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The Idiotarian vs. the merely Unprincipled

"business and government ... will ally with virtually anyone if the alliance advances their interests." - a reader

That to me is the key difference between the Idiotarian and the merely Unprincipled.

The unprincipled will cynically make choices that further his own interests.

The idiotarian will cynically make choices that harm his own interests. He'll cut off his nose to spite his face. Example: what small-L liberal would ever, ever defend the sovereignty of Taliban Afghanistan? What feminist? Answer: quite a few would, and did, because they wanted to deny Bush's will more than they wanted to bring the freedoms they claim to love to Afghanistan.

(And I agree that the motivation for this perversity can be traced to resentment, which Nietzsche saw as one of the great motivators of human thought.)

Reader X

by a reader on Sun, 06/29/2003 - 07:49

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