http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303674004577434210092475908.html
The ads are about pure ressentiment.
The word is French and was once adopted by philosophers as diverse as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Weber. It describes a kind of moral scapegoating of others to explain our disappointments and dissatisfactions.
Wikipedia is especially instructive in the matter: Sartre also used the term "bad faith" for the habit of blaming others for our plight.
Mr. Obama's great political talent has been his knack for granting his admirers permission to think highly of themselves for thinking highly of him. The self-approval of his supporters is the engine of his political rise, albeit married to the kind of hardball that drove his two most formidable rivals out of the 2004 Senate race in divorce-related scandals.
I wonder whether selling the entitlement mentality is a beatable political strategy. My concerns is numbers. Are there or aren't there more people who want to be told "you can't be expected to stand on your own two feet, you need help, and I'm just the one to take from others so that you can have what you deserve."
The ads are about pure ressentiment.
The word is French and was once adopted by philosophers as diverse as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Weber. It describes a kind of moral scapegoating of others to explain our disappointments and dissatisfactions.
Wikipedia is especially instructive in the matter: Sartre also used the term "bad faith" for the habit of blaming others for our plight.
Mr. Obama's great political talent has been his knack for granting his admirers permission to think highly of themselves for thinking highly of him. The self-approval of his supporters is the engine of his political rise, albeit married to the kind of hardball that drove his two most formidable rivals out of the 2004 Senate race in divorce-related scandals.
I wonder whether selling the entitlement mentality is a beatable political strategy. My concerns is numbers. Are there or aren't there more people who want to be told "you can't be expected to stand on your own two feet, you need help, and I'm just the one to take from others so that you can have what you deserve."
No comments:
Post a Comment