No rules, no cautions, only purpose

Mrs. Field looked him in the face with eyes so intent that they had the sightless determination of the witless. In that flushing moment her intelligence was hidden and hooded by her emotion. She was not insane but she had sprung into the region where there are no rules, no cautions, only purpose.

Hugh Walpole - The Sea Tower (1939)

For those of us not consumed by a particular purpose it is not at all easy to understand those who are. If we encounter the obsessive pursuit of some purpose we usually focus on the apparent goal of the purpose. Sometimes it seems to be a fairly benign goal such as the pursuit of sporting excellence or stamp collecting.

Sometimes, especially in the political arena, the goal of the purpose is often hidden or unclear although guesswork is tempting. In political cases, an obsessive purpose with a somewhat unclear goal tells us to focus on the obsessive nature of the purpose rather than the goal. Pay attention to the obsession - the real goal is likely to be covert and not benign.

We know this but are usually side-tracked by the claimed goal in trying to explain what appears to be witless behaviour by intelligent people. This is a mismatch between purpose and claimed goal – so we should see it as a mismatch. In these cases it is more useful to focus on the inherent dangers of obsessive political purpose rather than trying to pick apart what goal lies behind the purpose.

Obsessive purpose would not be a major social problem were it not for the commonplace fact that the primary purpose of a few may become the secondary purpose of a mass following. We are prone to latch on to a purpose when it is significantly stronger than our own. This of course is leadership, but with any form of leadership, the obsessive nature of the purpose should be a clue, whatever the purported goal.

The coronavirus debacle is an example where there is clearly a demented sense of obsessive purpose behind what is claimed to be an unprecedented public health issue. It isn’t unprecedented. It is obsessive. We are quite clearly being drawn into the region where there are no rules, no cautions, only purpose.

Spot the difference

Slightly modified version

It has been said that the only way to civilize a people is to form in them habits of industry. Judged by this principle, the British are less civilized now than formerly. True, their constitutional indolence is excessive; but surely, if the spirit of woke is among them, so unwoke a vice ought to be, at least, partially remedied. But the reverse is the fact. Instead of acquiring new occupations, old ones have been discontinued. As previously remarked, the manufacture of anything is nearly obsolete in many parts of the island. So, too, with that of the native tools and domestic utensils; very few of which are now fabricated, since the superiority of Chinese wares has been made so evident.

Unmodified version

It has been said that the only way to civilize a people is to form in them habits of industry. Judged by this principle, the Tahitians are less civilized now than formerly. True, their constitutional indolence is excessive; but surely, if the spirit of Christianity is among them, so unchristian a vice ought to be, at least, partially remedied. But the reverse is the fact. Instead of acquiring new occupations, old ones have been discontinued. As previously remarked, the manufacture of tappa is nearly obsolete in many parts of the island. So, too, with that of the native tools and domestic utensils; very few of which are now fabricated, since the superiority of European wares has been made so evident.

Herman Melville - Omoo (1847)

The next pox-in-the-making

Mercatornet has a gloomy piece by Robert Weissberg on the toxic ideas corrupting today’s universities.

The toxic ideas that have corrupted today’s universities all began as tiny, obscure musings before escaping from the laboratories. They may have started with an unpublished paper or two, a request for modest institutional funding, or an informal discussion group. Eventually, they earn a panel at a regional disciplinary convention and an experimental course. In a few years, the “little idea” has metastasized into a full-blown intellectual plague.

Particularly disturbing is that the intellectual soundness of this “little idea” has no relationship to its burgeoning appeal—the opposite may be true: the wackier it is, the more alluring for career-minded academics chasing “the next big thing.” How else can one explain critical race theory, academic-style feminism, the deconstruction mania, and, alas, much more?

Intellectual sanity requires monitoring the first signs of destructive idiocy, just as the CDC tracks the early signs of an epidemic. Only then can the infant nonsense be strangled in the cradle. Imagine the intellectual mischief we could have avoided if critical race theory died an early, peaceful, obscure death.

That said, here’s the next big evil: “hate studies.”...

I recently encountered this pox-in-the-making in my Bard College alumnae magazine (the Bardian, Fall 2020), which almost incidentally mentioned the Bard Center for the Study of Hate. “Hate” has long been a professional interest of mine, so I looked a little deeper. Lo and behold, Bard’s war on “hate” is a nascent industry that already has a website, webinars, a journal, courses with reading lists, and academic specialists. Rest assured that savvy professors are soliciting naive foundations to combat this alleged evil currently bedeviling America.

As Prof Weissberg says in the article, this is just another academic racket. To my mind we could close a large percentage of university departments both in the US and here in the UK and see a net gain in academic quality.

Wodehouse on brain power

Forget psychology – P.G. Wodehouse had it sussed as these few quotes conclusively demonstrate –


It was the old, old story, I supposed. A man’s brain whizzes along for years exceeding the speed limit, and something suddenly goes wrong with the steering-gear and it skids and comes a smeller in the ditch…

What I mean to say is this, I’m all for rational enjoyment and so forth, but I think a chappie makes himself conspicuous when he throws soft-boiled eggs at the electric fan…

I tried to think of something to say, but nothing came. A chappie has to be a lot broader about the forehead than I am to handle a jolt like this. I strained the old bean till it creaked, but between the collar and the hair parting nothing stirred…

Sir Roderick Glossop, Honoria’s father, is always called a nerve specialist, because it sounds better, but everybody knows that he’s really a sort of janitor to the looney-bin.

Practically every posh family in the country has called him in at one time or another, and I suppose that, being in that position—I mean constantly having to sit on people’s heads while their nearest and dearest ‘phone to the asylum to send round the wagon—does tend to make a chappie take what you might call a warped view of humanity…

He was fairly tall and fairly broad, and he had the most enormous head, with practically no hair on it, which made it seem bigger and much more like the dome of St. Paul’s. I suppose he must have taken about a nine or something in hats. Shows what a rotten thing it is to let your brain develop too much…

“One is fighting a losing battle, I fear, sir, but I did venture to indicate to Mr. Little a course of action which might prove of advantage. I recommended him to busy himself with good works.”
“Good works?”
“About the village, sir. Reading to the bedridden—chatting with the sick—that sort of thing, sir. We can but trust that good results will ensue.”
“Yes, I suppose so,” I said, doubtfully. “But, by gosh, if I was a sick man I’d hate to have a looney like young Bingo coming and gibbering at my bedside.”

A storm may be brewing

Mercatornet has a piece on an issue which is familiar enough but a belated storm of reaction may be brewing. 

The battle in the US Congress over transgenderism and minor children could potentially sink the Biden Administration’s first major piece of legislation, the so-called “Equality Act”...

During a contentious confirmation hearing February 25 for the assistant secretary of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Republican senators vigorously pushed back against the proposed nominee, a “transgender woman” named Dr Rachel Levine – a 63-year-old doctor, once known as Richard Levine, who “transitioned” in 2011...

Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), himself a medical doctor, demanded to know if Dr Levine supported allowing minor children, with or without the consent of their parents, to use puberty-blocking drugs or undergo permanent surgical removal of their sexual organs.

Paul pointed out that virtually every medical and human rights organization in the world, including the World Health Organization, opposes the practice of what he called “genital mutilation” even when undergone voluntarily in societies that openly accept it.

Bismarck may have described politics as the art of the possible, but as we now know, it isn't necessarily the art of the sane. Yet maybe sanity will prevail - who knows? I'm not betting on it though.

Headline we may yet see

 

Hunted eh?

 

Interesting choice of word that. Apparently the hunted miscreant did not complete the correct paperwork. A sign of the times perhaps.

Health officials are trying to trace one person in England who has been infected with a concerning variant of coronavirus first found in Brazil.

They are one of six cases of the P1 variant found in the UK in February.

The person is understood to have used a home testing kit but did not complete a registration form - prompting an appeal for anyone without a result from a test on 12 or 13 February to come forward.