Thinking Outside the Box
08/05/08

Fantasyland Politics

Dr. Charles Ormby

I’ve finally figured it out! Yes, after decades of research, I’ve finally figured out how liberals can believe so many things that are clearly and obviously false.

The answer? An egocentric psychosis coupled with wishful thinking.

To begin our exploration of the fantasyland that liberals inhabit, let’s note the four underpinnings of liberalism:

1. The desire to enjoy the fruits of someone else’s labor,
2. An unjustified arrogance and sense of superiority,
3. The quest for power, and
4. A deep-seated envy and/or hate of those who are productive.

The last three are often combined and represent the best explanation of the motives and psychology of the liberal elite. Only a heavy dose of all three could possibly explain the behavior and careers of Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and their Hollywood supporters.

I would include Barrack Obama in this list, but he seems like such a pleasant young man! How could such evil reside in an immature individual like Mr. Obama unless he was exposed to a massive dose of hateful preaching during his formative years? On second thought, maybe I should reconsider.

The first item listed, coveting thy neighbor’s property, is certainly a powerful motivator and is the starting point for most liberals.

Thankfully, most people have some innate sense of right and wrong and an understanding that unadulterated theft, uncompromised by any fanciful explanation or excuse, would just not be morally right or acceptable. Therefore, most liberals – there are exceptions – would not respond to a direct appeal such as, “OK everyone, let’s go steal Bill Gate’s yacht!”

No, liberals need a plausible cover story – a story or excuse they can convince themselves has merit – so they can sleep at night and look at themselves in the mirror in the morning.

Typically, the justification involves a mental transference of the recipient of the booty from themselves to others who are less fortunate. A liberal will never say, “I want this government program for me.” Oh no, it is always for the poor, the less fortunate, the homeless, the children …

If a liberal can be convinced that the loot he or she secretly desires is really being stolen for the benefit of the needy, his or her conscience will be assuaged.

In fact, if this altruistic excuse is fully internalized, a liberal’s feelings of self-esteem and social superiority will be strengthened. After multiple repetitions of this self-deception, liberals graduate to a high level of self-congratulation and self-importance resulting in a blissful state of arrogance (see item #2).

Once arrogance sets in, it naturally follows that a liberal will want to acquire power (see item #3). For who else should wield power, if not the most insightful individuals having the most highly developed state of social consciousness? Liberals are convinced they know better than mere commoners and so, logically, they should be vested with the power to tell others what to do and when/how to do it.

After living in this fantasyland for a while, liberals are bound to note that the greatest benefactors of mankind are those who, through thought, great effort, and risk-taking, produce an abundance of goods and services needed by others. This is an affront to their feelings of self-importance and social consciousness. Could it be that others are more worthy than they? Could big business actually benefit the common man? Could entrepreneurs be the well-spring of innovation, economic growth, and a higher standard of living?

Such thoughts are an affront to self-absorbed liberals.

The result is a growing feeling of envy and hate for the productive members of society (see item #4). Liberals are compelled to attribute the material success of others to luck or inheritance (e.g., “the more fortunate”) … anything but the just rewards of productive efforts. By doing so they bolster their convictions of superiority and they provide a moral justification for the expropriation of private property.

So you see, these four factors provide a self-reinforcing psychology that powers the liberal perspective: a desire to steal the property of others, justified by noble intentions, leading to arrogance, a desire for power, and eventually, envy of and hate towards the productive members of society.

We started the cycle of liberal depravity with the desire to abscond with the property of others. But the spiral descent into liberalism can begin at any of the four steps.

For example, Hollywood liberals start with item number four. After amassing great wealth through good looks or scandalous behavior, they feel guilty because they know that others earned their wealth through more productive endeavors. To avoid confronting this painful truth, they demonize those who produce wealth thus reenforcing their false sense of superiority and the cycle progresses.     

This cycle of self-deception and personal aggrandizement is the first source of liberal fantasyland thinking. But liberal fantasyland is more than just a cover-up of their thieving, egocentric ways. It is also a reflection of mental laziness and wishful thinking.

Instead of coming to grips with the real complexities of human society and the physical reality confronting mankind, liberals just want to wish away difficulties and make believe they don’t exist.

Have you ever noticed how liberals think that just passing another law will automatically solve a problem?

For example, liberals think that if we make it a crime to carry a gun near a school, that will eliminate future Columbine massacres. Is this wishful thinking?

A rational person might conclude that if a killer is not prevented from massacring innocent students based on moral considerations and is not dissuaded by a life sentence or the death penalty, an ordinance against guns near schools is unlikely to be an effective deterrent. Hey, a few guns in the hands of the good guys on campus might even prevent a tragedy, but that is a no-no to la la land liberals.

Some liberal legislation is akin to throwing a boulder in a stream; the water just runs around it.

A case in point is the liberals’ belief that if we just pass a law requiring a minimum wage, we will magically transform low-paying jobs into higher paying jobs with no negative consequences. Like the water in a stream, employers take the path of least resistance by eliminating some jobs entirely and increasing automation to avoid the need for others. Most affected workers are hurt, not just because they lose their income, but also because they lose a stepping stone to a better job.

More wishful thinking: Liberals believe that rent-control laws will ensure the availability of cheap housing for all. What results? Investors stop building new rental units, landlords stop investing in repairs, abandoned buildings multiply, the supply of decent rental units for the poor declines, and the intended beneficiary of the liberal philosophy become homeless or become dependent on government housing. Thanks for nothing!!
The beat goes on: Now liberals are trying to tighten regulations on oil speculators and claim that doing so will lower the price of gasoline.

But can’t the speculators just take their speculation to the London commodities exchange? And where were the speculators when oil was $20 per barrel? Haven’t liberals ever heard of supply and demand? Did they think a permanent ban on domestic drilling or intolerable barriers to building refineries and nuclear power plants would lead to plentiful, affordable energy?

Maybe, if liberals just wish hard enough, windmills and sunshine will eliminate the need for drilling or nuclear power. Sure … when pigs fly.

Liberal wishful thinking also extends to foreign policy with potentially catastrophic consequences.

For example, liberals believed that sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites would magically diminish and Al Qaeda terrorists would fold their tents and go home if only we would abandon Iraq. Even after our troop surge resulted in dramatic reductions in sectarian violence and after tribal leaders testified that their “awakening” was a direct result of our increased commitment, liberals persisted in closing their eyes and just denying reality.

Worse still, liberals refuse to recognize the evil nature of many of our adversaries. They insist on decades-long negotiations with countries like Iran, Syria, and North Korea. They persist even though a school child can recognize that these countries despise America’s fundamental precepts, detest any notion of individual freedom and harbor evil intentions. It is clear that, despite liberal wishes, these governments have no intention of living in peace or becoming peaceful, productive nations.

This is the most dangerous form of liberal wishful thinking because it could lead to nuclear war.

So, be careful who you vote for. Barack Obama does seem like a nice guy ... although that might be wishful thinking.

If he’s elected, let’s all agree to wish – and wish real hard – that the consequence will not be an economic collapse or the incineration of several American cities.

Dr. Ormsby is a member of the North  Andover School Committee. He is a graduate of Cornell and has a doctorate from MIT. You can contact Dr. Ormsby via email: cormsby@comcast.net



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