Weblog Entry - 06/21/2003: "Idiotarianism, Innocence, and Evil"

06/21/2003 Archived Entry: "Idiotarianism, Innocence, and Evil"

Not everyone who seems to be an idiotarian actually is one. Some people who seem to espouse idiotarian views are just speaking the best ideas they know about. Some of them believe that the West is doing something very bad that must be stopped, so they march with signs because they don't know what else to do. Those people change their minds when they realize the implications of these views.

True idiotarians build their whole worldveiws around opposing the West and refusing to face the implications of what they are standing for. They're heard that taking no action is also making a choice, and that innocent people die as a result of good people doing nothing, but they are only willing to admit the negative consequences of Western actions as valid considerations. Nothing you say can reach them, because they base their entire worldveiw around refusing to see the consequences of their position. Give them absolutely compelling proof that innocent people are tortured in Iraq, and they'll respond with something like "So that means we should kill more Iraqis? Haven't they suffered enough?"

Idiotarians always oppose the actions of good governments that interfere with bad governments. This is not because idiotarians have a desire for torture and murder to continue, or for justice and freedom to be destroyed. They don't. They passionately want the world to be a good place. Taking the wrong position in every specific conflict is the result of holding that there is no larger threat to goodness than the US government, and that the dangerous US government must be prevented from ruining anything further than it already has. It is not the result of desire for evil dictators to stay in power.

To them, you can either stand against the Western governments and for freedom, or for the Western governments and against freedom. The idea that it's possible to be in favor of both is basically inconceivable. Idiotarians value justice and freedom and peace, and advocate policies that allow all of those things to be destroyed rather than face the truth about the world. There is a large difference between idiotarians and evil people. The problem with idiotarians is that they wilfully fail to see the negative consequences the policies they advocate would have to the cause of freedom. The problem with evil people is that they don't value peace, justice and freedom. They are completely willing to subjugate these things to a cause they consider higher, and as far as they know, it is not a sacrifice, but the highest action possible.