So the Toronto Sun has a columnist called Joe Wormington (or something like that). Recently, all the "leftists" on Toronto City Council expressed sentiments to the effect that if the absolute moron Rob Ford won the race for Mayor that they'd simply block his every move. There was also some talk about ignorant suburbanites which wasn't entirely unfair because the source of Ford's support comes from the suburbs, and it's also true that many suburbanites hate the cities, foolishly believing that their own car-dependent, land-wasting, class stratified fantasy lands are the model for the world. What I'm getting at here is that while I don't write-off everyone in the suburbs as shallow, ignorant imbeciles, I also think that people who live in the central parts of our urban areas are justified in criticizing areas that support demonstrably STUPID political candidates and that people who engage in blanket condemnations of other people ("effete, urban, latte-sipping, elitist, degenerate, criminal, etc.," are all tossed at downtowners from some suburbanites) ought not to whine so much when they themselves are criticized.
But the point of this post is to talk about Wormington's own whining on this subject. He trashed the "left" for calling Ford's supporters stupid and for their vowing to render him a powerless figurehead due to his and his supporters' stupidity. The thing was, Wormington was really laying it on thick with the outrage and towards the middle of his mewling you really got a sense that he was really angry and hurt about being called stupid.
This seems to demonstrate the difference between right-wingers and progressives. For the most part, right-wingers ARE stupid, and deep down they know it and it frustrates them. So, when they're called stupid by the left, their frustrations boil over into raving, spittle-flecked tirades of wounded self-pity. Progressives, on the other hand, are not as stupid, as a group, as right-wingers are. When progressives are called stupid by right-wingers, whether it be the contemptible bigots and fuck-ups of the Blogging Tories or the lying, deluded shit-heads of the Toronto Sun's editorial committee, the usual response is a bemused smirk, or, after a series of particularly disastrous policies and their terrible results, (say with Mike Harris's misrule of Ontario or bush II's stepping in one pile of his own shit after another) with a degree of justified frustration that we even have to contend with these morons.
I had a conversation on EnMasse once, wherein some stupid person told me that you get more flies with honey than with vinegar and that calling people stupid was bad tactics (after which he referred to my brain as a sewer), but I disagree. Calling these stupid people stupid is a good thing, because for one thing, it's true, and secondly, it launches them into these paroxysms of blind, self-pitying rage, and distracts them from coming up with even more destructive policies because they're so busy furiously typing their rage or screaming like the idiots they are at their protest rallies.
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6 comments:
Can't argue with your mostly persuasive stream of snark, thwap, but what are progressive folks to do given that Ford's leading and continues to lead as the election approaches?
If you're trying to persuade me that Ford and his supporters are morons, I'm sold. But if the question becomes what do we do about this moron, and how do we kneecap him and/or persuade people not to vote for him, I'm not sure how effective calling them stupid is going to be.
Orwell's Bastard,
I believe that it's a long process, but it involves very much calling these people stupid and demonstrating their stupidity.
The left has been bullied into near silence as they don't want to get insulted by the loudmouths on the right who gleefully, and easily, toss off insults (and/or supposed insults) such as "tree-hugger," "peacenik," "hippie-airhead," "Taliban-lover," "com-symp" etc., etc., .
I think Al Franken (a deluded US Democrat but still) has it right by fighting fire with fire, and some of these more aggressive progressives (nice that!) such as Olberman, Ed something or other, the Rude Pundit, Sadly No! are on the right track by creating a culture that is starting to talk back to these bullies. It will take half a decade at least, but the culture will be changed where it isn't brave, or provocative to voice racist, homophobic, eco-suicidal, bullying drivel, but rather, something one tries to hide from the mainstream society.
Drive them back to their goddamned caves and force the marginal nitwits to realize they're siding with their worse aspects.
If people want to vote for someone for the shit-headed reason that they think they'd like to have a beer with them, ... and then it turns out (bush II, Rob Ford, etc., ) that they're even wrong about THAT, well, in my mind they have to bear the consequences for their actions.
This might not stop Rob Ford, but one more completely stupid asshole isn't going to ruin everything. Especially given the fact that he might win even if Toronto's political culture decides not to call a spade a spade out of a misplaced desire to maintain civility.
I think it's more ignorance and naivety rather than pure stupidity. They have been raised to believe in invisible things that do not exist. They are told not to question authority but to honour it. It carries over into adulthood.
The bar is set pretty low for right-wingers, but as I get older, I continually get less and less impressed by claims of superior intelligence from left-wingers. Exhibit A: Little Boxes by Malvina Reynolds. I've got fond memories of the song, dating back to childhood, but after reading up on the history of the neighborhood she was singing about, that song sounds a lot less witty, clever & creative and a whole lot more mean, petty, & superficial.
http://telstarlogistics.typepad.com/telstarlogistics/2006/12/a_return_to_wes.html
The "ticky tacky" boxes are still standing, made from quality timber by a local company. The designs are cutting edge, done in a uniquely modern American idiom that channels Frank Lloyd Wright. Starter homes priced within the means of an average family: what's not to love?
Jymn Parrett,
I can't say that I disagree. In the "EnMasse" link there's a part where I say:
"But at some point, it seems that some people have to be told that they’re stupid. This shouldn’t be right away. This shouldn’t be when they say something that reveals either colossal ignorance, or an inability to recognize an incoherent argument, or some combination of the two. This point should come after they’ve been given a chance to show that they’re open to hearing new facts, and new points of view, that they can change their minds if the facts warrant it. If they have been given this chance and they don’t use the opportunity, then they are stupid."
Certainly, people can have potential under their ignorance and social conditioning, but at the same time, an idea can be stupid in itself, and decent people can hold stupid beliefs. Which is pretty much what you're saying I think?
Mark,
I'm of two minds about all that. I did a fair bit of reading on the suburbs and their social meaning for instance, and I recognize on the one hand the decent, understandable motivations behind them, the conservative snobbery of some of their critics, as well as the reality of social and cultural conformity that the suburbs enforce. And I've also got my reservations about the intelligence of many leftists, folkies, union activists, etc., etc.,.
On the whole though, if one takes seriously the charge that Keith Olbermann is "the left's" Bill O'Reilly, then, all his self-delusions and hypocrisies included, I'd still say that I like the left version better and would submit it to a test of factual accuracy and coherence of argument over O'Reilly's nonsense anyday.
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