The Price of Pragmatism

We are repeatedly told that money causes corruption: money used to campaign for or against a candidate will not only unduly influence election results (leaving aside the clear implication of a certain level of obtuseness among the electorate), but also corrupts the votes of the politician.  The idea that the politician can be bought is passed over for the idea that money can buy the politician!
Money, not principles, is often recognized as the source of power in the political system.
What must be examined is not the motivation of those trying to influence politics with money, but the ideas held by each politician, and the price at which he is willing to part with his principles.  What needs to be examined is his price for this political pragmatism.


For an eye-opening view on the evils of pragmatism, a philosophy in which the end justifies the means, read Saul Alinsky’s, Rules for Radicals.  I think it should be subtitled: How to Make Extortion, Fraud and Flatulence Work for You, but your take-away message may seem less ridiculous. You may rightly ask why you should pay any attention to such a book written in 1971. For one, our Secretary of State did her 92 page Wellesley thesis on the Alinsky model for community organizing,  and for another, while Saul Alinsky literally wrote the book on professional community organizing in Chicago, our President follows in his flexible ideological footprints.

Comments

The Rat Cap said…
South Chicago is a cesspool of political corruption, violence, and radical left wing politics. This is where Hillary, Obama, Rahm and this entire regime were grown and nurtured. Here is a cute video from another South Chicago alumnus, Louis Farrakhan, on Obama how Obama was "selected" not "elected".

http://www.breitbart.tv/farrakhan-on-obama-before-he-was-elected-he-was-selected/
May 25, 2010 at 10:22 AM
Lynne said…
Yikes! Self-marginalization: yup, that was in the handbook.
May 25, 2010 at 5:14 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Plainsies, Clapsies

A ball bouncing game from my youth instructed the player to throw the ball up ( plainsies ), throw it up and clap ( clapsies ) throw it up and roll your hands ( roll the ball ) and touch your shoulders ( tabapsies ). In trying to locate the rest of the ball bouncing chant, I found out not only is my “tabapsies” a mondegreen , but also the motion – touching your shoulders – isn’t even the correct movement! You are supposed to clap your hands behind your back and say “ to backsies .”  Yeah. That makes much more sense. Being only slightly deflated by this discovery, I will still share my exciting news.  In an attempt to counteract the stretching of my wrist from doing front squats two days in a row, I pulled out the tabapsies motion this morning.  This, in itself, is not newsworthy.  However, I grabbed both shoulders with all five fingers!!! Again, not exciting unless you know that when I was nine years-old, I broke my left elbow doing a running c...
Read more

Memorizing the Preamble to the Constitution

Image
In preparation for celebrating the 222nd anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United States on September 17, 1787, here are a few videos that I hope will inspire you to at least memorize the brief, but powerful Preamble. First, here is my first attempt at video editing with the bare bones Windows Movie Maker (no ability to step through frame by frame with sound, or ability to mark stops before cutting). My daughters are reading the Preamble to the Constitution from the little book I carry in my purse. They can recite it by heart, but it I thought it would be a little different (and a little less exposed) if they did it this way. Let's not even talk about the 20 takes due to laughter. If you knew it as a child, don't worry, it'll come back to you as Barney shows in this video. Finally, a little treat for my sci-fi loving friends. And if memorizing and reciting The Preamble in creative ways leaves you wanting more, you can find out which Founding Father you...
Read more

Why I am an Objectivist

I am a human being who values her life on this earth above all other things. The right and good is that which contributes to my life and the wrong and evil is that which destroys it. Every action I take must pass through the gates of identification before being pursued as a value which I understand will contribute to my life. Happiness is my ultimate goal. I understand the importance of identifying, applying, pursuing, and achieving those values which will contribute to my life, not just in the immediate sense (which every child understands), but in the long-term sense (which develops with experience). This is not to say that I’m really good at always identifying, pursuing, and achieving those values, or that I remain consistent in my applications of them; merely that I had already understood that this selfishness was the key to my happiness when I was relatively young. The importance of the fact that I understood I was responsible for my own happiness can not be overemphasized here. W...
Read more