Burke and Der Movement

No regrets.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

Do I regret speaking out against Der Movement and, in consequence, being “blackballed” from "movement" activism, with a cordon sanitaire erected around the Sallis Groupuscule by the Quota Queens?

No. If the price for being allowed in the “movement” playpen is accepting, and promoting, “movement” lies, “drinking the Kool-Aid,” mindlessly spouting the dogma, and tolerating grifters, perverts, freaks, and liars, then that is a price I for one am not willing to pay.

Considering Burke’s quote, accepting “movement” stupidity, lies, and cowardice (thanks, Adolf) is akin to doing nothing in the face of evil. I may be “blacklisted” from Der Movement, but I can look in the mirror without feeling self-disgust.

I am not going to compromise my principles and reject the truth just to appease “movement” scum. Doing the right thing is more important than doing the popular thing or doing the political thing.

On a related topic, I want to address the idea that “stupid people talk about people, mediocre people talk about events, and intelligent people talk about ideas.”  First, that’s a bit pompous and unrealistic, since as social animals, humans will be necessity talk about others; it has adaptive value.  Second, the statement is a bit inconsistent, since the comment itself talks about people, albeit in a general sense, and this leads to my third objection. Thus, third, particularly when we are dealing with “politics” (very broadly defined), then, in many cases, in order to talk about ideas (and about events for that matter), you need to talk about people, the people who represent, embody, and/or promote the ideas that you either support or oppose. And at the next level, discussing events is necessary to discuss the ideas animating those events, the ideas that are the cause or consequence of the events. Getting back to the original statement of  “stupid people talk about people, mediocre people talk about events, and intelligent people talk about ideas,” it itself talks about people – albeit types of people rather than individuals – to make a point about an idea; that is, the idea that it is more important to discuss ideas than to discuss people or events.

Nietzsche claimed he criticized people not on a personal level but to use them as a lens to focus on particular ideas they represent; I do the same. Thus, my critiques of “movement” “leaders” are, for the most part, a critique of the “movement” itself and the flawed ideas and fossilized dogmas and failed approaches that these ”leaders” represent, embody, and/or promote.  There is a difference between that and idle gossip.