Insty points in his usual brevity-is-the-soul-of-blogging way to a must read post from The Other McCain, which absolutely dissects how the Left thinks. I know, because I used to be a leftie apparatchik, and all I can say is that every word is Absolutely. Spot. On.
This vision is what the conservative rejects, and what makes the conservative convert such an effective leader is that he knows full well what he has rejected -- and he knows it personally, first-hand, subjectively. He knows the flattering deceit of believing himself more enlightened, more tolerant, more sophisticated than his fellow man, merely because he identifies as a Democrat, a liberal, a progressive.And it doesn't happen by accident, either. Although I'm not a conservative, I went through exactly this in my journey away from the left:
The point is, if you feel like you've been suckered -- hustled, flim-flammed, bamboozled, sold out, ripped off -- and you have both pride and curiosity, you will begin to wonder whether it was all just a scam from Day One.The only thing I would add is an explicit reference to the
What the heck are you waiting for? Go. Read. It. Now.
If I didn't know the post was based on politics, I'd think he was talking about Scientology.
ReplyDeleteI'd say that at least you don't have to pay money for this one, but I'd be sadly mistaken every April 15th.
ReplyDeleteIt's as much conceit as deceit. A fatal kind of hubris and conscious self-centered naval gazing that sees all the world reflected in The Self.
ReplyDeleteFor me to escape it was a kind of end of cynicism - a cynicism that was taught throughout Junior, High School, and College - and cultivated in the green plankton of popular culture.
Also a recognition that my own inner nature was Liberal in the true, un-distorted, early meaning of the word - and that it could tell the difference between a weedy-wistful dream mirage and substantial reality.