Dear Friends,
It seems to me, despots use modifiers to pervert universals to mean their opposites. They see morality as contingent on political ideal, justice contingent on a political favor, and a crime contingent on the criminal. The result is chaos, because words lose meaning and society comes unmoored from reality. Then, as Solzhenitsyn said, the absurd becomes normal. No one questions an absurd standard… because questions get you a ticket to a gulag. This explains the incentive to go along once absurdity is the norm, but it doesn’t explain why absurdity becomes the norm. That is done by perverting universals. Such words as “social justice” is neither social, nor just. Connecting the two words in such a fashion cancels them out. Perverting universals is very effective at establishing absurdity as the norm.
Common sense is meted out to everyone. It’s up to us whether we accept it or not. There are trade offs to both paths. Those that accept common sense have to also accept some harsh realities but have the advantage of recognizing absurdity. Those who disregard common sense for an ideal have the advantage of avoiding dealing with harsh realities, and the disadvantage of not recognizing absurdity. Their naivete is magnified when those absurdities are masked by pleasant-sounding phrases. Moreover, even those with common sense can have that sense tamped down by the herd mentality. So when we hear the term “climate justice,” we hear “justice for the climate…” but what is really being said is, “Injustice done in the name of the climate.” This establishes absurdity as clever.
There are as many ways to establish absurdity as there are minds to think of them. From “war is peace,” “Strength through Joy,” and “Women can have penises…” absurdity comes in all forms. The one other thing they all have in common is they require that we mindlessly believe and obey. Orwell identified this strategy and illustrated it clearly in his book, 1984. Today we see absurdity inculcated all around us as self evident fact. What are your pronouns by the way? Do they follow normal English as it’s been spoken for centuries, or are you perverting the language to make a political statement? Then get angry and violent when people with common sense don’t go along? That’s the way absurdity is established as normal and punishable for disbelief.
Solzhenitsyn’s famous tome, Gulag Archipelago, laid out the system of mental repression. In the absurd state everyone must say, act, and believe absurdity without question or be punished. Why? Because to continue absurdity must be forced on people. Especially once the results of that absurdity become clear to everyone. The first to go are the true believers. They die by exertion, driven to exhaustion by power-mad hogs. Once they are gone, the only thing left is force, violence, and terror. A general terror of the Party as Lenin espoused. As in North Korea today, children are told the most dangerous part of their body is their mouth. If they say the wrong thing, not only them, but their entire family will be punished for three generations. Such is the need to force absurdity there.
The mere fact that absurdity is the norm in such places means they are unstable. Absurdity yields nothing but disaster, poverty, and anger. The longer it’s around the harder it must be enforced. As shown by the North Korean example. Many people, however, reject common sense for a purpose. They embrace absurdity and become the true believers. Working their fingers to the bone until they are used up. Then they’re tossed away and the absurdity is enforced by terror. No one wants to go to a gulag or have their entire family punished for three generations, so they are willing to tolerate a pretty high level of absurdity. Poverty, disease, and want take their toll so the moment a shock comes to the system… the glass facade of strength is shattered, and despots end up like Mussolini, Gaddafi, or Robespierre.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Absurdity, Universals, and Despotism
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, despots use modifiers to pervert universals to mean their opposites. They see morality as contingent on political ideal, justice contingent on a political favor, and a crime contingent on the criminal. The result is chaos, because words lose meaning and society comes unmoored from reality. Then, as Solzhenitsyn said, the absurd becomes normal. No one questions an absurd standard… because questions get you a ticket to a gulag. This explains the incentive to go along once absurdity is the norm, but it doesn’t explain why absurdity becomes the norm. That is done by perverting universals. Such words as “social justice” is neither social, nor just. Connecting the two words in such a fashion cancels them out. Perverting universals is very effective at establishing absurdity as the norm.
Common sense is meted out to everyone. It’s up to us whether we accept it or not. There are trade offs to both paths. Those that accept common sense have to also accept some harsh realities but have the advantage of recognizing absurdity. Those who disregard common sense for an ideal have the advantage of avoiding dealing with harsh realities, and the disadvantage of not recognizing absurdity. Their naivete is magnified when those absurdities are masked by pleasant-sounding phrases. Moreover, even those with common sense can have that sense tamped down by the herd mentality. So when we hear the term “climate justice,” we hear “justice for the climate…” but what is really being said is, “Injustice done in the name of the climate.” This establishes absurdity as clever.
There are as many ways to establish absurdity as there are minds to think of them. From “war is peace,” “Strength through Joy,” and “Women can have penises…” absurdity comes in all forms. The one other thing they all have in common is they require that we mindlessly believe and obey. Orwell identified this strategy and illustrated it clearly in his book, 1984. Today we see absurdity inculcated all around us as self evident fact. What are your pronouns by the way? Do they follow normal English as it’s been spoken for centuries, or are you perverting the language to make a political statement? Then get angry and violent when people with common sense don’t go along? That’s the way absurdity is established as normal and punishable for disbelief.
Solzhenitsyn’s famous tome, Gulag Archipelago, laid out the system of mental repression. In the absurd state everyone must say, act, and believe absurdity without question or be punished. Why? Because to continue absurdity must be forced on people. Especially once the results of that absurdity become clear to everyone. The first to go are the true believers. They die by exertion, driven to exhaustion by power-mad hogs. Once they are gone, the only thing left is force, violence, and terror. A general terror of the Party as Lenin espoused. As in North Korea today, children are told the most dangerous part of their body is their mouth. If they say the wrong thing, not only them, but their entire family will be punished for three generations. Such is the need to force absurdity there.
The mere fact that absurdity is the norm in such places means they are unstable. Absurdity yields nothing but disaster, poverty, and anger. The longer it’s around the harder it must be enforced. As shown by the North Korean example. Many people, however, reject common sense for a purpose. They embrace absurdity and become the true believers. Working their fingers to the bone until they are used up. Then they’re tossed away and the absurdity is enforced by terror. No one wants to go to a gulag or have their entire family punished for three generations, so they are willing to tolerate a pretty high level of absurdity. Poverty, disease, and want take their toll so the moment a shock comes to the system… the glass facade of strength is shattered, and despots end up like Mussolini, Gaddafi, or Robespierre.
Sincerely,
John Pepin