Creatures from the Debris

The cognitive dissonance of the left is nowadays beyond imagination. For months now we have been watching what is happening in the United States: left wing thugs rioting, looting, assaulting the police and other people they don’t like, destroying property and making generally the lives of the many in the cities very miserable.  Professional agitators that claim to fight against institutionalized racism and fascism, act like fascists, highlighting thus the contradictory nature of their ideology and their rationale.  The last episode of violence we saw,  the Bible burning in Portland, reminded many of the book burning campaigns organized in Germany and Austria by the Nazis, during the ‘30s. And the mischievous crowds that surge the centers of American cities with the support of the Democratic Party apparatus don’t seem eager to stop insulting and assaulting decent people.  It’s time that Christians of all denominations in the States and pro-life people start thinking what the future will be like, if they allow the left to get back in power.   Otherwise, they will be forced tp live under a progressive administration that will slander Christians as a matter of policy. 

Well, we can suppose that for the antifa people who don’t get paid, if such people  exist, it must be a tricky process  to participate in this continuing orgy of violence, the constant re-interpretation of the truth in order to prove to themselves that they have  not only been right all along but  hold a monopoly on  absolute truth.  And the questions keep arising. What’s wrong with all these people? Is there any kind of uniformity when it comes to opinions and behaviors in their ranks? How do they manage to stay sane if we suppose for the sake of our discussion, that some of them are sane?  Do they suffer from mental conflicts?   Does their nihilism--the byproduct of  their atheist upbringing and secular education-- really run that deep?  Are they just so bored that they are  looking for any  type of revolutionary experience? If so, that wouldn’t be a new phenomenon.  But it is natural to ask ourselves:  Do these people experience disharmony, and, if they do, how do they cope with it? Do they share, like the rest of the population, the innate drive to evaluate or reevaluate opinions, stances and attitudes, and do they compare them with those of the others?  And if the answer is yes, are they really happy with themselves? Do these people really care about the opinions of others? And why are they exhibiting such denial and intolerance? And, is the so called “silent majority,” capable of evaluating what is happening, and are they able to react accordingly? 

It was the social psychologist Leon Festinger who introduced the theory of cognitive dissonance (as well as the social comparison theory) in the ‘50s. He specified that “a person does not tend to evaluate his opinions or his abilities by comparison with others who are too divergent from himself”. And, wrote that “one does not evaluate the correctness or incorrectness of an opinion by comparison with others whose opinions are extremely divergent from one’s own”. He also stressed that “if an opinion or ability is of no importance to a person there will be no drive to evaluate that ability or opinion.”

If Festinger's thesis is correct, it  should be bad news then for social cohesion, and we ignore the implications only at our peril.  The realization that a rebellious group of intolerant, “woke” middle class people is emerging out of the debris of higher education in the West, rejecting our value-system, challenging our liberties, causing havoc and undermining our safety, should alert everyone.  The right lost the universities long ago, allowing their transformation into the Cuckoo's Nest.  The left is brainwashing students, attacking faith, patriotism, family and traditions.  Nowadays, Ivy League schools should not be the destination for well brought up students, since these schools are undermining free speech and becoming very intolerant for everyone that doesn’t comply with their “progressive” narratives. 

Nikos Hidiroglou 

Nikos Hidiroglou

1 Response

  1. Frank Brownlow says:

    “Nowadays, Ivy League schools should not be the destination for well brought up students.” Absolutely. Having taught at the eldest of the seven sisters, I’ve been saying this for years.