The Madness of Liberalism

The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness
Lyle H. Rossiter, Jr, MD
Monday, December 04, 2006
Dr. Lyle H. Rossiter, Jr.,a forensic psychiatrist, explains the madness of liberalism in his new book The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness. You can read an excerpt below, and read more at his website libertymind.com.

Like all other human beings, the modern liberal reveals his true character, including his madness, in what he values and devalues, in what he articulates with passion. Of special interest, however, are the many values about which the modern liberal mind is not passionate: his agenda does not insist that the individual is the ultimate economic, social and political unit; it does not idealize individual liberty and the structure of law and order essential to it; it does not defend the basic rights of property and contract; it does not aspire to ideals of authentic autonomy and mutuality; it does not preach an ethic of self-reliance and self-determination; it does not praise courage, forbearance or resilience; it does not celebrate the ethics of consent or the blessings of voluntary cooperation. It does not advocate moral rectitude or understand the critical role of morality in human relating. The liberal agenda does not comprehend an identity of competence, appreciate its importance, or analyze the developmental conditions and social institutions that promote its achievement. The liberal agenda does not understand or recognize personal sovereignty or impose strict limits on coercion by the state. It does not celebrate the genuine altruism of private charity. It does not learn history’s lessons on the evils of collectivism.

What the liberal mind is passionate about is a world filled with pity, sorrow, neediness, misfortune, poverty, suspicion, mistrust, anger, exploitation, discrimination, victimization, alienation and injustice. Those who occupy this world are “workers,” “minorities,” “the little guy,” “women,” and the “unemployed.” They are poor, weak, sick, wronged, cheated, oppressed, disenfranchised, exploited and victimized. They bear no responsibility for their problems. None of their agonies are attributable to faults or failings of their own: not to poor choices, bad habits, faulty judgment, wishful thinking, lack of ambition, low frustration tolerance, mental illness or defects in character. None of the victims’ plight is caused by failure to plan for the future or learn from experience. Instead, the “root causes” of all this pain lie in faulty social conditions: poverty, disease, war, ignorance, unemployment, racial prejudice, ethnic and gender discrimination, modern technology, capitalism, globalization and imperialism. In the radical liberal mind, this suffering is inflicted on the innocent by various predators and persecutors: “Big Business,” “Big Corporations,” “greedy capitalists,” U.S. Imperialists,” “the oppressors,” “the rich,” “the wealthy,” “the powerful” and “the selfish.”

The liberal cure for this endless malaise is a very large authoritarian government that regulates and manages society through a cradle to grave agenda of redistributive caretaking. It is a government everywhere doing everything for everyone. The liberal motto is “In Government We Trust.” To rescue the people from their troubled lives, the agenda recommends denial of personal responsibility, encourages self-pity and other-pity, fosters government dependency, promotes sexual indulgence, rationalizes violence, excuses financial obligation, justifies theft, ignores rudeness, prescribes complaining and blaming, denigrates marriage and the family, legalizes all abortion, defies religious and social tradition, declares inequality unjust, and rebels against the duties of citizenship. Through multiple entitlements to unearned goods, services and social status, the liberal politician promises to ensure everyone’s material welfare, provide for everyone’s healthcare, protect everyone’s self-esteem, correct everyone’s social and political disadvantage, educate every citizen, and eliminate all class distinctions. With liberal intellectuals sharing the glory, the liberal politician is the hero in this melodrama. He takes credit for providing his constituents with whatever they want or need even though he has not produced by his own effort any of the goods, services or status transferred to them but has instead taken them from others by force.

It should be apparent by now that these social policies and the passions that drive them contradict all that is rational in human relating, and they are therefore irrational in themselves. But the faulty conceptions that lie behind these passions cannot be viewed as mere cognitive slippage. The degree of modern liberalism’s irrationality far exceeds any misunderstanding that can be attributed to faulty fact gathering or logical error. Indeed, under careful scrutiny, liberalism’s distortions of the normal ability to reason can only be understood as the product of psychopathology. So extravagant are the patterns of thinking, emoting, behaving and relating that characterize the liberal mind that its relentless protests and demands become understandable only as disorders of the psyche. The modern liberal mind, its distorted perceptions and its destructive agenda are the product of disturbed personalities.

As is the case in all personality disturbance, defects of this type represent serious failures in development processes. The nature of these failures is detailed below. Among their consequences are the liberal mind’s relentless efforts to misrepresent human nature and to deny certain indispensable requirements for human relating. In his efforts to construct a grand collectivist utopia—to live what Jacques Barzun has called “the unconditioned life” in which “everybody should be safe and at ease in a hundred ways”—the radical liberal attempts to actualize in the real world an idealized fiction that will mitigate all hardship and heal all wounds. (Barzun 2000). He acts out this fiction, essentially a Marxist morality play, in various theaters of human relatedness, most often on the world’s economic, social and political stages. But the play repeatedly folds. Over the course of the Twentieth Century, the radical liberal’s attempts to create a brave new socialist world have invariably failed. At the dawn of the Twenty-first Century his attempts continue to fail in the stagnant economies, moral decay and social turmoil now widespread in Europe. An increasingly bankrupt welfare society is putting the U.S. on track for the same fate if liberalism is not cured there. Because the liberal agenda’s principles violate the rules of ordered liberty, his most determined efforts to realize its visionary fantasies must inevitably fall short. Yet, despite all the evidence against it, the modern liberal mind believes his agenda is good social science. It is, in fact, bad science fiction. He persists in this agenda despite its madness.

Copyright © 2008 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.

http://townhall.com/columnists/LyleHRossiterJrMD/2006/12/04/the_liberal_mind_the_psychological_causes_of_political_madness

More about the book:

The liberal agenda’s basic principles are not only antithetical to our most cherished liberties; they are also directly contrary to all that is good and noble in the human enterprise. The Liberal Mind is the first work to explain why modern liberalism appeals to the irrational tendencies of the human mind. It is the first work to explain how liberalism can be defeated.

In the course of this analysis, Rossiter asks and answers the following critical question: Why would anyone want a political system that restricts personal freedom instead of enhancing it; denounces personal responsibility instead of promoting it; surrenders personal sovereignty instead of honoring it; attacks the philosophical foundations of liberty instead of defending them; encourages government dependency instead of self-reliance; and undermines the character of the people by making them wards of the state?

The Liberal Mind contains the elegant solution to the problem of modern liberalism; it is a systematic, fact-based analysis of why the left’s collectivism not only does not work but cannot work.

The Liberal Mind explains:

The two major goals of the modern liberal agenda: the Modern Parental Society and the Modern Permissive Culture, and why they violate the basic principles of freedom.

How the modern liberal agenda attacks the moral and legal foundations of individual liberty.

How the modern liberal agenda violates the defining characteristics of human nature and ignores the essential realities of the human condition.

How the modern liberal agenda corrupts the character of the people by appealing to their base instincts and undermining the constraints of conscience.

How the modern liberal agenda’s ideas and goals are self-contradictory and logically inconsistent.

Why the liberal mind believes in the irrational principles of the liberal agenda -- and what it takes to effect a cure.

The Liberal Mind is the most comprehensive, intellectually-coherent analysis of political psychology ever published. The Liberal Mind will empower you to understand why the political madness of modern liberalism is destroying individual liberty in all corners of the world.

http://www.libertymind.com/index.php?page_id=1

Why Does It Matter?

We were discussing American History, or rather, the deconstructionists were busy trashing the Biblical and Godly origins of America's foundational ideology.

sevenseas at CARM writes: "Something that has always bewildered me is the question of why does it matter? Why do you want the U.S. to be considered a Christian nation?
[cathy's edit: no, I am not concerned that "the U.S. is to be considered a Christian nation" at all, the point is not perception or how many Christians there are, etc. but the point is to acknowledge and understand the reality of the nation's ideological origins.]
After all, I hear a lot of negative comments on this board, in church and elsewhere about "Europe" and even though it's technically incorrect phrasing to most Brits, people generally mean England when they say Europe. England is a Christian nation. The Christian religion, denomination Anglican, is the official religion there! So, if anyone has claim to being a Christian nation, they do, yet some people complain that they are also socialist and have a myriad of moral breakdowns. So, if Britain is the model for a Christian nation, why do you seek the same status? Isn't it enough to conclude that most of the American populace gives at least lip service to Christianity and the concept of God, and that for many people it's a serious and important part of their life?"



Why does it matter?
For me, it is primarily a matter of intellectual integrity. Honesty.

I hate and despise liars, manipulators of the truth, dishonesty in any form.
At the top of the list is the shameless revisionist who would disembowel
truth, rewrite history, and promote a lie to set an agenda.

Historical revisionism is evil. It is practiced by those who deconstruct truth
for their own purposes, which are always evil.

My God is a God of truth, the essence, the author, the champion of truth.
The first lie told in history was uttered by a serpent:
"surely you won't die"...

... and every lie since then has emanated from the same place.

The Father of Lies is a harsh and evil task-master. Once an individual or a
people start down his path they are doomed to madness. Ask Nietzsche in
his padded cell whether truth is absolute or not. He died in his insanity,
a victim of his own contempt for reality and truth.

Truth is not to be tinkered with.
History is not to be tinkered with.

Secondly, ideology matters. No, it more than matters it is the
central core and crucial consideration in pondering the origins of the first
nation ever founded on the Biblical principles with the idea that God created
humanity, and created humanity to be *free*, that it is a *self-evident*
(needing no further explanation) TRUTH.

To deny the origin of freedom: Our Creator
is to deny the origin of our nature, and our nation.

To deny the Founder's plea to Providence, and their stated
dependence on God's good wishes for success
is to deny the reason why we should depend on Him always.

To deny the Founder's gratitude to God
is to deny the origin of our power and success as a nation.

The preamble of every single State's Constitution acknowledges and thanks
God for their creation. That is the truth. We deny it at our peril.

Just as we deny God's sovereignty over all things at our peril.
This is what the Founders knew. This is what the Founders taught us.


.........
.........

Aftermath

....

Watch this please:

Aftermath

I HEART Alonzo Rachel!

America IS worth fighting for!

Okay I transcribed the first (audio only) part:

AFTERMATH

America:

You're worth fighting for.
You are a mighty nation under Almighty God.

Your promise that I can stand or kneel on your soil to give thanks and praise
to the Almighty who blessed us with it, is worth fighting for.

The country that none of us chose to be born in yet more of us more than anyplace else choose to stay in until the day we die in
is worth fighting for.

A country that was once as low as its foundation built by slave labor now towers over all nations for she has set them free -
is worth fighting for.

This country, that has given far more to the world than she has taken
for she has given more of her money, and more of her blood
than any other nation -
is worth fighting for.

America is accused of being a bully because she pulls true bullies off the backs of the truly oppressed -
she is worth fighting for.

Though I receive sharp and hateful criticism for supporting our military no word makes me flinch when I consider the sharp and hateful discharged bullets and shrapnel our military faces to protect us -
and they're worth fighting for.

This country that allows women to share the twinkle in their eye and the sparkle in their smile with us, instead of being forced to hide it -
is worth fighting for.

Citizens of many other countries live in fear of expressing hatred for their country, yet here in America often now we live in fear of expressing love for our country. Haters will quickly and belligerently criticize the patriot, and the fact that the haters are so tolerated in this country is the testament of our nation's incomparable patience for those who don't know any better. And that makes America
worth fighting for.

Though real tyranny exists in other countries where a person is beaten to death or beheaded for believing in Jesus Christ, *this* country is worth fighting for because the closest thing to tyranny the haters can accuse us of is the effective patriot act or the possibility that a woman can lose her right to kill her unborn child. If that's what you call "tyranny" then you might want to get on your knees and start thanking God, and recognizing that -
this truly is a country worth fighting for.

We are made up of the beautiful people of the world, but you can't look at everybody here, and call them "asian" "nubian" or "european" -- but you CAN look at anybody here and call them an American.

May God continue to bless you
and bless the United States of America
and remember: it's not because we're better than anybody else
it's because we ARE everybody else.

Righto!

--Transcribed from Alonzo (ZO) Rachel's YouTube entitled Aftermath.

God's Word is the Final Word

God bless our new POTUS.

My friend Double-G at CARM posted these words of wisdom:

Regardless of those who do or don't like Obama, some things that're NOT options on the issue:

1 Timothy 2:1-4
2:1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Romans 13:1-7
13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

1 Peter 2:13-17
13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
Titus 3/Titus 3

Doing What is Good

1Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.

3At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.


For those who can’t obey these refuse to submit to the Lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Welcome to our next Commander and Chief and lets pray for the last few months of our current one.

"Powerful Civilian Security Force"? WTF for?

...
Obama sez:
"We cannot continue to rely on our military
in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set.
We've got to have a civilian national security force
that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."
Will someone, anyone, explain to me please exactly WHY "we cannot continue to rely on our military" for national security?
???

Will someone, anyone, explain to me please the need for a
powerful
civilian
national
security
force
????


And just WHO would have control over these "civilians" who will be
just as powerful
just as strong
just as well-funded
as the military
???

spooky, spooky, creepy, and altogether ignored in the media.

This is NOT business as usual.
This is NOT something to be ignored by the average citizen.
This is NOT even Constitutional.

We have the military - which has always supported conservative candidates; most in the military are intensely patriotic and believe in the Constitution.
The same can be said about most local police forces.

Now B.O. is saying we need a "new security force" -- W H Y.

It makes absolutely no sense.