Fish and Water
10th August 2016
Sarah Hoyt deals with the delusional.
A few days ago we had a commenter here who claimed to speak for all Europeans. We’ll leave aside for a moment his/her vaunting hubris, since you know, speaking for everyone from Russia to Portugal is a bit of a stretch.
Which doesn’t mean that millions feel any less empowered to do that.
That “reality” (No real realities were harmed in the making of this reality. Void or restricted according to local laws.) goes something like this: Obama is a moderate right winger, as is Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump is an extreme right winger.
For us Americans this feels somewhat like having the world suddenly shifted sideways 95 degrees. We go something like “Excuse me, but what part of bringing 1/3 of the economy under government control sounds like ‘right wing’ to you? And since when is someone who says ‘at some point you’ve made enough money?’ right wing? Are you out of your ever-loving mind, tovarish?” And as for Hilary and Trump “What in hell do you mean someone who wants single payer and thinks they can rule by executive order is right wing?”
…
Most people were not really aware of it, kind of like most people here aren’t aware of how far Marx’s crazy cakes ideas have penetrated academia, the press and entertainment. This is because if you take Marx’s ideas out and look at them objectively, after you take a bottle or so of ibuprofen, and wash it down with vodka, you’re still going “OMG, that’s insane.” But because those ideas were ported into teaching and reporting and the arts, with no explanation, no grounded, and applied to highly situational occasions, you never notice. It’s the assumption behind the assumptions. Kind of like water to a fish. Remember that.