Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about the interesting link between power, compromise and stupidity. Interesting because we see something similar in modern times.
Upon closer observation, it becomes apparent that every strong upsurge of power in the public sphere, be it of a political or a religious nature, infects a large part of humankind with stupidity.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer - After Ten Years (2017)
Bonhoeffer explained this source of stupidity as a common human tendency to compromise both ethically and intellectually when faced with the demands of an upsurge in power. He was of course looking at the issue from the perspective of the rise of Hitler and the National Socialists in Germany, but the tendency may be wider than the brute power he knew.
For example, we in the West are living through an upsurge in a powerfully demanding political culture. Although not at all comparable to the rise of German National Socialists, modern Western political culture does demand ethical and intellectual comprise, a level of compromise strongly associated with stupidity. We know this because we observe it.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer - After Ten Years (2017)
Bonhoeffer explained this source of stupidity as a common human tendency to compromise both ethically and intellectually when faced with the demands of an upsurge in power. He was of course looking at the issue from the perspective of the rise of Hitler and the National Socialists in Germany, but the tendency may be wider than the brute power he knew.
For example, we in the West are living through an upsurge in a powerfully demanding political culture. Although not at all comparable to the rise of German National Socialists, modern Western political culture does demand ethical and intellectual comprise, a level of compromise strongly associated with stupidity. We know this because we observe it.
Not only that, but modern cultural propaganda is more technically invasive. It isn’t George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four, but it does demand an invasive level of compromise and in so doing it demands stupidity - and gets it. It demands stupidity from political leaders too, as they try to forge their compromises with reality.
In this sense, sceptics are those who in their various ways resist compromise. It isn’t a matter of intelligence or the ability to understand complex reasoning, but a refusal or merely a sufficiently strong reluctance to compromise reason, experience and what is already known.
3 comments:
You can argue that compromise is a necessary part of communal life, but sometimes the community will charge over a cliff without any insight or reflection.
If you value your autonomy more then you may avoid running over the cliff, but it can be lonely on the edge of the community and vulnerable to both external predators and internal 'community criticism'.
I'm not sure whether the political realm infects others with stupidity, or whether the stupidity already in the public realm is sought out and amplified in order for politicians to generate the necessary emotion to gain power. If Lammy, for example, had been content to practice law in London, there's no way he would have bothered with all the nonsense about reparations and racial justice. Miliband wouldn't have sought out the green nonsense if he hadn't spotted an opportunity in politics. They both had to go looking for a bunch of fanatical idiots to align themselves with. They couldn't just say that they just wanted jobs as politicians because they were of above average intelligence and thought they could do a reasonable job. They have to get fired up with daft extremist ideas first.
DJ - I agree, that internal 'community criticism' can be quite powerful, even when not particularly overt, such as quiet assumptions behind compromised phrases.
Sam - that seems like selection pressure too, in that Lammy and Miliband were probably attracted to politics via a range of influences, one of them being a pronounced willingness to compromise their own intelligence. Natural charlatans drawn to an opportunity to profit from what could almost be called a talent, a charlatan's talent.
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