Dear Friends,
It seems to me, there’s no more harmful lies, than the ones we tell ourselves. Lies like, “I’m a good person, my side is always right, my group is the best, we’re the only people who are virtuous, we’re so smart we should make all the decisions, I’m so smart I should make all the decisions, etc…” We lie to ourselves all the time. Some lies are harmless, but others are dangerous to our society, nation and very souls. No place do lies put us in more danger than when engaged in politics. Because politics is the nexus of so many raw nerves. Our interests, tribalism, team spirit, cultural ideas, law, religious tenets, wealth, fairness, etc… They’re tied up in politics to some extent. As a result we lie to ourselves even about our motivations. Often to suppress the cognitive dissonance that comes from those self lies.
Both the left and the right, liberal and conservative, has a role to play in governance. As long as neither becomes hegemonic. A leftist is the type of person who will witness someone diving into a pond, and smashing their face into a rock, then being rushed to the emergency room, in close proximity to death… and will jump in the pond at the same spot. Then lament how it’s possible they could have smashed their face on a rock too. Because they’re adventurous, care free and heedless of danger. While a conservative will witness the same thing, and swim elsewhere. Without the adventurous, we stagnate, without conservatism, we smash our faces into rocks. Making the lie, our side should always have hegemonic power, because, whatever self lie we currently believe… very dangerous.
The “I’m a good person…” lie is deadly. It can be exploited to cover a multitude of sins. This is a reason that when we do a bad thing to someone, even by accident, we tend not to like that person. Because, since we ourselves are good people, and we wouldn’t harm an innocent person, because that would conflict with our self image, that other person must be bad. This calms the cognitive dissonance that we feel from harming an innocent person, even accidentally. Do you think the Nazi death camp guards thought themselves evil people? Of course not. They thought themselves the good guys. They justified their atrocities by believing wholeheartedly, the innocents they were murdering were bad. Even the children. Like abortionists, Islamists and elitists do today.
The simple fact of the matter is, your not a good person, nor am I, at best we’re bad people trying to be good. Bypassing that truth with a lie isn’t going to make us good people. It’ll only make us demons without a conscience. Moreover, holding to a belief, in the face of obvious evidence to the contrary, makes us stupid. Believing in absurdity is one of the hallmarks of stupidity. Plus, being unwilling to reexamine a belief, is proof of stupidity. The elite then, who believe killing a large percentage of the human race, to bring humanity in line with the planet’s carrying capacity, to maybe prevent a greater catastrophe later, is engaging in this kind of stupidity. Thinking they’re good people, and doing evil, is justified by the logic, the people they harm must be bad. Like those bad Maga republicans.
Lies are dangerous but the ones we tell ourselves are the most dangerous. Because they sooth our conscience making us demons, allow us to believe absurdities, and make us stupid. I would argue that most if not all the problems we face as a species, now, are due to our lying to ourselves. The elite today believe absurdities, that fly in the face of history, because they’re lying to themselves. Do you think “judge” Engoron thinks his abuse of the law to get Trump is a bad thing? Or makes him a bad person? Of course not. He knows in his carbide heart, he’s the good guy. What other role of law than to be exploited to destroy bad people like Trump. Why is Trump evil? Because Engoron hates Trump, and since the “judge” is a good person, Trump must deserve it. So, again, we smash our faces into a rock.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
