The keyword here is hypnosis. I have observed when having discussions with people how common it is that people have a base set of standards that have absolutely nothing to do with functional reality; they are simply an accepted (from parents, church, teacher, scientist, authority figures) set of beliefs and accordingly behavioral patterns. Choices are made completely out of awareness. Actions are taken with the blind assumption that it's ok. And conversely when rhetoric or actions or attitudes contradict their paradigms, these are viewed as extreme, crazy, idealistic, and even dangerous. Dangerous to the status quo that is the fundament of their stability; all that the unquestioning mind has to hold onto.
This is essentially the roots of fascism. Yes, I know, it's a heavy word to use to criticize the liberal left. But it's true. I grew up in Seattle and for high school I went back East to a private boarding school in Pennsylvania. In spite of not having really been political at all at this point in my life, but being a student of human nature, I observed something very interesting. I noticed that on the East Coast people were classified as conservatives or liberals. Upon further observation I realized that these were two ends of a very limited spectrum. The indoctrination was deep. What was missing in this spectrum was the concept of a free thinker; someone who observed and reflected and wasn't beholden to any camp.
Now I must say that many of the things I have been saying as a voice in the wilderness for pretty much all of my life are now being expressed more and more by many people. During the Occupy Wall Street days it became clear to me that a new generation of souls have arrived that really don't see why we can't have it all. They see ideals not as fools errands but as realistic attainable ways of life; it's just that the old assumptions, capitalism as an assumed standard for one, don't work and have to go.
This strikes fear in the hearts of those who won't let go. Broadly speaking, these people fall into two categories: those who are just plain greedy and profit from the way things are and really don't give a shit about anyone else, and those who are just too afraid to rock the boat, sometimes out of timidity and sometimes out of fear of anarchy.
To those who fear anarchy I can only say look around you. It's already here. We have corporations taking public property (forests, oil, coal, minerals, water), commandeering it, plundering it while leaving a polluted wasteland behind, then selling it back to us at an obscene profit. We have weapons manufacturers lobbying our elected officials to make war so they can turn a profit. We have people being locked up in private for-profit prisons to meet quotas made with the government.
So to the point of this paper: The left end of the political spectrum does seem to be a little more compassionate. I'll grant them that. But the policies and social standards that they live by and argue for are, for the most part, incredibly destructive at their core.
And to those freethinkers in the media and elsewhere who are open beyond the hypnosis and paradigms I outline below, I applaud you. Keep up the good work.
Let's look at some of the false paradigms of the left.
