Noel S Williams – Given their mind-numbing immersion in post-truth indoctrination, I used to think that Dems completely lack self-awareness. Actually, it’s a bit more troubling: their individuality is subsumed by progressive group consciousness that constrains them with an ideological straitjacket. They have too little self-awareness, too much group consciousness. They are dim Dems who dance with demons.
Individually, progressive Dems (that would be most of them) have no shame. They are easily swayed by the communal post-truth that plagues their political districts with anti-reason rhetoric. But collectively, their awareness is acute, exhibited by unwavering commitment to their soul-destroying agenda.
Group consciousness can be defined as awareness of the collective; the total awareness of itself that can be greater than the sum of people in it. This aptly describes the progressive-dominated Dems, whose individual members are malleable by the collective will. With very rare exceptions (such as whether to support Israel or Hamas), they are homogeneous, the antithesis of diversity, the epitome of exclusion.
The progressive coalition is definitely greater than the sum of the obedient minions who justify any malicious means in achieving their misguided ends. Lacking critical thinking skills, their “intelligence” is more artificial than my robotic vacuum; their self-consciousness even less than my toaster, which at least knows when to turn itself off.
Indubitably, interest groups are integral to a pluralistic society when they share a core understanding and respect for our founding principles. It’s natural to advocate for shared interests, but the progressive fascists are intolerant of diversity as they seek to destroy society. You may think you’re aligned with them now, but watch out… they’ll be sure to cancel anyone who strays from their oppressive orthodoxy. It’s a never-ending vicious cycle of wokeness that ravages individual creativity and problem solving, shooting down our soaring spirits.
Despite the fecklessness of its constituents, the progressive left has an emergent phenomenon called collective intentionality. Their intention is to run amok like a bunch of gnarly zombies chomping up everything past the graveyard of canceled culture. They “know” their worldview is right; outsiders are intolerable… extinguishable. This is anathema to the values of reason and humanism that foster human progress as measured by health, prosperity, safety, peace, and happiness. Values that flourish when objective self-awareness (where not overly indulgent or ruminative) is associated with personal and social control.
Unfortunately, progressives don’t exert much control over their behavior, making them more like regressive bigots. Just look at the disasters their obliging master-cum-moppet has wrought in record time. As a recent New York Post op-ed points out, Biden is the “Master of Disaster” After describing the progress under form President Trump, they write, “… barely four months into his presidency, it’s disaster after disaster as Biden wastes every opportunity his predecessor left him.” Disasters that emerge from quelling individuality and ingenuity while promoting the depressing notion that people’s identities are always and absolutely inseparable from their race, socio-economic status, or other stratified measures.
I miss the days when bunker Biden would not be let out. I knew his gaunt countenance bears a resemblance to the Grim Reaper.
You’ve probably heard variations of the phrase “idle hands do the devil’s work”; well, unaware minds do a bunch of it, too. There’s not much reason, compassion, or empathy sloshing around in there, so hate and cancellation fill the void.
In his best-selling book Better Angels of Our Nature, cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker also identified humans’ potential inner demons. For today’s intolerant liberal regressives, it’s not potential, but reality as they are consumed by demonic-like impulses such as: dominance, revenge (remember their blacklists against anyone affiliated with Trump), and ideology (that justifies, in their warped minds, violence in the pursuit of unlimited good). Just a few days ago, the vengeful New York State Attorney General announced they are now probing Trump Organization “in a criminal capacity.”
Their vindictiveness towards a former president who actually was inclusive and helped reduce inequality never ends; meanwhile, Hunter Biden hobnobs.
Contrasted to the stifling progressive groupthink, cultivating conservative values such as individuality, ingenuity, and self-awareness leads to better leadership and decision making, encouraging our Angels to flourish. Self-awareness gives us an appreciation of how we conduct ourselves and affect others; it can enhance our confidence, communication, and creativity. We make sounder decisions, build stronger relationships. Our minds aren’t idle, so the regressive demons can’t invade.
It’s no surprise that societies that are predisposed to vibrant pluralism and an appreciation of individuality are more successful by any objective standard. Rather than cancel the prince who kisses lovely Sleeping Beauty, it’s the demons who are canceled. Our better Angels are then free to dance in the uplifting spirit of enlightenment, joyously affirming values such as humanism, reason, science, commerce, and entrepreneurship. That’s probably why free market capitalism is the best path to prosperity.
Conversely, where intense group consciousness supplants individual freedoms, you might end up with an uncivil CHOP zone where “might makes right” amidst the squalor. It may have started with happy hippy wannabees showing support for BLM, but soon degenerated into a dark dystopia with local merchants begging for law and order.
Remember as CHOP zone anniversary celebrations in Seattle approach: It’s mayhem like that where the dim Dems dance with the demons.
SF Source American Thinker May 2021