I’m very surprised as to why is this so upvoted, other than the fact that some of the LW crowd really loves 19th century right-wing writers. The statement is patently untrue.
Even in regard to hard-line reactionaries themselves and their political circumstances; did de Maistre think that Voltaire or Rousseau or even Robespierre ever consciously produced “false opinions” to befuddle the masses?
No way; even later conservatives, like Burke and Chesterton, have admitted that if the French Revolution went wrong somewhere (and Chesterton thought it was off to a good start), it must have been a mistake, not a crime.
I know ~nothing about the historical events which you allude to, but I upvoted the quote because experience tells me it’s very true in real life. E.g. a journalist writes a news article that contains lies about its subject matter, and the link to the article gets widely shared by honest people who presume that it’s telling the truth. Or a dishonest scientist makes up his data, and then gets cited by honest scientists.
Oh. In that case, well, it’s true about local “opinions” but false about views on global things. Like the so-called free market (which is mostly not free) or the so-called democracy (which is mostly not ruled by the People): I believe that most nominally educated people today have a pretty reasonable assessment of their value: they kinda work, and even bring some standard of living, but do so very ineffectively. So the only “false opinions” on this scale are just ritual statements semi-consciously produced out of fear of empowering the enemies of the present structure. I might make a great and benevolent dictator, but I can’t trust my heir; so I’d rather endorse “democracy” steered by experts. Both the “democracy” and the “free market” are part of what we are, therefore we must defend them vigilantly.
Fortunately, we’re leaving such close-mindedness behind. Unfortunately, we might have the illusion of not needing any other abstract concepts to use for our social identity. Humans always do! If we don’t believe in Democracy, then we must believe in the Catholic Church, or Fascism, or Moldbuggery, or Communism, or Direct Theocracy (like in Banks’ Culture). But believe we will.
Unfortunately, we might have the illusion of not needing any other abstract concepts to use for our social identity. Humans always do! If we don’t believe in Democracy, then we must believe in the Catholic Church, or Fascism, or Moldbuggery, or Communism, or Direct Theocracy (like in Banks’ Culture). But believe we will.
This sounds somewhat like the assertion, usually made by religious critics of science, that “everyone believes in something; your faith is in Science” (or Darwin, or the like). Would you care to distinguish these assertions?
I’m very surprised as to why is this so upvoted, other than the fact that some of the LW crowd really loves 19th century right-wing writers.
I don’t think it’s a very good quote but I’d guess that the majority of readers didn’t know/notice/remember he was a 19th century right-wing writer. As such few people would associate this quote with opposition to the French Revolution, or even politics—people would first think of such things as religions.
And I’d put money on Mohammed, Joseph Smith and Apostle Paul to have been deliberate conmen. (I’m leaving out Jesus, because I’d put odds on him being just delusional)
I’m very surprised as to why is this so upvoted, other than the fact that some of the LW crowd really loves 19th century right-wing writers. The statement is patently untrue.
Even in regard to hard-line reactionaries themselves and their political circumstances; did de Maistre think that Voltaire or Rousseau or even Robespierre ever consciously produced “false opinions” to befuddle the masses?
No way; even later conservatives, like Burke and Chesterton, have admitted that if the French Revolution went wrong somewhere (and Chesterton thought it was off to a good start), it must have been a mistake, not a crime.
I know ~nothing about the historical events which you allude to, but I upvoted the quote because experience tells me it’s very true in real life. E.g. a journalist writes a news article that contains lies about its subject matter, and the link to the article gets widely shared by honest people who presume that it’s telling the truth. Or a dishonest scientist makes up his data, and then gets cited by honest scientists.
Oh. In that case, well, it’s true about local “opinions” but false about views on global things. Like the so-called free market (which is mostly not free) or the so-called democracy (which is mostly not ruled by the People): I believe that most nominally educated people today have a pretty reasonable assessment of their value: they kinda work, and even bring some standard of living, but do so very ineffectively. So the only “false opinions” on this scale are just ritual statements semi-consciously produced out of fear of empowering the enemies of the present structure. I might make a great and benevolent dictator, but I can’t trust my heir; so I’d rather endorse “democracy” steered by experts. Both the “democracy” and the “free market” are part of what we are, therefore we must defend them vigilantly.
Fortunately, we’re leaving such close-mindedness behind. Unfortunately, we might have the illusion of not needing any other abstract concepts to use for our social identity. Humans always do! If we don’t believe in Democracy, then we must believe in the Catholic Church, or Fascism, or Moldbuggery, or Communism, or Direct Theocracy (like in Banks’ Culture). But believe we will.
This sounds somewhat like the assertion, usually made by religious critics of science, that “everyone believes in something; your faith is in Science” (or Darwin, or the like). Would you care to distinguish these assertions?
I don’t think it’s a very good quote but I’d guess that the majority of readers didn’t know/notice/remember he was a 19th century right-wing writer. As such few people would associate this quote with opposition to the French Revolution, or even politics—people would first think of such things as religions.
And I’d put money on Mohammed, Joseph Smith and Apostle Paul to have been deliberate conmen. (I’m leaving out Jesus, because I’d put odds on him being just delusional)