Ideas, Principles, and the Cult of Public Opinion

Sooner or later, the Obamunist machine will reach a critical point, beyond which it will either burn itself out and be replaced, or morph into a totalitarian monster of inconceivable dimensions. To forestall the latter scenario, the forces of reason must step into the breach.

The forces of reason will only be able to succeed if our minds are primed with ideas and principles. Playing the game of character and public opinion—the game of flattering the plebeian mob—will only work to our disfavor. By “character” I mean exhortations of the following kind: conservatives are nicer than leftists; conservatives give more money to charity; fewer Republican politicians are corrupt/embroiled in scandal; there really are black people at the Tea Parties; etc.

It is shocking how much time and effort is wasted on this senseless banter. Sometimes I find myself getting dragged into the mess, and have to splash some cold water on my face. Off the top of my head I can think of half a dozen excellent blogs or news websites with incisive analysis, wit, and integrity. I have no objection if they note that such-and-such a poll took place. But they insist on hanging on the result of every poll as if Moses were descending from Mt. Sinai. Then comes the battle of the polls; ours versus theirs.

We are far, far beyond the stage where participating in the cult of public opinion can be of benefit. The deck is stacked against us. This is because mass democracy, reaching ever more degraded forms, feeds precisely on the type of sugar-coated poison provided by the Left. We cannot hope to emerge victorious, in the court of public opinion, by competing against the reckless socialist spending spree: more goodies from the public treasury; endless schemes to add more people and groups to the rolls of government subsidy.

It would seem that a key goal of public-opinion analysis is to adjust political strategy so that the next poll turns out to be more favorable. But if more than half the country is so foolhardy, ignorant, lazy, or vindictive that they vote Democrat, do we dare fashion our platform according to the beliefs these same people hold on any given issue at any given time?

Another problem is that in the new era of strong-arm politics in Washington, such adjustments are illusory. Polling and counter-polling belong to a bygone era. They can have relevance only if some link exists between words and deeds, between proposals and policy, as there generally was before the advent of the current administration.

We must reject all discussion that is not centered on facts, logic, and ideas. Anything else is a distraction at best, and capitulation at worst. Arguing over the ethnic composition of tea-party attendees is a non-starter. So is attempting to outdo the Left at its own game, as when various calls are heard for being “inclusive” within the ranks of the Republican Party, to accommodate official victim groups. This is rubbish. We are never going to be loved; let us at least be respected.

Respect is earned by articulating real ideas and principles, tortuous as the process might be. The utility of doing so is not always apparent. This is because the population of the U.S., Britain, France, and the remainder of the West is like a heroin addict, willing to do anything to obtain just one more fix of easy money; self-flattering concern about some species of beast; androgynous and politically-correct cinema; some unimaginable permutation of “fairness”; sentimental pronouncements on the progress of society; new scapegoats among the productive sectors—anything but reality.

We must be standing ready with the methadone treatment, manning the emergency room and the ambulance. We cannot be offering hashish and cocaine alongside the methadone, to let the addict try something “not as bad.” It has to be cold turkey.