[ExI] Be nice to leftists

Tomaz Kristan protokol2020 at gmail.com
Fri May 16 07:13:10 UTC 2014


An interesting exploit, if it really works. An interesting weakness of the
left fortress. Hm ...


On Fri, May 16, 2014 at 6:48 AM, Rafal Smigrodzki <
rafal.smigrodzki at gmail.com> wrote:

> Some time ago I posted here about what my understanding of "leftism" -
> that it is a current manifestation of the age-old human obsession with
> status. A leftist is a status-obsessed (i.e. envious) hypocrite,
> predictably attracted to the hierarchies of government bureaucracy,
> academia and mainstream journalism.
>
> Given this unflattering opinion I expressed, one might expect me to
> inveigh against leftists, to urge their expulsion from the corridors of
> power in order to build a better world without them. However, as a realist
> I know that this notion is a mirage: How could normal people, who are not
> obsessed with status, beat the obsessed ones at their own game? For better
> or worse (well, mostly for the worse), status-obsessed jerks are here to
> stay, at least until advanced personality-design tools arrive some time
> late this century.
>
> There is interesting research on the role of economic elites (i.e. the
> upper 10% of income distribution, highly overlapping with high-status
> leftists) in our so-called democracy:
>
> http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2014/05/exploring_eliti.html
>
> Turns out that the electoral masses have essentially no impact on
> government policy. Only elites control the democratic government.
>
> This is a lesson: Anybody hoping to influence the government should
> concentrate his efforts on changing the opinions of elite participants in
> the game, and can completely disregard outreach to the masses. Of course,
> retail politicians will woo the public but this is just the expected part
> of the political theatre. The real decisions will have been made when the
> candidates are named by parties and paid for by pressure groups or when
> issues are framed by the media, not when the general public votes.
>
> Thus, the rational transhumanist should be nice to high-status leftoids
> and the occasional non-leftoid power-monger. He should gently persuade them
> rather than denounce them. They are psychologically dependent on their own
> self-image as do-gooders and you can use it against them by pointing out
> the destructive effects of their default recipes for improving the world.
>  Leftists are always on the lookout for yet another "disadvantaged) group
> to champion (i.e. to use as pawns in the struggle for status), so cast
> yourself as a victim of oppression, and make them root for you. Cognitive
> dissonance might make them tune you out but the seed of doubt you planted
> will shift their daily decisions a bit, maybe make them slightly more
> hesitant in their convictions. Social change and the law will follow.
>
> Rafal
>
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>


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