Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum
A Fun Word Game for the Whole Family!
RECEIVED Fri., Dec. 31, 2010
Dear Editor,
Hey, here is a fun game. I took one of Vance McDonald's letters [reader comment, Dec. 6] and wherever he said "leftist" I said "rightist" and so on, and the letter really makes more sense now. Check it out:
“Notwithstanding the obvious ideological and political targets Vance McDonald's reply presents, what screams for analysis is McDonald’s supposition that perceptions are not very much affected by each individual's self-interest and viewpoint. Why is this important? Not for context but because he presents this strongly asserted conclusion as an objectively truthful precept directly contradicting his personal ideological raison d'être – rightist objectivism mandating that relative principles of truth are the only things that exist. Ergo such declarations can never be relatively true. He directly opposes himself.
“Of course this is subconscious and unintentional on McDonald’s part. So deep is his rightist altered state that its dogmatic control devours his ability to consciously perceive and comprehend what he’s done. Indeed, he unequivocally proclaims that 'Any objective appraisal of ourselves by ourselves is impossible in that it can never be 'objective.' So McDonald shoots himself in the foot twice by vehemently advancing another position as an overtly objective tenet – even as he exclaims it’s 'impossible.' This is blind rightist doublethink confusion on parade.
“This 'I know the truth' morass results when good intentioned subjective but vain emotional ideological fantasy prevails undisputed. It buries in willful, unhinged denial the actual relative truth of the existential real-world consequences of its application. If continued, this dystopian subjective credulity suffocates its followers in irrationally hypocritical opaque groupthink-enforced populism and eventual tyranny inducing cultural disintegration (see Soviet and Chinese Communism, Nazism, and radical Islamist theocracy). Unchecked rightist moral and intellectual 'I know the truth' destroys individual freedom, accountability, and the resulting prosperity.
“Rightist consciousness focuses on 'I know the truth' good intentions allowing virulent deflection from relative truth and its mandatory application perpetuating liberty, America, and civilization. This is why rightism is mortally pernicious. So keep thinking, McDonald. Your burdened psyche continues to unconsciously pierce subjective rightist ideological darkness while relative truth urgently warns us!”
Hey, here is a fun game. I took one of Vance McDonald's letters [reader comment, Dec. 6] and wherever he said "leftist" I said "rightist" and so on, and the letter really makes more sense now. Check it out:
“Notwithstanding the obvious ideological and political targets Vance McDonald's reply presents, what screams for analysis is McDonald’s supposition that perceptions are not very much affected by each individual's self-interest and viewpoint. Why is this important? Not for context but because he presents this strongly asserted conclusion as an objectively truthful precept directly contradicting his personal ideological raison d'être – rightist objectivism mandating that relative principles of truth are the only things that exist. Ergo such declarations can never be relatively true. He directly opposes himself.
“Of course this is subconscious and unintentional on McDonald’s part. So deep is his rightist altered state that its dogmatic control devours his ability to consciously perceive and comprehend what he’s done. Indeed, he unequivocally proclaims that 'Any objective appraisal of ourselves by ourselves is impossible in that it can never be 'objective.' So McDonald shoots himself in the foot twice by vehemently advancing another position as an overtly objective tenet – even as he exclaims it’s 'impossible.' This is blind rightist doublethink confusion on parade.
“This 'I know the truth' morass results when good intentioned subjective but vain emotional ideological fantasy prevails undisputed. It buries in willful, unhinged denial the actual relative truth of the existential real-world consequences of its application. If continued, this dystopian subjective credulity suffocates its followers in irrationally hypocritical opaque groupthink-enforced populism and eventual tyranny inducing cultural disintegration (see Soviet and Chinese Communism, Nazism, and radical Islamist theocracy). Unchecked rightist moral and intellectual 'I know the truth' destroys individual freedom, accountability, and the resulting prosperity.
“Rightist consciousness focuses on 'I know the truth' good intentions allowing virulent deflection from relative truth and its mandatory application perpetuating liberty, America, and civilization. This is why rightism is mortally pernicious. So keep thinking, McDonald. Your burdened psyche continues to unconsciously pierce subjective rightist ideological darkness while relative truth urgently warns us!”
Steve Coon
