Home > cognition, denial, group, rent-seeking > A happy, merry tide of plugged ears and closed minds?

A happy, merry tide of plugged ears and closed minds?

A short tale of woe, if I may.

During the Bush/Cheney administration I was booted from a few echo chambers more interested in group self-righteousness than thinking, and certainly unwilling to listen to a small government, green-minded conservative (I simply HAD to be an evil or block-headed Liberal!): RedState (twice!), Free Republic and NewsBusters. I`ve also had my share of frosty and occasionally uncivil receptions at LvMI, but have found some limited tolerance over the years, if not a “warming” welcome (forgive the pun, of not the punner).

I`ve pondered over what brings this on, and think I`ve figured out some of the factors that lead to closed minds. But my point here is simply to note that I still find it profoundly disappointing; not only does it hinder the exploration needed to bind societies and solve real problems, but it simply ain`t fun to be on the receiving end of a slammed door.

A couple of recent, and differing, examples come to mind:

Rob Bradley`s banning me from discussions of energy and environmental policy on his MasterResource blog, not because my comments were rude or unsubstantive, but because l questioned how truly “free market” his blog is, and its refusal to note that there is more than one side to rent-seeking battles (blog discussions there never examine the behavior of coal and other fossil fuel interests in such battles);

– a de facto banning by another libertarian who didn`t really want to hear my thoughts on his thesis that there is an “objective” moral order permeating the universe;

– a group on the LvMI forums, where my suggestions that libertarians see the concerns of others about possible climate change as an opportunity to deregulate were met with bristling hostility by some;

– this past week I booted, without warning or the courtesy of explanation, from the Libertarian Forum Google group, after I had responded to another member who noted as “boring” my comments to Lew Rockwell on the Left and global warming;  and

– on the Left, several (five at last count) interesting commenters on Twitter wthin whom I share a concern about indigenous rights and climate change issues have “blocked” me, apparently because I noted that a lack of property rights lies at the core of indigenous rights problems AND of poor development on reservations, and that it might not actually aid poor nations adapt to climate change or to protect tropical forests if Western governments take money from their taxpayers and give it to elites in poor nations blocking means I can`t follow them, so it is difficult to see what they are saying; whether someone chooses to “follow” and listen to me is a different matter).

No doubt to those whom I offend I seem like the Devil incarnate, but it still hurts. I take some solace in the perhaps self-deluded thought that since I encounter this problem across the political spectrum, I must be doing something right. But then again, maybe George Reisman and Gene Callahan have it right, and I`m a “misanthrope” or maladjusted grouch of one kind or another.

But I don`t think so – a misfit, to be sure, like the elf in Santa`s workshop who wanted to be a dentist – but not a misanthrope.

Christmas and holidays cheers to those of you who are still listening to (and challenging) me, and to those who have supported my disruptive presence here at LvMI!

 

 

 

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  1. TokyoTom
    December 26th, 2009 at 04:33 | #1

    I just type it in here with my Japanese-based Windows PC. I don`t particularly like it, but not sure I can easily change, other than drafting in Word and then pasting in.

  2. nskinsella
    December 25th, 2009 at 14:17 | #2

    Tom, why do you use the wrong apostrophe in your writing?

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