Elliott Werner writes: 'Peter, I read this posting with interest. I like to think of myself as someone who is fairly well read and who likes to keep up with what is going on in the rarified atmosphere of academia, but who also remains in touch with a lot of ordinary people. I believe (without really being able to cite any evidence) that the “group of philosophers who became known as post-modernists” have about as much influence on western culture as the foam on top of a wave has on the underlying ocean.'
I thought at the time (1960s and onward) that the whole post-modernist project was a tempest in a teapot. But the post-modernists actively sought and obtained influence. In academia, they placed their ilk in positions of authority in departments of philosophy, English, anthropology, and even (somewhat contra their beliefs) in administration. From these positions, they promoted their own ('personnel is policy') and ruthlessly destroyed the careers of those who disagreed. The most damaging influence they've had -- and continue to exercise -- is the notion that there is no such thing as objective truth. Hence the destruction of standards not only in the humanities and social sciences, but also in engineering, science, law, business, and medicine. Destroy standards in engineering, and airplanes fall out of the sky. The number of near misses, both in the air and on the ground, as documented in reports that must be submitted to the FAA, has skyrocketed in recent years. Destroy objective standards in business, and you get ESG which is poorly disguised politics. In medicine, you get the covidian cult, 'pregnant people' (no male/female difference), childhood sexual mutilation. So I think it's fair to say the post-modernists have had an outsize influence, probably beyond their wildest dreams.
Their own lives also legitimized, normalized, and celebrated their S&M practices, serving as an example to others by way of social contagion. Like the donor in the art section of my essay who herself found S&M practices utterly abhorrent, but was moved to tolerate them, many others who wished to become members of the cognoscenti did likewise. They had no intellectual defense against those who called them 'square' or 'old-fashioned' or 'racist' or whatever the term of abuse may be. Because the post-modernists had sucked all the air out of the mansions of philosophy.
Excellent, thought-provoking piece. I never thought about sadomasochism in the context you put it, but it makes perfect sense. If you're a group looking to bring down a country or civilization itself, the best ways to do that is to de-sacralize every component of society: the family unit, religion/spirituality, ethics, morals, individual sovereignty, one's relationship to nature, the biological differences between men and women, etc. I never understood post-modernism in its heyday, but I see it clearly in retrospect. It was a way for people to indulge perverted fantasies with the imprimatur of society. If you despise the narrow, puritanical constraints of an era, what better way to overthrow them than to trash everything sacred? Only much later did we recognize the post-revolutionary wreckage and the cost of jettisoning social mores.
Exactly! De-sacralize the family unit, religion, nature, male/female difference, and the only thing left is the state. The state becomes the sole object of worship and dependence. It is industrial-scale, whole-of-government sadomasochism. I'm truly grateful for your comment. It shows some people 'get it', and that our shared understanding has a good chance of enhancing general awareness.
That's what fascism is: allegiance first to the state. In order to do that you have entice people to give up their allegiance to things like family, religion, community, intimacy--intimacy is key. That's what forges deep bonds between people, forges devotion. Look what happened during the plandemic: people actually jettisoned their own family members and took the side of the corrupt government in the name of "public safety"--which is an oxymoron! It was utter insanity. That's how effective brainwashing is. But if you tell someone that MSM is 24/7 propaganda, they get very defensive and nasty. It's not unlike telling someone that they've been conned and providing them with evidence. They get mad at YOU instead of the person or institution that conned them.
Elliott Werner writes: 'Peter, I read this posting with interest. I like to think of myself as someone who is fairly well read and who likes to keep up with what is going on in the rarified atmosphere of academia, but who also remains in touch with a lot of ordinary people. I believe (without really being able to cite any evidence) that the “group of philosophers who became known as post-modernists” have about as much influence on western culture as the foam on top of a wave has on the underlying ocean.'
I thought at the time (1960s and onward) that the whole post-modernist project was a tempest in a teapot. But the post-modernists actively sought and obtained influence. In academia, they placed their ilk in positions of authority in departments of philosophy, English, anthropology, and even (somewhat contra their beliefs) in administration. From these positions, they promoted their own ('personnel is policy') and ruthlessly destroyed the careers of those who disagreed. The most damaging influence they've had -- and continue to exercise -- is the notion that there is no such thing as objective truth. Hence the destruction of standards not only in the humanities and social sciences, but also in engineering, science, law, business, and medicine. Destroy standards in engineering, and airplanes fall out of the sky. The number of near misses, both in the air and on the ground, as documented in reports that must be submitted to the FAA, has skyrocketed in recent years. Destroy objective standards in business, and you get ESG which is poorly disguised politics. In medicine, you get the covidian cult, 'pregnant people' (no male/female difference), childhood sexual mutilation. So I think it's fair to say the post-modernists have had an outsize influence, probably beyond their wildest dreams.
Their own lives also legitimized, normalized, and celebrated their S&M practices, serving as an example to others by way of social contagion. Like the donor in the art section of my essay who herself found S&M practices utterly abhorrent, but was moved to tolerate them, many others who wished to become members of the cognoscenti did likewise. They had no intellectual defense against those who called them 'square' or 'old-fashioned' or 'racist' or whatever the term of abuse may be. Because the post-modernists had sucked all the air out of the mansions of philosophy.
Excellent, thought-provoking piece. I never thought about sadomasochism in the context you put it, but it makes perfect sense. If you're a group looking to bring down a country or civilization itself, the best ways to do that is to de-sacralize every component of society: the family unit, religion/spirituality, ethics, morals, individual sovereignty, one's relationship to nature, the biological differences between men and women, etc. I never understood post-modernism in its heyday, but I see it clearly in retrospect. It was a way for people to indulge perverted fantasies with the imprimatur of society. If you despise the narrow, puritanical constraints of an era, what better way to overthrow them than to trash everything sacred? Only much later did we recognize the post-revolutionary wreckage and the cost of jettisoning social mores.
Exactly! De-sacralize the family unit, religion, nature, male/female difference, and the only thing left is the state. The state becomes the sole object of worship and dependence. It is industrial-scale, whole-of-government sadomasochism. I'm truly grateful for your comment. It shows some people 'get it', and that our shared understanding has a good chance of enhancing general awareness.
That's what fascism is: allegiance first to the state. In order to do that you have entice people to give up their allegiance to things like family, religion, community, intimacy--intimacy is key. That's what forges deep bonds between people, forges devotion. Look what happened during the plandemic: people actually jettisoned their own family members and took the side of the corrupt government in the name of "public safety"--which is an oxymoron! It was utter insanity. That's how effective brainwashing is. But if you tell someone that MSM is 24/7 propaganda, they get very defensive and nasty. It's not unlike telling someone that they've been conned and providing them with evidence. They get mad at YOU instead of the person or institution that conned them.