- Oct 31, 2012
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Dante started a thread a while back with this quote from Bonhoeffer.
The quote no doubt originated from Bonhoeffer's feeble attempt to get people to see the evil of Hitler which was blatant. Bonhoeffer was confronted with the fact that the people were too caught up in the cult of Hitler and unable to then convince them in large numbers. However, Dante then used the entire thread to bash Trump supporters, really this was the only goal of the thread, so it wound up in the Badlands where it belonged. But the same thing could be argued for the cult of the DNC. Any person or group can become a cult, once the cult or organization is defended at every opportunity because that person or group is the only source of goodness and truth. No man or manmade organization should be regarded as the only source of goodness and truth or the only source of salvation, unless you are really God himself. In fact, politics brings out the worst in humanity and is drowning in lies and deception, no matter the party.
However, I am here not to bash anyone just to be a partisan hack, I actually enjoy seeking truth for the sake of it, and not just to get people elected.
Keep in mind, there is truth to the Bonhoeffer quote. Stupid people can do a great deal of harm. However, these "stupid" in Nazi Germany people were being manipulated by an intelligent evil. So without this intelligent evil driving them like sheep, they would not be doing near the harm they otherwise would have. The Nazi regime was the cutting edge of propaganda at that time. In fact, a lot of their tactics are still used today. So how could you simply blame people for being duped as worse than Hitler? After all, apes in the forest have no chance of destroying the globe, however, highly intelligent people who have come up with WMD's or other ways to destroy all of life on earth such as creating a deadly virus, are very capable of it. By that logic alone, I think evil is far worse, that is, evil with intelligence. But Dante could not make this point because you would have to assume Trump had intelligence and could drive people like sheep using this intelligence. That is unfathomable to people like Dante.
I've come to the conclusion that stupidity and insanity and evil have a common thread, that is, the pursuit of harm. It is the pursuit of harm, whether it is harming ones self or society. However, with stupidity, it seems that the pursuit of harm in sought for self benefit of some type, usually a material or sexual benefit or both, however, it falls woefully short of its goal. An example would be a car thief who once went to street corner to street corner putting a gun to the head of the driver who drove a sports car and telling him to get out. Once out of the car, the thief got in, looked around, but then inexplicably got back out of the car and ran down the street again. He did this after 3 failed attempts. The police finally caught up with him and asked him, why did you just get in the cars and look around? Why did you not drive off? He said, "I can't drive a stick".
However, the evil person seems to benefit on some level from doing harm to others. Had the car thief gotten away with the crimes, he would not be considered stupid, he would be considered smart. However, he would have done harm to others in his pursuit, and as such, be considered bad on some level, especially if he had harmed them in other ways such as shooting them dead.
But the insane person is the one that does harm, usually to themselves, without any rhyme or reason. They simply are not in control for whatever reason.
But at the end of the day, all 3 accomplish the same thing, which is harm to society or themselves or both. In fact, it is arguable that doing harm to others has the effect of driving someone gradually insane, since they then have to deal with their conscience. I believe this to lead to many psychological issues that can lead to suicide. Of course, there are sociopaths, but then this leads to society to maybe put them to death depending on their crimes, which ultimately harms them in the end.
“Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed – in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical – and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. For that reason, greater caution is called for when dealing with a stupid person than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.”
The quote no doubt originated from Bonhoeffer's feeble attempt to get people to see the evil of Hitler which was blatant. Bonhoeffer was confronted with the fact that the people were too caught up in the cult of Hitler and unable to then convince them in large numbers. However, Dante then used the entire thread to bash Trump supporters, really this was the only goal of the thread, so it wound up in the Badlands where it belonged. But the same thing could be argued for the cult of the DNC. Any person or group can become a cult, once the cult or organization is defended at every opportunity because that person or group is the only source of goodness and truth. No man or manmade organization should be regarded as the only source of goodness and truth or the only source of salvation, unless you are really God himself. In fact, politics brings out the worst in humanity and is drowning in lies and deception, no matter the party.
However, I am here not to bash anyone just to be a partisan hack, I actually enjoy seeking truth for the sake of it, and not just to get people elected.
Keep in mind, there is truth to the Bonhoeffer quote. Stupid people can do a great deal of harm. However, these "stupid" in Nazi Germany people were being manipulated by an intelligent evil. So without this intelligent evil driving them like sheep, they would not be doing near the harm they otherwise would have. The Nazi regime was the cutting edge of propaganda at that time. In fact, a lot of their tactics are still used today. So how could you simply blame people for being duped as worse than Hitler? After all, apes in the forest have no chance of destroying the globe, however, highly intelligent people who have come up with WMD's or other ways to destroy all of life on earth such as creating a deadly virus, are very capable of it. By that logic alone, I think evil is far worse, that is, evil with intelligence. But Dante could not make this point because you would have to assume Trump had intelligence and could drive people like sheep using this intelligence. That is unfathomable to people like Dante.
I've come to the conclusion that stupidity and insanity and evil have a common thread, that is, the pursuit of harm. It is the pursuit of harm, whether it is harming ones self or society. However, with stupidity, it seems that the pursuit of harm in sought for self benefit of some type, usually a material or sexual benefit or both, however, it falls woefully short of its goal. An example would be a car thief who once went to street corner to street corner putting a gun to the head of the driver who drove a sports car and telling him to get out. Once out of the car, the thief got in, looked around, but then inexplicably got back out of the car and ran down the street again. He did this after 3 failed attempts. The police finally caught up with him and asked him, why did you just get in the cars and look around? Why did you not drive off? He said, "I can't drive a stick".
However, the evil person seems to benefit on some level from doing harm to others. Had the car thief gotten away with the crimes, he would not be considered stupid, he would be considered smart. However, he would have done harm to others in his pursuit, and as such, be considered bad on some level, especially if he had harmed them in other ways such as shooting them dead.
But the insane person is the one that does harm, usually to themselves, without any rhyme or reason. They simply are not in control for whatever reason.
But at the end of the day, all 3 accomplish the same thing, which is harm to society or themselves or both. In fact, it is arguable that doing harm to others has the effect of driving someone gradually insane, since they then have to deal with their conscience. I believe this to lead to many psychological issues that can lead to suicide. Of course, there are sociopaths, but then this leads to society to maybe put them to death depending on their crimes, which ultimately harms them in the end.
