"But it's for your own good." - C. S. Lewis on Tyranny

You may have noticed that the cheerleaders for expanding federal control over our lives are out in full force.

I think it is worth reminding everyone that the worst tyrants throughout history have been true believers and thought that what they were doing was for the good of the people.

Because they could excuse themselves and bore no guilt, they could honestly say; "But, it's for your own good."

My contention is that good men (not bad men) consistently acting upon that position [imposing “the good”] would act as cruelly and unjustly as the greatest tyrants. They might in some respects act even worse. Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under of robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber barons cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some points be satiated; but those who torment us for their own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to heaven yet at the same time likely to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be “cured” against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on the level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.

“But it’s for your own good.” C. S. Lewis on tyranny

It's a very bad thing indeed, the people who turn a blind eye to those who wish to stifle individualism and liberty.

They defer logical thought in reference to the actions of our so-called leaders claiming that they must know better than we do, deciding upon what we can eat, where we can talk freely, what plants people choose to imbibe, ect.

I personally believe overwhelming urges to exert force on the life of others is an illness. So I'll say the same thing the authoritarians say of those lovers of liberty out there, "they're sick, they need help".

That help should be removal from office via the vote.




en.wikipedia.org...

We in Canada just witnessed the Quebec election in which the people overwhelmingly voted for the Liberal party .A party that has just went through the biggest corruption investigation (still going on ) in Canadian history . They defeated the PQ (party Quebecois ) a party that wanted to bring in a new charter for the good of the people ....They are also the same party that has had referendums to separate from Canada as a policy .for the good of the people ....peace

The NWO wants a rules based oligarchy which sits like a board of directors and each country had a CEO in charge. Basically the world as a conglomeration of companies over-seered by a board. The question boils down to this does this structure lead the human race down to a better future or not?

Personallu I look at it from the angel of tribes, human beings are tribal creatures, and if such a NWO order was attempted how will tribal instincts he harmonised with such a system?

reply to post by AthlonSavage


There is and has been a group of people dedicated to installing what can be called as a Technocratic world Govt .The Trilateral Commission fits the bill as tptb working in plain site behind the scenes changing laws that are for our best good .For a short introduction into their history and plans this is a good place to start . www.augustforecast.com... If you follow the vid through to the end there is other vids from others . They are the ones that have created Agenda 21 and are the ones pushing this AGW nonsense ....peace

Ah! 'The greater good!' argument.

We have this in the European Union. We have a bunch of unelected men and women making rules, rules and more rules........for our own good!

To be honest, they have done not one good thing and neither are they ever going to be legally, criminally or morally responsible for the chaos and damage they are causing.........BUT......It IS for our own good, you know........or so they say!

Welcome to The New World Order............which forgets that eventually it will be The Old World Order.................now there's a thought...and it is a thought that is worth hanging on to on darker days.

reply to post by greencmp


You make this thread title sound like Lewis condoned this type of thing. He says that in the situation where good men (our politicians) are imposing their will upon us for "the good" we'd be better off under the tyranny of a robber baron because at least they'd have their greedy hunger satisfied once and a while and we'd get a break. Instead, under the "good" men, we are "cured" of our own will and put on the level of infants, imbeciles and domestic animals. Lewis was criticizing the "good" men here.

wtbengineer
reply to post by greencmp

 

You make this thread title sound like Lewis condoned this type of thing. He says that in the situation where good men (our politicians) are imposing their will upon us for "the good" we'd be better off under the tyranny of a robber baron because at least they'd have their greedy hunger satisfied once and a while and we'd get a break. Instead, under the "good" men, we are "cured" of our own will and put on the level of infants, imbeciles and domestic animals. Lewis was criticizing the "good" men here.

Yes, it's kind of subtle I suppose but, I thought the title was evidently sarcastic. Including "tyranny" made it clear enough for me.

Lewis is widely respected in most circles so a word of wisdom in this context and on this subject seemed appropriate.

reply to post by greencmp


Yes, I am a great admirer of Lewis also. Thanks for the reply, my first reaction at seeing the title was to think that someone just missed the point. Sorry

Nobody but myself knows what's best for me. Period.

greencmp
I think it is worth reminding everyone that the worst tyrants throughout history have been true believers and thought that what they were doing was for the good of the people.

This is one of the takeaways from the Milgram experiments. Participants eventually refused to shock the subject but though they were all eventually horrified by the testing they overwhelmingly answered their questionnaires as supporting the tests because the tests "benefited humanity."

People will happily follow orders to a point but believing what they are doing is "for your own good" or for the "good of humanity" pushes them even further.

The horror of altruism.

Come to think of it, this is politicians by definition:

Such findings accord closely with the well-docu-mented observation that people who support hierarchy are drawn to hierarchical institutions and that the more extreme the actions of these institutions, the more extreme the individuals that are drawn to them (e.g.,Sidanius, Pratto, Sinclair, & van Laar, 1996).

link

What really makes followers and true believers so dangerous is that honestly and genuinely believe that we are all better off having the NSA scan our excrement. We are all genuinely better off having to get permits and licenses to post information or own a firearm. We are all better off paying more in taxes to the state every year than we do on housing, food and clothing combined.

Psycho cultists who have all the power, all the guns and all the jails aimed square at you.

For your own good.

"The ends justifies the means"?

"It's the means to an end"?

Older kids used to try and scare me; saying the bogeyman is gonna get me.

I'd tell my father and he'd ask me if I ever seen the bogeyman. I said no.

He said I can't miss him; he wears a pink tutu.

I have certainly noticed an increased sentiment of "its silly to complain, its all for safety" Attitude...

Its crazy, but we have become a nation of people afraid of their shadow.

Land of the free, home of the brave.

Maybe it should be changed to

land of the "safe", home of the cowards.

We surrendered our liberty for safety, out of fear.

We deserve nether.

Been battered by that phrase for a long time. Whenever I hear a politician say it's for the good of something I cringe. I know something is going to be taken away from me, I'll be restricted somehow, or forced to pay for something. If I object, I'm a bad guy. As a corollary to the original post I have one more: It's for the children. You don't hate children do you?

Look up pathological altruism sometime. It's enlightening and plays into this conversation to some degree.

It's the idea that you can be so focused on either denying self or doing good that you actually do harm. Think about the doctor who ruthlessly orders tests or procedures even when the family may object for the patient's own comfort. An example my be something like this:

My grandmother had Felty's disease and it finally caused her a heart attack that would have necessitated open heart surgery. Given her age and the Felty's, the doctor was honest with her. He told her that if she wished, he would perform the procedure, but that given her situation she had maybe a 20% chance of surviving it, less of surviving to recovery, and then, if she did, there was maybe a 10% of regaining her independence after all of that.

My grandmother thought about it decided not to opt for the surgery preferring to enjoy what time was left saying good-bye in comfort.

A doctor who was pathologically altruistic might urge her to have the surgery believing it was his goal and for the best to attempt to heal her no matter what the cost might be to her, even if it might wind up killing her, because she was going to die anyway.

It is also said that people with anorexia can be some of the most empathic and self-effacing people around. They are that accomplished at self-denial, so much so that it can kill them.

You get people with the greater good attitude no matter how painful attitude into power, and you begin to see why C.S. Lewis is so wise about the tyranny of good intentions being perhaps the worst of all tyrannies. So, several million died ... but they didn't really mean it and it was all for the greater good. Right?

TurtleSmacker
It's a very bad thing indeed, the people who turn a blind eye to those who wish to stifle individualism and liberty.

They defer logical thought in reference to the actions of our so-called leaders claiming that they must know better than we do, deciding upon what we can eat, where we can talk freely, what plants people choose to imbibe, ect.

I personally believe overwhelming urges to exert force on the life of others is an illness. So I'll say the same thing the authoritarians say of those lovers of liberty out there, "they're sick, they need help".

That help should be removal from office via the vote.
en.wikipedia.org...

edit on 8-4-2014 by TurtleSmacker because: (no reason given)

edit on 8-4-2014 by TurtleSmacker because: (no reason given)

Well said, we have our own perpetual responsibilities as citizens to hold onto our freedom.

“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” - Samuel Adams

originally posted by: ketsuko
Look up pathological altruism sometime. It's enlightening and plays into this conversation to some degree.

It's the idea that you can be so focused on either denying self or doing good that you actually do harm. Think about the doctor who ruthlessly orders tests or procedures even when the family may object for the patient's own comfort. An example my be something like this:

My grandmother had Felty's disease and it finally caused her a heart attack that would have necessitated open heart surgery. Given her age and the Felty's, the doctor was honest with her. He told her that if she wished, he would perform the procedure, but that given her situation she had maybe a 20% chance of surviving it, less of surviving to recovery, and then, if she did, there was maybe a 10% of regaining her independence after all of that.

My grandmother thought about it decided not to opt for the surgery preferring to enjoy what time was left saying good-bye in comfort.

A doctor who was pathologically altruistic might urge her to have the surgery believing it was his goal and for the best to attempt to heal her no matter what the cost might be to her, even if it might wind up killing her, because she was going to die anyway.

It is also said that people with anorexia can be some of the most empathic and self-effacing people around. They are that accomplished at self-denial, so much so that it can kill them.

You get people with the greater good attitude no matter how painful attitude into power, and you begin to see why C.S. Lewis is so wise about the tyranny of good intentions being perhaps the worst of all tyrannies. So, several million died ... but they didn't really mean it and it was all for the greater good. Right?

With people speculating about mandatory voting and conscripted labor I am scarcely certain that I reside in the united states of america anymore.