Perception
In The Republic, Plato maintained that for the good order of society, governance should be taken up by a caste of self-effacing "philosopher kings." He used a famous allegory to describe the enlightened state as one of liberation from false perception into apprehension of the truth of the universe.
For the past few weeks I have been hunkered down in the weeds, observing events as they paraded by. It is troubling that this statist administration is hard at work, bent on liberating the masses suffering from what were once considered absolutes but now labeled as false perceptions.
Although we cannot always express it, we can discern -- with remarkable clarity -- good from evil, right from wrong, just from unjust, liberty from tyranny. And yet today, we average Americans, we law-abiding, wage-earning citizens who have a feel for the absolutes of our lives and our society, find ourselves besieged and attacked from all quarters.
We are being force-fed a non-stop, 24/7, ready-steady stream of perceptive realities, only the perceptions are not our own.
Believe the line, buy the slavery
Think not? Truthfully now, how many of you believe that the last eight years were an abject failure for America? Certainly some of you -- how could you not, after being subjected to a years-long media propaganda blitz?
A scientist will tell you that truth is an absolute; a politician will tell you that truth is a perception.
For the statist -- socialist, communist, or autocrat -- truth is dangerous and unpredictable. Better to create a truth rather than deal with the consequences of uncontrolled thoughts, uncontrolled absolutes.
For example, the media incessantly bleats that the Specter fiasco happened because Republicans are too right-wing, Democrats are moderate, and Specter is a moderate. Truth? Hardly -- Specter is a liberal and the ruling class of Democrats are radical leftists -- but it's the perception that matters.
A folly of crises
With the help of a pliant media, the statists lead Americans by the nose, stumbling from one faux crisis to the next. Doom, gloom, worst [insert contrived disaster of the day here] ever. How is the stimulus working for you, America?
Auto makers in trouble? Don't let them reorganize through bankruptcy, just instill panic, loan a bit of money, then seize the companies and then turn over controlling interest to the unions.
Mortgage defaults due to government meddling and greedy consumers who knew they couldn't pay? Don't let the market straighten out the mess, just foment panic and let the government seize the financial institutions.
Similarly-contrived perceptions will be employed for the government to take over Energy, Education, and Health Care.
The national debt is around $11 Trillion dollars and climbing, not counting the Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare debacles. What is prescribed? Panic the masses, then:
Borrow and spend. Print money. Borrow more and spend more. Print more money. Private sector jobs are lost by the millions but who cares? Statists have steered the perception to be that the government is creating millions of new jobs -- but they are government-funded. It's all the same, isn't it?
Chains we can believe in
Stop spending? Surely you jest.
And yet we can't even pay the annual interest on what we owe. China, India, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are buying up our debt to the point that when they demand payment, our children and their children won't be able to foot the bill.
Thanks to an administration that has no restraints on its behavior nor the morality to show restraint, we are drowned in their contrived perceptions of failure. The statists are reducing America into a nation of beggars -- and yet ...
And yet it need not be this way. There is still time, but only if we immediately stop re-making America.