[lbo-talk] lbo, a den of right-wingers?

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

Doug:
> No, people won't
> come around if things are just explained better to them. That
> something more - understanding and dealing with all the layers of
> fantasy, of manufactured ignorance and indifference - is really
> important too. Unfortunately, I haven't figured that one out yet.
> It's a lot easier to say that household income is stagnant three
> years into an economic expansion. It is, but aside from a vague sense
> of annoyance, the fact has little political salience.

Was it Socrates who believed that better and clearer understanding alone
suffices to get rid of all the evil?  I parted with that belief for good
only recently, specifically on November 3, 2004 at about 6 AM, but I started
having my doubts in 1991, during the Persian Gulf War I and the yellow
ribbon frenzy.  

However, I also came to believe that - like with any bad things and risks in
life - there is nothing than can be done to eradicate learned stupidity,
manufactured ignorance and indifference, denials and delusions.  There will
always be a segment of the population that will fall for these vices.  I am
only wondering what is worse, the lies and delusions manufactured
professionally, by the powers that be, or those supplied via black market
when the officially supplied myths do not meet popular expectations anymore
(as for example in the communist Eastern Europe).  

But the learned stupidity and demand for delusions will always be there - I
think they are, like cancer or Down syndrome, a naturally occurring
dysfunction of human body.  The best one can hope for is to reduce the
incidence and impact of these dysfunctions - and that brings us to
institutions building.  In other words, the best we can hope is to create
institutions that isolate learned stupidity and neutralize its impact on
society at large.

Wojtek