Mrs. PolyKahr and I were discussing a co-worker whom I had described as an "idiot" in a moment of immoderation, and she wondered what had brought that on. I mentioned that we had had a conversation about Obama, and ObamaCare in which he had expressed frustration that his child, who had been born with a cleft palate, was considered to have a preexisting condition, so was not covered under his health insurance. He had had to bear that burden entirely, and of course he did not feel it was "fair." I pointed out that it also wasn't fair to impose huge costs on everyone else just because he had had to suffer. Obviously not the right words. My wife pointed out that the experience he had endured had clearly blinded him to any other considerations. Selwyn Duke:
This is why I shake my head when hearing talk of how conservatives can possibly "win over" women or Hispanics or blacks or whatever the latest pander-worthy group may be, of how they need to "reach out" or "reframe their message," as if everyone is a logic-worshipping Mr. Spock. After all, even if the media would disseminate the conservative argument without twisting it into a soggy, unpalatable pretzel -- which they won't -- did it ever occur to these tacticians that the problem isn't mainly a matter of intellect, but emotion?Herein, however, lies a problem far greater than any other for restoring the Constitution. Most of us who write on these topics are used to logically reasoned arguments, to looking at facts, studying history, reasoning from religion, and so forth to derive our arguments. But we may be arguing in a language nobody but us understands anymore. We may be arguing in Latin to a population that only understands English. How to translate our arguments into something they will understand, and that will change their hearts? Duke again:
Lest I be misunderstood, I'm not cynical about reason; after all, presenting reasoned arguments is what I do by trade. But I also know that I'm writing for a different, and perhaps even less fashionable, one percent (slight exaggeration? Perhaps, but you get the point). And we're not going to reason people out of positions they haven't reasoned themselves into, to paraphrase Ben Franklin. The "emerging demographic majority" will just behave unreasonably and, like the proverbial scorpion that stung the duck ferrying him across a river, thus guaranteeing both their deaths, essentially say, "I could not help myself. It is my nature!"In the gun rights community, we often make the point that the reason laws controlling who may have a gun, or what gun they may have are so ineffective in preventing crime is because a criminal, by definition, ignores the law. It should be obvious, and unquestioned. It is almost axiomatic. But there are people out there who believe, because they want to believe, we are on the verge of Utopia if we can just write one more magic incantation written in official language in a law book. They believe it with all their hearts, and telling them that lead will never become gold falls on deaf ears. There are others, of course, who cynically use these people. That is what we are up against, and what Duke calls the "Triumvirate of Evil" made up of academia, the media, and popular culture. In order to change people, we must change the message of the Triumvirate.
Stephen Crowder and ZoNation have begun to change popular culture with their You Tube ventures. Having young celebrities twittering their support helps as well. But we must burrow into academia and reintroduce students to Western Civilization and Western thought; to Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, to Adam Smith and Bastiat. We must also develop an even stronger news industry. Glenn Beck has seen one future, and is working to make it a reality. But we are still only one hostile takeover from having any news at all. Fox news, who has been the closest to "fair and balanced" we have got, will become another CNN or MSNBC once Rupert Murdock retires. All this will take a generation of two, and I doubt I'll live to see it to fruition. But I hope some young people out there are reading this, and can see their way to make it happen. Otherwise, the great American experiment is well and truly dead.
On another note, I will be out of pocket until next week. I will try to stay in touch, but the holiday this week may be all consuming. Have a happy Thanksgiving, and remember to give thanks to the Lord for all he has done, and will do. Pray also for Israel, who is surrounded and fighting to stay alive. Israel can use a miracle or two right now.
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