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Started By
Message
HL Mencken was woke 100 years ago
Posted on 2/20/18 at 11:22 pm
Posted on 2/20/18 at 11:22 pm
quote:
The fact is that the average man's love of liberty is nine-tenths imaginary, exactly like his love of sense, justice and truth. He is not actually happy when free; he is uncomfortable, a bit alarmed, and intolerably lonely. Liberty is not a thing for the great masses of men. It is the exclusive possession of a small and disreputable minority, like knowledge, courage and honor. It takes a special sort of man to understand and enjoy liberty — and he is usually an outlaw in democratic societies.
9
Posted on 2/20/18 at 11:35 pm to Muthsera
My favorite of all-time. I remember discovering him in my early twenties. I kept thinking over & over again," they used to print this in newspapers??".
Posted on 2/20/18 at 11:36 pm to Muthsera
I can't say I disagree, but it is up to the small and disreputable minority to keep the path to freedom open for those who wish to travel down it.
There will always be the pull to fiefdom or the pull to freedom. We should strive for the latter.
There will always be the pull to fiefdom or the pull to freedom. We should strive for the latter.
This post was edited on 2/21/18 at 6:52 am
Posted on 2/20/18 at 11:37 pm to DownSouthJukin
quote:
I can't say I disagree, but it is up to the small and disreputable majority to keep the path to freedom open for those who wish to travel down it.
It's always the strong minority that guide the masses.
Posted on 2/20/18 at 11:38 pm to Muthsera
Mencken also despised the South, Southern culture, and religious and social conservatives. If he were around today, most of the poliboard would want to tar and feather him.
Posted on 2/20/18 at 11:40 pm to AlterDWI
quote:
I kept thinking over & over again," they used to print this in newspapers
He has a quote for everything.
quote:
How does so much [false
news] get into the American newspapers, even the good ones? Is it because journalists, as a class, are habitual liars, and prefer what is not true to what is true? I don't think it is. Rather, it is because journalists are, in the main, extremely stupid, sentimental and credulous fellows -- because nothing is easier than to fool them -- because the majority of them lack the sharp intelligence that the proper discharge of their duties demands.
Posted on 2/20/18 at 11:41 pm to Jim Rockford
He hate us cause he ain’t us
Posted on 2/20/18 at 11:45 pm to MrCarton
quote:
quote:
I can't say I disagree, but it is up to the small and disreputable majority to keep the path to freedom open for those who wish to travel down it.
It's always the strong minority that guide the masses.
Radical minorities dominating the soft majorities.
A person I respect immensely and who has some pretty amazing life experience on another place I read and contribute stridently believes this.
I can come to no other conclusion as well.
Posted on 2/20/18 at 11:49 pm to Jim Rockford
Most of the America is terrified of freedom - freedom of movement, freedom of speech, freedom of expression. They seek refuge from the individual in the collective: progressivism, nationalism, religion. It stands to reason the Poliboard would follow suit.
He may have been a cynic and a contrarian, but he was steadfastly an individualist.
He may have been a cynic and a contrarian, but he was steadfastly an individualist.
Posted on 2/20/18 at 11:50 pm to Muthsera
My favorite of Mencken's quotes seems especially apt for this point in history:
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats."
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats."
Posted on 2/21/18 at 12:31 am to Muthsera
I wish bloodsports could be between two people from anytime in history.
Posted on 2/21/18 at 12:41 am to Muthsera
quote:
Most of the America is terrified of freedom
Man has lived in abject poverty under some sort of dictatorial rule throughout most of civilized history. I think its just the natural state of humans. Look at middle easterners and how few of them want freedom. When we get rid of a brutal dictator like Saddam Hussein, the whole country falls into chaos because people don't know how to handle freedom. Americans have more experience with it than most but I'm starting to think freedom is not natural.
Posted on 2/21/18 at 12:48 am to Brosef Stalin
quote:
freedom is not natural.
There was no government when man first emerged, there was freedom. Man slowly developed societies with basic rules like sharing amongst hunter-gatherers. Gov was the natural progression and man really began to thrive. Freedom and gov were natural progessions, but governments are effective.
Posted on 2/21/18 at 12:52 am to Muthsera
quote:
He is not actually happy when free; he is uncomfortable, a bit alarmed, and intolerably lonely. Liberty is not a thing for the great masses of men. It is the exclusive possession of a small and disreputable minority
David Goggins comes to mind
Posted on 2/21/18 at 12:53 am to AMS
quote:
but governments are effective.
At restricting freedom.
Posted on 2/21/18 at 12:56 am to Centinel
quote:
At restricting freedom.
Right, but also advancing just about everything else.
Posted on 2/21/18 at 12:57 am to AMS
quote:
Gov was the natural progression and man really began to thrive
Government was invented thousands of years ago...it went millenia with mild progress...
After the CW innovation and industrialization twinned with more civilian freedoms ushered in the modern age...even still, government lost the ability to get to the moon...Kaiser soze, gone, etc.
I'm not sure we need government if we operate through common morality
Posted on 2/21/18 at 1:05 am to IceTiger
quote:
Government was invented thousands of years ago...it went millenia with mild progress...
After the CW innovation and industrialization twinned with more civilian freedoms ushered in the modern age...even still, government lost the ability to get to the moon...Kaiser soze, gone, etc.
I'm not sure we need government if we operate through common morality
I never said gov progresses rapidly, but that man only began to thrive after man began stabilizing with gov. You realize that the innovation and industrialization was what conferred for greater freedoms and was fueled by governments competing.
Operating on common morality alone would lead us back to hunter-gathering nomad lifestyles with a quickness.
Posted on 2/21/18 at 1:19 am to AMS
quote:
Operating on common morality alone would lead us back to hunter-gathering nomad lifestyles with a quickness
I'm strangely ok with this...
Posted on 2/21/18 at 1:26 am to IceTiger
Haha its a neat idea, but i'm cool with not dying because of diarrhea. I wouldn't be near as successful in that type of world as I would be a commoner under the US gov.
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