Posts
And no, you do not become dictator yourself. But if you join the club our presidential dictator will implement your ideas. It's better than nothing.
The Anchoress reports on the recent activities of the club here.
Why make anyone Dictator-for-a-Day? Well, Woody Allen and Tom Friedman are frustrated because our system of government is so dysfunctional. Woody wants to make Obama dictator for a few years, but Tom would be happy to make him dictator for just one day so that he could, by fiat, do all of the good things that the political system will not let him do. That means, all the good things that Tom Friedman wants him to do.
The wonderful part is that neither Tom nor Woody has the least doubt that their ideas, or Obama's policies, are anything but the best. When you are that smart, you have overcome all of those pesky little doubts that pester lesser minds.
You may have guessed it, but Tom is frustrated that Obama has not been able to implement all of the green initiatives that they have in, say, China.
He dreams of what the world would be like if only we were like China and then drops into denial mode and declares that, of course, he would never want to be China. But China can, by fiat, undertake research in green technology, and we know that this is important because Tom has been hawking green technology as the solution to all of our problems.
If you like irony, here's a really good one for you. If truth be told, newly industrialized China is one of the most polluted countries on the planet. I am not talking about carbon dioxide, recently named a pollutant by our government, but about industrial poisons, the kind that foul the atmosphere in China's greatest cities and make the air nearly unbreathable and the water corrosive.
A minor detail that, because China is a world leader in green technology.
(Did you notice that if carbon dioxide is a pollutant, then we are all serial polluters, by the mere fact of exhaling?)
Anyway, Woody and Tom have dispensed with the pretense of favoring deliberative democracy or even liberal democracy. As I and many others have noted, modern liberalism does not believe in free speech, free markets, or free trade... thus it is anything but liberal. In fact, it is a convenient disguise for their true desire, which is to have us all be ruled by philosopher-kings.
Commenting on this call to dictatorship, Ann Althouse said: "A love of autocracy often lurks beneath the liberal veneer. There's this idea that the right answers are known and the people are just too deluded and distorted to see what they are and to vote for them."
This helps to explain why liberals are constantly impugning the intelligence of everyone who disagrees with their dogmatic opinions.
Liberals are in favor of free and open debate, until they lose the debate. Then they want to do away with the debating society. They favor the marketplace of ideas until the truth it reveals does not correspond to what they believe.
Why these dreams of dictatorship now? That one is easy: because Tom and Woody and their fellow liberals have been losing the debate. It's not just our form of government that is standing in their way, but public opinion has turned decisively against them.
Imagine their frustration when they see that large majorities of the nation are cheering a recent Arizona immigration law that their friends think is an abomination.
But it is not just that they are losing the debate. More importantly, they are sore losers. They have no sense of sportsmanship. If they cannot win in deliberative debate they start wishing for a system of government where they can suspend the constitution and do exactly what they please.
Good-bye free speech; good-bye free debate; good-bye separation of powers; good-bye balance of powers... Tom and Woody are here and they know what is best for you, whether you like it or not.
3 comments:
The frustration of both men are exactly what the founders hoped to create.
How exactly would making someone dictator work? Another Beer Summit? What do they propose to do with the egotistical class of politicians currently in charge of Congress?
I would think sudden nullification of the legislative branch, government agencies, and state governments would require the assistance of military (or SEIU) to insure domestic control.
Allen's been on the couch too long, he needs to look outside himself for answers to things that are troubling him, or he's confusing fantasy with reality.
Clearly, there is an important element of wishful thinking and fantasy in these proposals. Why do they believe that all it takes is for an autocrat to bark a few orders. What if people rebel; what if they slow down their efforts; what if they are not motivated to do their best under the circumstances?
Neither Tom nor Woody seems even to understand the way functioning dictatorships work or don't.
I think you are mistake, both men do understand the way functioning dictatorships work.
They see themselves as part of the hierarchy. They see themselves as part of the ruling class (surely the upper echelons as well) - entitled philosopher kings. They are without question delusional.
Post a Comment