[lbo-talk] Bush as the lesser imperialist evil

Ted Winslow egwinslow at rogers.com
Wed May 12 19:09:31 PDT 2004


Dwayne Monroe wrote:


> But for a
> person to write such things, knowing the further
> misery that's sure to come if their tactical wishes
> are granted, is leaving behind the proper human
> perspective and putting on the robes of assumed deity.

Sadism is protean

Short term pain for long term gain is one of its forms. This is revealed by the fact that, while the short term pain is certain, no rational ground is available for predicting the long run gain. Keynes explained the psychology of "financial puritanism" - "sadomonetarism" - in this way. The mistaken use of "remorseless" logic - e.g. the "logic" of game theory, the "logic" of capital - to predict the future and hence "hide from ourselves how little we foresee" is another of these forms. Keynes pointed to Hayek as exemplifying both the "financial puritan" and the "remorseless logician."

The forms vary in the degree of psychopathology they express e.g. contemptuous irony is more civilized than revenge beheading.

Ted



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