[MD] The Pendulum and the Pit

[John Carl]

>From the mind of David M. Buchanan:

"I think the MOQ's evolutionary morality is very far from reactionary and
does the trick much, much better. I'd even say that this here forum is no
place for reactionaries but then it's not really a great place for
scientific materialists either."

I agree with Dave.  But I would expand the idea a bit and add another aspect
to the definition of reactionary.

But first, an analogy:  The American political system is like a pendulum
swinging between the liberal and conservative extremes and the more energy
we pour into the swing, the higher the arc, the more intense the speed, the
bigger the backlash and the more reactionary the responses - leading to MORE
energy put in and wider arcs... etc.

Now our current situation, with an approaching total collapse of the free
market system and thus repudiation of the conservative movement's main
force, does create a tremendous opportunity to jump on the Obama wagon and
ride that swing as far as you can and push it as hard as you can to get as
high as you can.  But that would be a mistake.  The more energy poured into
the pendulum's swing when it's already going that way anyway, means all the
more force and power to be expected on the back swing - when voter
discontent with the failure of socialist programing to "fix" everything
creates a new kind of fascism frightening to behold - the pit - the abyss -
Armageddon - following the known historical patterns David so eloquently
described this weekend.

Now I see the challenge to be part of this forum, is to do what is good
 rather than what helps your side win.  To be granted the opportunity to
hold the best intellectual tools implies responsibility to use that tool
wisely.  Not to increase energy in a swing already dragging society toward
an abyss, but to offer insights helpful to getting off the whole thing and
maybe throw your mass in the most helpful way possible - against popular
opinion - even when you are all alone in doing so and it gets you nothing
but recrimination and disrepute.




-- 
------------
There are differing interpretations of Reality, some are just better than
others, that's all.
------------