House of Eratosthenes

Just wanted to get this written down. Hopefully, we are at a very late hour in our nation’s latest experimentation with zany left-wing government, and in a little over a year we will be demoting it to the municipalities. At any rate, it will always be around for us to see what makes it tick, and how it all works.

Meanwhile, with the benefit of three years of Obama leadership, preceded by an additional two years of a Reid/Pelosi Congress, I thought I’d take the time to record seven generic — read that as, issues-neutral — “planks” in their planning, which seem to be ever-present.

Were I more receptive to what they have in mind, it would bother me mightily that these seven seem to always be there, all the time. Like evil little dwarves, each punctual, nobody ever clicking in late or calling in sick:

1. There are two high-level classifications of cause: Oppression of a designated victim subclass, which may be ongoing or it may be a matter of distant historical record, or environmental catastrophe. The sentiment that unites it all is a feeling that there hasn’t been enough sacrificing going on.
2. The nature of the cause defines the glittering generalities to be seen in the sympathizers of the cause. These generalities have to do with empathy if the cause is present or past slight against a victim subclass, and they have to do with keen foresight and wisdom if it is environmental. This is how the less ideologically-energized, or “moderates,” are recruited to the cause; there is a detectable overtone that if you’re not on-board, there must be something wrong with you.
3. The remedy has something to do with binding legislation. Everyone comes under the jurisdiction of what’s being proposed, and once the plan is put into effect, those who are impacted by it will be impacted on an involuntary basis. There is no opt-in or opt-out, and all the exits are closed.
4. There is a difference between those coming under the jurisdiction and those who are actually impacted. This difference is defined in the form of exemptions. Exemptions are awarded by the discretion of some official who is given the power to decide who is above the law; or, they are awarded by criteria, to appease the commoners. The criteria will then be defined according to wealth/income, with the “have-nots” enjoying the benefits of exemption. The irony here is that empathy is a defining trait that makes the supporters better & more decent people than critics, and yet the supporters cannot see the appeal in their own plan unless they’re assured it only applies to someone else. If they really had empathy, that wouldn’t work too well.
5. If there are other criteria for exemption from direct impact, those other criteria are not openly discussed. They are only fleshed out behind closed doors, before select audiences. Those criteria, of course, have to do with who owes something to who. So at this point, the plan becomes one of retaliating against a real or imagined conspiracy among an over-privileged aristocracy, which might or might not have actually existed, with a new conspiracy that is definitely real, among an over-privileged and newer aristocracy that is also definitely real. If the older aristocracy was real, it might escape everyone’s attention that the newer one boasts some members who were also members of the older one.
6. Also, the all-important wealth/income litmus test is never inspected with much transparency or sincerity. It is established out of concern over discrepancies in the wealth, so it sounds like a wealth test; but when enacted, it invariably deals with income, usually household income, at which point it ceases to concern itself with any other aspect of personal wealth.
7. What I find most curious of all: Very high priority is given to defining who is to be shut out from further discussions about refining the remedy. The supporters, eager to contrast themselves against critics and skeptics for the glittering personal attributes not shared by the critics & skeptics, aren’t keen on debating for too long — they want to get to the fun part, where they just jaw away with others who are like-minded. This is the most important, and the most ironic. The remedy is supposed to benefit all of society, in most cases it’s suppose to actually save society, so that all benefit. It’s supposed to involve everyone. But those sympathetic to it are very proud of and pleased with the fact that the remedy is defined, and adjusted, among a narrow band of elites. Also, none of the supporters seem to suspect, even as a remote possibility, that they themselves might be among the ones excluded from further discussion.

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Memo For File CLIITuesday, January 10th, 2012

Memo For File CLII
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012