* My use of the scare quotes refers to the fact that, in America, the meaning of the word “liberalism” was changed - essentially inverted - in the 1920s (source: Safire’s New Political Dictionary)The natural disposition is always to believe. It is acquired wisdom and experience only that teach incredulity, and they very seldom teach it enough. The wisest and most cautious of us all frequently gives credit to stories which he himself is afterwards both ashamed and astonished that he could possibly think of believing.So yeah . . . I can see how you would think that convincing us that you are telling us “what is going on” is important. But as to what is in our interest, we don’t need that. We need pretty much the opposite - we need to pool our “incredulity” here on FR so we will not “give credit to stories which [we ourselves will] afterwards [be] ashamed and astonished that [we] could possibly think of believing.”The man whom we believe is necessarily, in the things concerning which we believe him, our leader and director, and we look up to him with a certain degree of esteem and respect . . .
The desire of being believed, the desire of persuading, of leading and directing other people, seems to be one of the strongest of all our natural desires. - Adam Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759)
So understand, Megyn, that we recognize that your work is important in a negative sense. It poses an important problem for American society. Wikileaks simply confirmed what the discerning can see in your “important work.” All journalists are in cahoots with the Democrat Party. It is easy to see why: journalism is a monopoly. Adam Smith again:
People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. It is impossible indeed to prevent such meetings, by any law which either could be executed, or would be consistent with liberty and justice. But though the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from sometimes assembling together, it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies; much less to render them necessary. - Adam Smith, Wealth of NationsDo journalists “meet together?” That is what the AP newswire is - a virtual meeting of all of journalism. So “a conspiracy against the public” is all that can be expected.The reason that “conspiracy against the public” take the form of “liberalism*” is obvious, once seen: “No news is good news” (because good news “isn’t news), “If it bleeds, it leads,” and - of similar import in a fundamentally sound, serviceable society - “‘Man Bites Dog’ not ‘Dog Bites Man.’” That last aphorism is particularly insidious because it implies an eagerness to report ill of those upon whom society most depends. Journalism is the unremitting negativity business.
This is the filter through which the news passes - or does not pass - to get published by journalism. What is blocked by that filter - and by the mere expectation that “news” will be very recent - is positive progress. American society, by constitutional design, has progressed so much materially (everything from medicine to information technology to transportation, plastics manufacture, food production and preservation, air conditioning, machine tools, etc, etc) that every Tom, Dick, and Judy in America today is better off than Queen Victoria (1819-1901) was in her day.
Journalism is unremittingly negative towards American society, yet journalism claims that “all journalists are objective.” There is a word for someone who considers negativity objective: cynic. “Cynicism” is a perfect description, not only of journalism, but of “liberalism.” Wikileaks confirms that the notional boundary between journalism and “liberalism” is, quite simply, a con.
SOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.Journalists/“liberals” of today are precisely "writers [who] have so confounded society with government, as to leaveSociety in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil - Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)
little orno distinction between them.” The intended effect of that is to denigrate society (“in every state a blessing”) and to extol government ("even in its best state . . . a necessary evil”)I, Pencil is an article written in 1958 by Leonard E. Read. The burden of the article is how diffuse are the inputs to make a simple item like a pencil. Of course a particular company - Eberhard Faber, in the example instance - made the pencil. But Mr. Eberhard and Mr. Faber did not simply speak the pencil into existence; the company has to have buildings housing machinery, and workers to operate the machines. But beyond that, the Eberhard Faber workers have to have food, shelter, and normal amenities - including those required by their families.
And the same is true of the vendors who supply Eberhard Faber with the machinery they require, and all the obvious materials - wood, graphite, rubber, and the ferrule material and the enamel. All those vendors have their own equipment, workers, and supply chain. And in all cases the workers need food, shelter, and normal amenities. So although the pencil certainly does not exist without Eberhard Faber, society works together to make pencils - and everything else.
So, “you didn't build that? Somebody else made that happen?” Yes - but that “somebody else” was not government. The “somebody” was more like everybody - mostly very indirectly.
Government planning is nothing more than the irresponsible separation of responsibility from authority, in violation of the first principle of good management. It is mere interference in society’s workings, by people who have nowhere near the competence needed to make such large decisions and be responsible for them.
The statesman who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals, would not only load himself with a most unnecessary attention, but assume an authority which could safely be trusted, not only to no single person, but to no council or senate whatever, and which would nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands of a man who had folly and presumption enough to fancy himself fit to exercise it.Improvement in efficiency via government “planning” is a paper tiger.
. . . Standards of information and education have withered. The American people, and most other advanced nationalities, are less well-educated and less well-informed than they were 50 years ago. The teaching and academic professions and the journalists have failed. They have not failed completely, of course, and there are many individual exceptions, but they do not get a passing grade. Government can do something about the schools but can’t really touch academia or the free press without threatening the foundation of free society. There is no obvious solution.
Conrad Black: The free press failed and the Clintons, Bushes and Obamas are finally finishedPeople of the same trade [e.g., journalists] seldom meet together [e.g., virtually over the AP “wire”], even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. It is impossible indeed to prevent such meetings, by any law which either could be executed, or would be consistent with liberty and justice. But though the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from sometimes assembling together, it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies; much less to render them necessary. - Adam Smith, Wealth of NationsIt is patent that the Associated Press - indeed, that every wire service - constitutes a virtual meeting of journalists, and should be discouraged if not essential. And the mission of the wire service - economizing on the use of scarce, expensive telegraph bandwidth in the dissemination of the news - is obsolete when every Tom, Dick, and Jane can afford enough Internet bandwidth as to have been, in living memory, competitive with the capacity used by the AP.Antitrust action is indicated. Not only so, but the FCC should be debarred from granting broadcast licenses to stations which broadcast programming which purports to to virtuous - either wise or objective. It is admirable to try to be objective. It is even acceptable to claim to try to be objective. But the claim of actually being objective is arrogant and self-negating.
- sophist
- 1542, earlier sophister (c.1380), from L. sophista, sophistes, from Gk. sophistes, from sophizesthai "to become wise or learned," from sophos "wise, clever," of unknown origin. Gk. sophistes came to mean "one who gives intellectual instruction for pay," and, contrasted with "philosopher," it became a term of contempt. Ancient sophists were famous for their clever, specious arguments.
- philosopher
- O.E. philosophe, from L. philosophus, from Gk. philosophos "philosopher," lit. "lover of wisdom," from philos "loving" + sophos "wise, a sage."
"Pythagoras was the first who called himself philosophos, instead of sophos, 'wise man,' since this latter term was suggestive of immodesty." [Klein]