Power is What They Want

Power is What They Want
Bevin Chu
April 26, 2006

Postings at weblogs, in contrast to postings at websites, are often short takes and random thoughts, not fully developed articles.

In Snow Job: Is More Power worth Less Pay? my short take and random thought was a reminder that what motivates the Political Class is not a selfless desire to ensure liberty and justice for all, but a selfish desire to enjoy power and privilege reserved for the few.

Too many libertarians fail to realize that psychology is a more fundamental determinant by far of one's consciously held values than one's political ideology, or even philosophy. An individual's psychology determines an individual's philosophy and ideology. A collective's psychology determines a collective's philosophy and ideology. Not the other way around.

One of Ayn Rand's most egregious blunders was to invert the importance of psychology and philosophy as factors in determining an individual or a collective's ideological beliefs. Ironically, her lack of psychological self-awareness merely proved that even the most brilliant of intellects are seldom "masters of their own destiny," but are instead slaves of their own darkside. The barbaric, even savage rantings of warfare statists at the Ayn Rand Institute are disturbing evidence of the Objectivist movement's abysmal lack of psychological self-awareness.

Only when we understand the Political Class's collective psychology, can we expose their philosophy and ideology for what they are, rationalizations for vanity and greed, and not allow our energy to be squandered rebutting them on matters to which they might pay ritual lip service but are in fact utterly indifferent.

Democratic universalists, for example, are motivated at their core not by selfless altruism, but by selfish egotism. At best they are motivated by patronizing missionary zeal, a desire to "bear the white man's burden." At worst they are motivated by naked colonialist greed, a desire to plunder the resources of militarily weaker nations.

Taiwan independence Quislings meanwhile, are motivated at their core not by reverence for "freedom and democracy," but by a lust for power and a determination to acquire as much of it as possible via race-based identity politics. Anyone who doubts this need only look at how the ruling DPP has behaved in the six years since it seized power.

Taiwan independence ideology and pseudo-history are not the source of Taiwan independence Quisling psychology. Taiwan independence Quisling psychology is the source of Taiwan independence ideology and pseudo-history. Taiwan independence ideology and pseudo-history are artificial phenomenon reverse-engineered to validate the neurotic emotional and psychological aspirations of the Taiwan independence Quisling mindset. I exposed this sad fact in my 1999 article, Taiwan Independence and the Stockholm Syndrome.

False ideological claims need to be rebutted. But one must never forget that, as Butler Shaffer put it, Power is What They Want. Only then will one's rebuttals strike at the root of the problem.