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Wherein I Move a Lot of Words Around

A Thought

It should surprise no one that those that believe a document written two hundred years ago can solve all problems of modern life with a literal interpretation and without any change also believe that a book compiled once at 4000 years ago and then again 1600-1800 years ago can also solve all modern problems with a literal interpretation and no changes. For the central idea of modern Conservatism has less to do with doing anything right in the moment and more to do with doing what they've always done. It's a culture where a lesson learned is a moment of weakness. Anyone who dares to change their mind, especially based on facts or new information, is immediately cast out as a traitor unwilling to toe the party line. They have, in essence, become a line of ants in search of a meal that doesn't exist, blindly following each other into the wilderness, blinders intact, and having faith that those that went before knew what they were doing, but without any contingency plan for when that path fails to apply to a changing world. This is also why climate change is so hard to admit. It's not about business or profits at the level of the individual citizen. It's the idea that what we've done has been working and everything will be all right if we keep doing what we've always done. It worked for those before us, so why change now? The principal fallacy, therefore, is one of trust -- or, dare I say it, faith. But this isn't a faith in a higher power or a life beyond this one. This is a blind faith in fellow man who, should the facts ever be considered, will be proven to be lying for his own self-interest. It is thus in the interest of the propaganda-maker to cultivate such an environment of hatred towards the facts and a love of tradition in the same way the man at the carnival refuses to show you how his game works. He's cheating the people out of their livelihood but telling you how wonderful it is all the while.