The Obama (TM) Presidency

Of the few who have the insight to perceive amidst the flashing lights and noise of corporate media, the Obama (TM) candidacy and its eventual presidency is greatly troubling. After 8 years of Bush, there was hope that the alternative presented might be an actual alternative. Instead, the preapproved candidate is one who continues abusing the constitution and freedom, continues paying for the Iraq and Afghanistan slaughters, will keep mercenaries in Iraq, threatens war with Iran and Russia and whoever else, is willing to use nuclear bombs, and so on.

Many (or perhaps I should say few), among them Arthur Silber and Chris Floyd, lament at great length each new detail of Obama's (TM) deathly intentions. Yes, he protected illegally spying telecoms with the FISA bill. Yes, he is willing to nuke Iran.. Yes, he keeps voting to pay for the killing in Iraq. Yes, he picked an even more bellicose Senator than himself, with 36 years at the public trough, to be his running mate, while promising a change from the usual. Yes, he insults absentee black fathers in the face of the facts. Etcetera.

The conclusion, as ever, is stupidity (the article linked under stupidity is an excellent read).

(For some of this pathetic stupidity, to use the accurate part of Arthur Silber's term, see the bitches from BitchPhD, who are, to quote Forrest Gump, "so excited they could sh*t" about being in Denver to watch Obama's (TM) pre-coronation ceremony. Or, turn to that mindless goose-stepper Skinner at Democratic Underground, as he duckspeaks effluently on the Party's behalf.)

The conclusion of stupidity, however, is in its own way a delusion, designed to shield the mind from the next layer of perception: the fact that the Democrat/progressive apologists actually want all the terrible things Obama (TM) is promising to deliver.

The reason analysts shy from this conclusion is the conclusion that goes hand in hand with it: that most people are inherently evil. Consider that some 40% of people in America think McCain is the way to go, and another 40% think Obama (TM) is the way to go. That is over 80% of Americans who are ready to watch the president nuke Iran, start up a new "cold" war with Russia, or do any number of other horrific things, not the least of which is continue executing Iraqis (And you can lump a lot of Europe in with that group, since many Europeans are equally eager to fawn over his coattails).

Now, it could be simply because the "progressive/Democrat" Americans are as stupid as the "McCain is too liberal" Americans. Sure, they might have a little more education, and be middle class rather than lower- or extremely-upper- class, but they're clearly just as dumb.

Not so. This conclusion of stupidity fails to take into account how easy it is to see that Barack Obama (TM) is business as usual in America: aggressive overseas "intervention," SWAT teams patrolling the streets and snipers watching the rooftops at home, and all that. Anyone can see it--it's right there. Even Joe Blow knows, deep down, that Congress is taking bribes and doesn't give a damn about him.

So simple! So how could it be stupidity? Arthur Silber touches on this from time to time, when he decries the fact that so-called American progressives will refuse to see things which are in front of their faces.

There is an emotional reason for the Obama (TM) blindness, just as there is an emotional reason that drives most people to McCain. The same emotional reason that has been there since the beginning of our existence:fear. As I explained in Introduction to Ragnarism, the uncertainty of the human mind, and of the larger world, will elicit a reaction of fear from most, if not all, self-aware entities. Thoughts, and outside occurrences, can only be partially controlled, and chance frustrates all attempts at absolutism. As described in the linked essay, this feeds a cycle in the developing mind, whereby the person attempts to assert control, has it broken, then attempts to reassert even more forcefully, which only results in a greater outrush when the unsustainable dam bursts.

Everyone is subject to the uncertainty, beginning with the subconscious understanding that even our own minds and thoughts are not fully under our control. And so, the self-aware entity will be disturbed as long as it fails to surrender to the fact that it cannot control itself--nor the exterior world--wholly.

For more development of the theory, see Symptoms of Ragnarism, more symptoms of ragnarism, The Death Fantasy, and Instinct v. Antilife.

This disturbance is prevalent in most. The fearful mind has as many variations as there are individuals, and not everyone becomes a drooling malcontent preaching the world's end. Instinct is a powerful ally, and it keeps most people on track in some type of regular life. Nonetheless, the fear underlies it all. In the struggle for control, people deeply wish for authoritarianism. They do not believe, deep down, that it can be achieved, any more than their essence believes it can control every thought that ever pops into their head.

And so, like Bible study or political convention, they strive to do what all ragnarists strive to do: get together with other people who believe as they do, and make public professions of faith about the strength of their belief.

This does not actually have the result of making things true, but surrounded by other people who believe as they do, they can blind their inner senses, and maintain the conscious illusion of "control of the mind" and "control of the outside world." This is evangelism, convention and rally: the uncertain speak loudest.

Ergo why American "progressives" and Democrats support Obama (TM).

Consider what the ragnarist McCain supporters need from their candidate:

1) Violently protective
2) Authoritarian; willing to do anything to bring the "order" to the world that they seek (be it financial or military)

Now, consider what the Obama (TM) supporters, suffering from the same mental sickness--ragnarism--and yet, who are a little more intelligent and insightful, require from their candidate:

1) Violently protective
2) Authoritarian; willing to do anything to bring the "order" to the world that they seek (be it financial or military)
3) Well-mannered and vocally respectful of culture and diversity
4) Softens bellicosity with dialogue that comes more smoothly; and, does so with a larger vocabulary

Functionally, Obama (TM) is so similar to McCain, because he will satisfy the underlying need for absolutism and violence, and the impossible quest for order, but he will do so with everything softened a touch, and more intelligently so. He will murder people with airstrikes and sanctions--like Clinton the Democrat did in Kosovo and Iraq--instead of with soldiers on the ground. He will be patient and respectful with allies, then do what he wants anyway, instead of being rude and short, and then doing what he wants anyway (as Bush did). He will look 150% better in his suits than McCain will; he will protect 2.3% more of the environment than McCain; and he will invest in renewable energy at a slightly higher rate.

But he, and those like him, will continue to lead us all toward the killing fields of ragnarism, until we can begin savings minds from it, one at a time. The antilife fear is the sickness that drives good, living minds to crave impossible absolutes and insane destruction. It is emotionally stupid, yes, but that is a weakness that the better part of our race succumbs to, and as with the viral diseases of the body, we must find a way to overcome the sicknesses of the mind, and let more of us think unfettered as we go toward the future.