The Useful Idiot

Excerpted from http://neithercorp.us/npress/ author: Giordano Bruno

Confronting The Useful Idiot...
Why bother trying to communicate with these dimwits at all? Are they not the very definition of a lost cause? Perhaps. I can say with a certain authority, though, that some of them can be introduced to awareness, especially since I used to be one of them...
I was the Democrat putting up Kerry stickers and handing out buttons back in 2004. I was the guy who shut down any conservative viewpoint no matter how accurate or valid because Bush was the devil incarnate (and also because I was uninformed enough to believe that neo-cons were actually conservative). I was the guy at those protest rallies where no one including myself really understood the topics we were speaking out on. I knew corporations were the enemy, but I didn't understand why. I knew the wars were dishonest, but I thought they were all about oil. I knew the economy was in trouble, but I barely knew what the Federal Reserve was, let alone fractional reserve banking or fiat currency. It took many years to fully remove my head from my ass, but I did. I see no reason why others could not do the same, given the right prompting.
The useful idiot has to be faced with queries he can't weasel out of or deflect. That means continually asking him questions and demanding he support his responses with concrete proof. He has to be shown beyond a doubt that at least one of his precious ideals is unfounded and unsupported by the facts. Just one. After that, he can no longer assume that any of his other views are rock solid either. He will be forced to finally check his sources, which usually leads to a terrifying epiphany; he knows nothing! It's like falling down a bottomless South American sinkhole with nothing to grab onto. I know, because I felt it once.
Eventually, he accepts the loss of his old identity, the foolish man that was so confident and certain, and moves on towards a frightening world where he must teach himself, instead of waiting around for others to teach him. The empowerment and the awe of this process is nearly indescribable, it has to be experienced to be understood. It's like being able to see and to speak clearly for the first time. You never knew what you were missing because you had nothing to compare it to; only that unsettling knot at the pit of your stomach, telling you that something was very wrong. Now, to go back would be unthinkable, even hellish.
Nobody sees themselves as a useful idiot serving the interests of tyrants in the oppression of their fellow man. But, the fact remains that many Americans are in just such a position. You can hate them, you can even wish them ill, but don't give up on them all. Contesting ignorance is not just the civic duty of the informed, it is also an act of compassion towards those who are not.

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Anyone else feel the same way?

NoDrama said:

Anyone else feel the same way?

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Not really. I'm not sure I understand the point. There are a lot of people who have strong opinions who don't really know what they are talking about? Hmmm. Ok. Yeah, that's true.

how do you go about separating the useful idiots from those folks who are just a mindless waste of skin?

undertheice said:

how do you go about separating the useful idiots from those folks who are just a mindless waste of skin?

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I think from the point of view of that article, they were one and the same. The idiot was useful because he was allowed to be manipulated. When he realized he was being a used and started to reexamine what he thought he knew, he ceased to be a useful idiot.

Or maybe I'm misunderstanding. There are some things I don't follow about that. I'm taking it on good faith that the op wasn't implying that liberals are all just idiots being manipulated. I hope I'm not wrong about that or we're about to have a whole different discussion here.

I was kind of hoping that those who were interested would read the whole article I linked, but I also understand that 5 or so pages of text may be too much for some, which was why I excerpted it.

Dan Kone said:

.... I'm taking it on good faith that the op wasn't implying that liberals are all just idiots being manipulated. I hope I'm not wrong about that or we're about to have a whole different discussion here.

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Let's just say he was, how would that discussion go ?

How about exchanging god for man as your master .. does that seem at all like freedom ?

I'm all grown up and can take care of myself. I'm a big boy now. I don't need the kind, compassionate liberals to take care of me when I trip and get a boo-boo.

There is no man wise enough to rule over me, and I will have none.

It's good to be back.

Man o' the green said:

Let's just say he was, how would that discussion go ?

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I would explain that ignorance isn't exclusive to one political view. I'd point to conservatives holding signs saying "keep government out of my medicare!". Then I'd point out by implying only the left is capable of having ignorant beliefs he was being a "useful idiot" of the right.

How about exchanging god for man as your master .. does that seem at all like freedom ?

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I've never had to make that choice since I'm an atheist. Not sure I understand your point. Care to elaborate?

I'm all grown up and can take care of myself. I'm a big boy now. I don't need the kind, compassionate liberals to take care of me when I trip and get a boo-boo.

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Ok, good for you. Again, what is your point?

There is no man wise enough to rule over me, and I will have none.

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So are you advocating anarchy?

Ignorance can be found on both sides from those who don't take the time to learn the facts and to honestly look at both sides. I just blame the right more so now for having to listen to all the lies that are told about Obama ( Muslim, socialist, Kenyan, death panels.tribesman, etc etc...) To have an opinion is one thing , but to flat out lie is another..From the moment this man came into office he has had to fight the ignorance of stupidity and hidden racism...

londonfog said:

Ignorance can be found on both sides from those who don't take the time to learn the facts and to honestly look at both sides. I just blame the right more so now for having to listen to all the lies that are told about Obama ( Muslim, socialist, Kenyan, death panels.tribesman, etc etc...) To have an opinion is one thing , but to flat out lie is another..From the moment this man came into office he has had to fight the ignorance of stupidity and hidden racism...

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one man's lie is another man's supposition. not that it matters, but he might very well be considered a muslim by the laws of islam. the agenda and policies that he and his party embrace has taken us farther toward socialism than any president since fdr. i do tend to agree that the whole "he's not an american citizen" thing is really nothing more than partisan posing, a sad attempt to find any reason to deny that such a bumbling twit could be elected to the highest office in the land, and the idea of death panels was only an extreme reaction to the attempted government take-over of the health insurance industry. it's all part and parcel of the sorry state of american politics.

the reason you blame the right more than the left is rather obvious, you disagree with them. blinding yourself to brak's ineptitude and playing the race card at every opportunity is no better than any of this other partisan garbage that afflicts our democratic process. it is embracing the same sort of lies and racism that you accuse other of using and is certainly no more productive.

Dan Kone said:

I would explain that ignorance isn't exclusive to one political view. I'd point to conservatives holding signs saying "keep government out of my medicare!". Then I'd point out by implying only the left is capable of having ignorant beliefs he was being a "useful idiot" of the right.
I've never had to make that choice since I'm an atheist. Not sure I understand your point. Care to elaborate?
Ok, good for you. Again, what is your point?
So are you advocating anarchy?

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There are some useful idiots on the right, I must agree to that. Both sides try to "stir up the ant hill", and fire up their team to win, regardless of reason, or the facts.
However, protesting loss of liberty and freedom is a natural reaction, and is a valid concern regardless of the idiot's knowledge of the details.
Left ideology has a sense of superiority and dominance of others. This requires justification of direction of another man's life, which is evil when done outside of a parent-child ( or teaching ) relationship. I will be a "child" to no man.
Those who seek justification of freedom look to god, this is not the only place, but most religious feel humbled to a higher power, and not to man. The times of the god-king are long gone. So what is the justification for placing man in a larger and larger position as the arbiter of all that is good and fair ? It must always be in the most limited sense possible. We must have laws and courts, but they must meet the minimum test : what is the least amount of laws that are necessary for the individual to maintain their liberty ?
And yes, we need to be much closer to anarchy and farther from socialism.