03-27-2022, 12:39 PM
(03-26-2022, 08:57 PM)JasonBlack Wrote: This one is going after pretty much all of American culture, from boomer to Gen Z and from socialist to Randian: being a "rebel without a cause" is the height of immaturity, and a desire to be aggressive for no reason.
If you have never seen the movie Rebel Without a Cause, then do so. It was very good. Although playing a very immature character, James Dean played the role with some very mature acting. One rarely sees that, and just seeing his unique style is worth the price of the video.
Quote:It's okay to question authority. It's okay to think for yourself, express yourself and generally do what you want, but rebelling to just to rebel isn't much different from throwing a tantrum. What? You think we can build a society just be constantly "rebelling"? You think that's ever going to foster a sense of community? structure? rationality? If you don't like the system then
1) work to change it through legitimate channels
2) debate people in earnest without grandiose provocations
3) become a leader yourself...and accept the responsibilities that come with it
Challenges to corrupt norms are a necessary part of causing a society itself to grow up. So it was with the voting rights and economic opportunities for African-Americans, and more recently with LGBT rights.. Rottenness tends to consolidate itself and then insinuate into every imaginable institution. Rottenness is usually wise enough to committing society to putting up an impressive front... but underneath the foundation deteriorates. In political rottenness such appears as a political cult of personality.In economics it is cronyism in a pay-to-play system.
1. Rebellion against evil is noble, necessary, and inevitable -- even if futile. Healthy societies have room for healthy communities within them, societies that may insulate them from some attributes that those communities reject or to protect traits that others can rarely adopt. On the other hand, successful commerce can transcend culture; so can outright fun and tasty food. This is one defense of a part of libertarian theory -- the benign part in which people are free to choose an innocuous identity. (The not-so-benign side of libertarianism leads to a hierarchy based upon wealth or bureaucratic power within for-profit institutions that leads to the denial of opportunity including competition, and that merits rebellion!) Question: what do we do when "legitimate" channels when those disappear?
2. Some people will not debate in earnest. "White power" cultists are not open to recognizing the validity of any challenge to white supremacy. Human solidarity across ethnic lines violates the one thing precious to themselves -- their "whiteness". It is hard to imagine a serious debate with someone convinced in the validity of young-earth creationism, with Mafia groupies, the Taliban or Daesh, or the New Black Panther Party. "Believe it or burn", whether at the stake, in a crematorium after breathing Zyklon-B, or enduring eternal fire and brimstone, is unacceptable. (OK, I once got into an argument with a Nazi on the Web, and I suggested that the eternal abode of Nazis and Stalinists, the most egregious sinners of all time, would be extremely unpleasant even if the climate and scenery were like those of San Francisco. The real horror of Hell would be the company).
Grandiose provocations induce a ferocious crackdown. Even here, prosecutors know enough to never let a defendant use the defense stand as a forum for pushing his cause.
3. One can be a leader at various levels, from creating an affront to establishing a reform group. Do so too late and you will at worst be futile and at best will be a martyr.
Quote:American society overall needs to grow up. It needs to stop rebelling against the authority and instead become the authority you wish to see in the world. Otherwise, you're just throwing a fit and picking fights with people who didn't do anything to do.
Some authority is valid (scientific truth tends to entrench itself with neither terror, deceit, nor corruption). Would that the rest of us meet that standard!
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.