What we see around us, and my last entry points to, is a perfect storm of compulsory unreason:
- The identification of reason with a scientism that rejects tradition, faith and the ability to recognize what things are—which involves belief in essential natures—as irrational, and therefore oppressive. As I note in the last entry, the result is that reason can no longer deal with the most basic and obvious features of our situation. When meaning becomes personal choice or assertion, and social thought is no longer able to deal with marriage and family, you know you’ve got a problem with how people are thinking about things.
- The identification of justice with social justice, and social justice with abolishing the effect of non-rationalized human distinctions and connections such as sex, marriage, family, culture, religion, and historical community. To the contrary: life according to reason depends on the ability to classify situations, things and people in accordance with their relation to a scheme of life worth living. That ability exists through tradition and culture, and tradition and culture discriminate. The point of multicultural justice, then, is making tradition and culture nonfunctional. If they were allowed to do their work then some systems of life would be more respected, and those who were part of them would benefit more. That wouldn’t be multicultural.
- The conversion of our educational system, in accordance with the preceding two points, into a system for training people out of the ability to live reasonably. Thought depends on unjust particularities like tradition, culture and discrimination. It comes to unjust conclusions as to what’s good and bad. Wouldn’t it better if people were deprived of the ability to deal with life in accordance with their own principles but just watched TV, did their jobs, went shopping, and accepted what they’re told while believing that they’re making up their own minds about everything? If they don’t like it—if as a practical matter they reject freedom and equality—why let them get away with it?