Monday 16 August 2021
The energy that actually shapes the world
The energy that actually shapes the world springs from emotions — racial pride, leader-worship, religious belief, love of war — which liberal intellectuals mechanically write off as anachronisms, and which they have usually destroyed so completely in themselves as to have lost all power of action.
George Orwell - Wells, Hitler and the World State (1941)
Seems about right at the moment.
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3 comments:
As David Hume said,
"Reason is, and ought only to be, the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them."
The UK has been in the predicament described for some time. Churchill and Thatcher only rose to power when the emotion (fear) set in.
Trump spoke to the passions of (roughly) half the voters of the USA.
Farage spoke to the passions of over half of the referendate over Brexit.
Boris spoke to the passions of over half of the UK voters.
Hilary Clinton spoke against 'passionate' support for Trump, and lost ground.
Remainers spoke against 'passionate' support for Brexit, and lost ground.
Corbyn lives in his own world and didn't understand the passions of his 'natural' support or his opponents.
But Trump, Farage and Boris are clever, too.
Sam - maybe Churchill and Thatcher reinforced the old political lesson that baseless fears may be used to oppose fears based on more genuine threats.
DJ - I think they all speak to the same two basic emotions - fear and anger. As I see it, Hilary Clinton tried to stir up the same emotions, fear of Trump and anger at the class of voter he stirred up with his rhetoric. She just wasn't very convincing and carried too much baggage.
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