I Think Therefore They're Not

I was recently pointed to a post at truthout.org. I dutifully followed the link, only to wonder why I wasted my time. Truthout.org is one of a number of very popular sites that describe a world that I simply could not possibly exist in. I would simply not be here to write this. To borrow from Descartes: I think, therefore I am. I am, therefore the world they describe is not.

The world they describe is dark and foreboding with huge numbers of conspiracies of not just politicians and business, but also of the gods themselves, where every attempt to do good things in a manner favored by non-Leftists is bound to backfire and cause further catastrophies. Peter Burnet at Brothers Judd sums it up eloquently when he wrote:

One of the more corrosive rhetorical tools of the modern left is to argue as if life were just one big enactment of Murphy’s Law and that the values revered by most Americans, while perhaps inoffensive or even admirable in themselves, result in the opposite of what their pursuit intends. By linking sweeping and declarative propositions, none of which withstand critical analysis but which flow together with a certain poetic elan, these guys present a world where wealth creates poverty, family breeds abuse and dysfunction, progress destroys the planet, military strength translates into impotence and every accretion of American prosperity and influence sows the seeds of a tragic decline. It all plays on the innate decency of Americans and adds up to an effort to undermine the pragmatic optimism and moral simplicity that undergirds their spirit, a spirit that can indeed lead to naive folly, but which is the source of a success and strength that seems to grow steadily, to the consternation of sages from more philosophical and nuanced lands.

Opening my eyes and looking about I see that the world generally does not work by Murphy's Law. Simple incentives and actions generally lead to the results one would expect. The world of truthout.org, commondreams.org, democraticunderground.com, etc., where every action produces the exact opposite result than what is expected, is not the world I live in.