wars One and Two if you need examples.

     The ignorance of history is going to make us relive it in full color, 3-D and with plenty of missed meals.   If people knew more history, they wouldn't be so keen on the possibility.

4 comments:

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

This is the direct result of all that "end of history" BS that was trotted out after the fall of the Soviet Union. If it's the end of history, why study it?

I recall writing a paper when I was in grad school to the effect that Francis Fukuyama was a blithering idiot. I haven't seen anything in the ensuing years to change my mind.

Merle said...

but, but, but - the six o'clock news says otherwise!!! :)

rickn8or said...

Merle, I don't even trust the six o'clock news for sportsball scores and weather predictions.

Brian N. said...

The victimhood narrative that Carlson's peddling, the same one peddled by grievance studies professors in colleges, is tailor-made to appeal to the inner loser in everyone. I don't think Carlson believes it because he's too smart to have not done his homework, which raises the obvious question of his motives.