Thursday, July 10, 2014

How Crazy is Obama?

Where any person or body of men, who do not represent the Whole, seize into their hands the power of the last resort, there is properly no longer government but what Aristotle and his followers call the abuse and corruption of one.

That was Jonathan Swift, who looked upon such a usurpation "as a greater evil than anarchy itself; as much as a savage is in a happier state of life than a slave at the oar."

Than again, Swift also spoke of our wholly irrational -- or at least arational -- "love of life, which, from the dictates of reason, every man would despise, and wish it at an end, or that it never had a beginning."

So, Dear Leader and his low information lowlives are putting our irrational love of life to the test, but the primary victims of his follies are and will be those they are supposedly designed to benefit. For example, even more low IQ illegals will only put more downward pressure on the wages of gardeners, housekeepers, and day laborers, while further increasing black and teen unemployment.

In an information economy that is already sorting by intelligence as never before -- the main driver of "income inequality" -- Obama is further reifying a two-tiered system in which the minority of HiQs create the wealth while the majority of LowQs vote.

Thus, while they cannot create much wealth they can surely appropriate it via the abuse and corruption of government. We're already there. Those with eyes open have seen the lightning. When the earth-rattling Thunder will arrive is anyone's guess, as it will no doubt come as a thief in the night, or like an IRS audit. Or, like bankruptcy: very gradually and then all of a sudden.

You know the old crack: never attribute to malevolence what can be more readily explained by stupidity. But the psychologist in me -- admittedly a mere remnant these days -- wants to toss in a third possibility, psychopathology. For there is something worse than mere stupidity, and that is a vast and secure knowledge of things that just aren't so.

I read much more history than I do psychology, but when I do, I am always impressed by the terribly destructive combination of confident error and primitive mental illness; or of crazy people doing evil things in the name of some kooky doctrine they've gotten lodged in their heads.

When I say "primitive" mental illness, I mean that type which causes a man to act out his pathology instead of thinking about it. In other words, for such a person, action is a substitute for introspection -- as indeed it is for a child.

A child doesn't have the vocabulary or self-distance to adequately describe what is going on inside. Therefore, a child psychologist must observe the child in action. His office is typically filled with toys, dolls, action figures, and other objects to which the child will be spontaneously attracted and then use to symbolically play out his conflict.

Perhaps he will pick out a male doll with which to bash a female doll while saying "bad mommy!" Or maybe he'll pick out the male doll, toss it across the room, and yell, "so stay in Africa! I don't give a fuck!," and then score some choom from another doll for the purposes of self-soothing, or to nurture his grandiosity.

At any rate, it is this deadly confluence of Higher Stupidity in Low Psychic Places that should concern us all. By now you all know and have even forgotten about Bion's Grid, which is not a sports bar but a visual means to conceptualize -- or a conceptual way to visualize -- various psychic and cognitive combinations.

For example, it is quite possible -- in this day and age, perhaps even likely -- that the most intelligent person in the world may devote his entire life to extending and refining a lie. In fact, it seems to me that this is inevitable so long as one is ignorant of the source of truth. That is, the sufficient reason of the intellect is the Truth of which it is a reflection and to which it is an adequation. Exclude Truth, and what is intelligence but an elaborate way to be stupid?

Or, to express it in the simplest way possible, to posit absolute relativity is to say that man's ignorance is categorical.

We've had some awfully bad presidents in the past, but prior to Obama, I don't think a single one of them would be characterized as an out-and-out relativist. But Obama is our first thoroughly postmodern president, which also makes him post-Christian, post-literate, post-rational, post-constitutional, post-American, and post-reality.

Let's even stipulate that this cynical product of a nihilistic and spiritually corrosive academia truly believes himself to be a Christian. Well, despite our differences, there is still a thing called Orthodoxy, by which I do not just mean Christian orthodoxy, but cosmic orthodoxy. Again, religion is not about religion, but rather, about Truth. To the extent that a purportedly religious person believes things that cannot possibly be true, and which lack all reason, that can't be religion.

In this world -- and all humans know it, even if they deny it -- nothing can be more privileged than Truth. Scientists are motivated by this, as is our judicial system. Rationality itself is simply impossible -- or pointless -- in the absence of the Truth of which it is a reflection. Again, a thing isn't true because it is rational, but rather, rational because it is true. And if you need the backup of the tenured, Gödel proved with ironclad logic that the most important truths cannot be proved with reason.

But the heterodorks of the left want to have their crock and eat it too, which only results in more hunger, more poverty, more insanity. Which then results in more food stamps, more bogus disability claims, more social chaos, more psychic disorder.

Remember when we discussed Gilder's Knowledge and Power a few months back? Order and disorder are not opposites but joined at the hip, in that the tyrannical imposition of top-down order generates disorder below. Conversely, entropy and information lead to upside surprise, or evolution -- which is why the progressive left is so regressive, since they undermine the very conditions of progress.

I think it's entirely appropriate to ask ourselves, "just how crazy is Obama?" But unless you understand the dynamics of primitive personality disorders, you won't get very far. As alluded to yesterday, narcissism runs along a continuum from normal and healthy, to fragile, to a rigid and shame-intolerant closed system revolving around triumph, contempt, and absence of curiosity.

This latter form can even appear to be the most healthy, in that such a person appears above it all -- cool, poised, no drama. But this is only because the person lives behind a hardened false self to protect the shriveled and vulnerable self within, more or less developmentally arrested at the age it was traumatized by a disappointing world.

Take that same mentally ill child in a consulting room full of toys, and put him in a position of vast power, with access to the biggest and best toys in the world. And then watch him play. Or, if you prefer, watch him fuck with us, like a sadistic kid pulling wings off a fly.

18 comments:

mushroom said...

Or maybe he'll pick out the male doll, toss it across the room, and yell, "so stay in Africa! I don't give a fuck!," and then score some choom from another doll for the purposes of self-soothing, or to nurture his grandiosity.

Good one. I laughed. I thought it was going to be some true incident rather than a hypothetical -- and it was.

Kurt said...

Whew! A two-fer today, amigo:

'A vast and secure knowledge of things that just aren't so.'

And that is a direct result of a lack of any kind of interior life. No reflection, no 'be still and know' - nothing but exterior stimulation and response. A mind may be a terrible thing to waste, but it seems to me it is much, much worse to lose your soul.

'Religion is not about religion, but rather, about Truth.'

Brings to mind UF's thoughts on churches and shrines as potential gateways for spiritual interaction. A religion is much the same, providing a framework, guidance, cliff notes as it were. But it isn't the Truth. That requires a living being to reach in and up and through to The Being, diving into the river of Grace...

I weep for our country. May God have mercy on us, and spare a remnant, as He did for Israel.

julie said...

We're already there. Those with eyes open have seen the lightning. When the earth-rattling Thunder will arrive is anyone's guess, as it will no doubt come as a thief in the night, or like an IRS audit. Or, like bankruptcy: very gradually and then all of a sudden.

I have a guy who comes out and mows my lawn every couple of weeks. Lately, in part due to the daily raging thunderstorms that cause all the vegetation to grow at near light speed, he's having a tough time keeping up - everything's growing, but the weather only lets him work for half a day some days. Used to be, he had a small crew to help him, so even with the big jobs they'd be in and out pretty quickly and could presumably get more done. Not anymore, though - it's just him. I haven't wanted to ask, but suspect it's because thanks to all the helpful new regulations, he can't afford to hire anyone, even just for basic landscaping stuff. Seems like he's stuck with a choice between making less money because he can't keep up with demand, or making even less because the costs of employees are greater than the additional income he used to make in hiring them. I feel for the guy - I'm pretty laid back about this stuff, but can imagine they must be facing losing business from people who have tighter demands.

It's an ugly time for anyone living on the edge like that. And more and more people are living on that edge every day...

Tony said...

Obama doesn't, and doesn't need to, know much of anything. His function is to sign and approve things, so all that's necessary is for him to know what he likes and approves of. All this business of asking questions, being "intellectual," is just bunk, but very useful as theatre.

Aide 1: Mr. President, here's the legislation we had worked up and got rammed through Congress that socializes US healthcare.
Obama: Done! Where do I sign!

Aide 2: Mr. President, here's an Executive Order mandating contraception coverage for private businesses.
Obama: Done! Do I sign on this line, or that one?

Aide 3: Mr. President, Lois Lerner will arrive in fifteen minutes for an off-the-record conversation sure to be of interest to you.
Obama: Done! Does she play golf?

Aide 4: Mr. President, here's a plan to turn Texas blue and thereby cement a LIV majority there and in the most electorally-important metropolitan areas in America.
Obama: Beautiful. This one doesn't need a signature. In fact, keep me away from it entirely, but full speed ahead.

etc.

John Lien said...

Obama is further reifying a two-tiered system in which the minority of HiQs create the wealth while the majority of LowQs vote. Thus, while they cannot create much wealth they can surely appropriate it via the abuse and corruption of government. We're already there.

Yeah man, so true.

I was reading on one of the many doom blogs I frequent about the
new "80/20 rule" where 20% produce the actual wealth for the other 80% and how we are trending that way. If you are in the 80% you will pretty much be a ward of the State.

It may be sustainable as long as cheap energy keeps being produced. What could possibly reverse this situation other than a catastrophe and resulting societal reset?

Been a long time coming, Obama is just dragging us over the finished line.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

For example, it is quite possible -- in this day and age, perhaps even likely -- that the most intelligent person in the world may devote his entire life to extending and refining a lie. In fact, it seems to me that this is inevitable so long as one is ignorant of the source of truth. That is, the sufficient reason of the intellect is the Truth of which it is a reflection and to which it is an adequation. Exclude Truth, and what is intelligence but an elaborate way to be stupid?"

Precisely! That last sentence is the pithiest explanation I have seen describing how smart people can be so foolish and idiotic.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Thanks for bringing up Bion's grid, Bob.
I would've said they were a band, so it's a good thing you refreshed my memory (which, apparently, was out to lunch when you discussed Bion's grid).

Was Bion a genius or what?

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

I meant that rhetorically, of course he was.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Perhaps he will pick out a male doll with which to bash a female doll while saying "bad mommy!" Or maybe he'll pick out the male doll, toss it across the room, and yell, "so stay in Africa! I don't give a fuck!," and then score some choom from another doll for the purposes of self-soothing, or to nurture his grandiosity."

Ha ha! This brings to mind Dark Helmet:

"We're done with you. Go back to the golf course and work on your putz."

[Lord Helmet is playing with his dolls in his quarters when Col Sandurz bursts in]
Colonel Sandurz: Lord Helmet!
Dark Helmet: WHAT?
[Helmet gathers up his dolls in the blink of an eye]
Colonel Sandurz: You're needed on the bridge sir!
Dark Helmet: Knock on my door! Knock next time!
Colonel Sandurz: Yes, sir!
Dark Helmet: Did you see anything?
Colonel Sandurz: No, sir! I didn't see you playing with your dolls again.
Dark Helmet: GOOD!
Colonel Sandurz: [Sandurz slams the door]

This is, most likely, what Obama was doing during the Benghazi massacre.


Van Harvey said...

Again, the Anonymous Coach Bag peddlers, are far and away more worthwhile than the Tramadol pushers... they just don't compare.

Take this little widget of wisdom:

"is shaft accepted. hold functional at your instruction, as anti to talking AT them. square away doomed you are purchase from."

This is like reading bird entrails, casting stones & twigs and opening books to random pages, all rolled into one. Ponder that one above, and your mind will be taken in more directions, and possibly achieve more understanding, than you might achieve with a single speech of Obama's, our aninnymouse commentor, or the Tramadol pushers.

They both follow the same pattern of course, complete conceptual word salads, but the Coach Bag peddlers use little to no seeming continuity between their words, and you are jarred into perspectives you could not have foreseen. The aninnys & Obamas on the otherhand, their surface level blurring of edges into seeming sense... it lulls & deadens and leads to nowhere.

Coach Bag peddlers - the new I-Ching for the internet world.

Anonymous said...

While I don't disagree with some of the points you make about Obama, you have to sell me on why he is crazier or worse than Bush was. The number of people who were spouting about Bush being a "man of God" with his sadistic version of so-called Christianity, while he and his sycophants were jamming a mountain of comic-book propaganda down the public's throat to get us into a war conceived by the very kind of cynical intellectualism you describe (enter the Neocons), with no accounting for a creator or higher truth of any kind but "we know best and we deserve the biggest piece of the pie." Some poorly conceived immigration strategy and "Obamacare" are worth discussing, but not anywhere near the level of our last Administration.

Gagdad Bob said...

It took many years for me to get from where you are to where I am. I can't convert you in the space of a comment.

Anonymous said...

Really? I think I could watch a couple of days of Fox News and I'd be about caught up. The description of your book sounded interesting enough to check out your website, but what a disappointment. Your stuff isn't even worth debating in the "space of a comment" or anywhere inside or outside the space/time continuum.

Miss Cleo said...

And yet, here you are, arrogantly demanding an account from someone while attempting to carry both sides of the debate.

I wonder, do you still have your Bushitler posters hanging up on the wall, or did you prefer the marionettes?

It's rather amusing, really - the bitterness of your comment suggests you must have seen the description of the book and thought, "wow! I bet this would be a great addition to my integralist collection (or whatever your bag is)," only to discover - the horror! - the author isn't a progressive. So. Angry.

Halliburton!

Gagdad Bob said...

Little touchy? All I meant is that it took a long time for me to cure myself of my liberalism and that if someone had tried to set me straight, my reaction would have been roughly as angry, unreasonable, and uninformed as yours, albeit leavened with a little wit. However, I was never a bitter person, so that may pose an obstacle to your recovery.

Anonymous said...

My liberalism? Please...
Your ideas and ideals are prepackaged. You are only intellectualizing and rationalizing a preconceived, incoherent political viewpoint and wrapping it in some pseudo-esotericism. When I read a description of your book, it implied the opposite, which is why I expressed my disappointment. You are little different than a Marxist or any other "ist" spouting any other "ism," but your "ism" is even less impressive and more predictable. You are putting lipstick on a pig and you know it.
And Miss Cleo: Sure, George Bush was just wonderful. I bow before his greatness and marvel at all his accomplishments.
All done here. Best of luck.
Steve

julie said...

Wow. So glad Steve graced us with his presence. I had no idea you were into lipsticking pigs, Bob - that sounds more like something Dupree would do.

Van Harvey said...

steveaninnymouse said "Your ideas and ideals are prepackaged"

Lol. Can't tell you how often I hear that phrase. Must come prepackaged in the proRegressive welcome wagon kit.

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