Indifference to Human Nature

[Skull]

Human nature is not thought about much by most of us. Here is a good think piece by Peter Hughes -- Temptations of Tyranny:

https://quillette.com/2021/11/13/the...ns-of-tyranny/

Here is how it begins...

When Shigalyov, one of the revolutionaries in Dostoevsky’s Demons, lays out his “system of world organization,” he admits that he got “entangled in my own data.” Confronted with the brutal logic of his idealism, he is forced to concede that his conclusion “directly contradicts the original idea from which I start.” His starting point, familiar to generations of revolutionaries, is the idea of “unlimited freedom.” Rather than taking Shigalyov to the Utopia he imagines, it leads him down a path that ends in “unlimited despotism.” Far from being disturbed by this unpalatable discovery, Shigalyov resolves his cognitive dissonance with a deepened sense of the correctness of his vision: “apart from my solution of the social formula, there can be no other.” The revolutionary agitator sees his ideals collapse into their opposite, but even this does not damage the certainty with which he clings to them.
A hundred years after the publication of Demons, a different group of revolutionaries stormed the gates of the ancestral home of Confucius in Qufu, China. In July 1966, Red Guards desecrated the graves of Confucius’s ancestors. They smashed coffins, plundered them for jewels and relics, and hung human remains from trees.

[Mister D]

I read this under the title The Possessed a while back. Great novel.

[RMNIXON]

The revolutionary agitator sees his ideals collapse into their opposite, but even this does not damage the certainty with which he clings to them.

Sound at all familiar?

Like the once Party of Civil Liberties currently pushing Obedience, Conformity, Centralized Federal Powers, and questioning fundamental Free Speech Rights, Equal Protection, ect......

[Mister D]

This isn't really a matter of indifference to human nature but the denial that there is such a thing. It's also not simply a matter of Utopian politics. It's a deeper problem in liberal of philosophy.

[donttread]

Human nature is not thought about much by most of us. Here is a good think piece by Peter Hughes -- Temptations of Tyranny:

https://quillette.com/2021/11/13/the...ns-of-tyranny/

Here is how it begins...

When Shigalyov, one of the revolutionaries in Dostoevsky’s Demons, lays out his “system of world organization,” he admits that he got “entangled in my own data.” Confronted with the brutal logic of his idealism, he is forced to concede that his conclusion “directly contradicts the original idea from which I start.” His starting point, familiar to generations of revolutionaries, is the idea of “unlimited freedom.” Rather than taking Shigalyov to the Utopia he imagines, it leads him down a path that ends in “unlimited despotism.” Far from being disturbed by this unpalatable discovery, Shigalyov resolves his cognitive dissonance with a deepened sense of the correctness of his vision: “apart from my solution of the social formula, there can be no other.” The revolutionary agitator sees his ideals collapse into their opposite, but even this does not damage the certainty with which he clings to them.
A hundred years after the publication of Demons, a different group of revolutionaries stormed the gates of the ancestral home of Confucius in Qufu, China. In July 1966, Red Guards desecrated the graves of Confucius’s ancestors. They smashed coffins, plundered them for jewels and relics, and hung human remains from trees.

If we could vest power in people that don't crave it we'd be better off.

[Cotton1]

If we could vest power in people that don't crave it we'd be better off.

I agree

[Collateral Damage]

If we could vest power in people that don't crave it we'd be better off.

Unfortunately, many who hadn't previously had it, discover what fun it can be to have it.

My take, we are better of with someone who knows what it is, knows how and when to use it, but only does so in moderation.

[carolina73]

If we could vest power in people that don't crave it we'd be better off.

But people that never wanted the job, don't usually do it well.

[donttread]

Unfortunately, many who hadn't previously had it, discover what fun it can be to have it.

My take, we are better of with someone who knows what it is, knows how and when to use it, but only does so in moderation.

Interesting point however current events would call that into question. Of course term limts would help a great deal either way.

[Collateral Damage]

Interesting point however current events would call that into question. Of course term limts would help a great deal either way.

How do current events call that into question? No one is doing anything in moderation. It's been a resounding F U from the current administration since day one.

Term limits, IMO, are not only wanted, they are desperately needed, along with the 'holier than thou' voting of exclusion from everything the common man has to deal with. Yet, they have developed their positions that in order to change the situation, the one's benefitting have to vote against their interests.

Don't know about you, but logic pretty much says it ain't happening.