Assad dropped chemical bombs on the people he has been fighting to liberate a week after Trump said he had no desire to remove him and his war against the terrorists was succeeding? Yes, and so we must bomb him. This is the absurdity we must deal with today. We are asked to believe, without evidence and in defiance of all logic, that Assad sabotaged his recent success....that he has done the absurd.
We are asked to believe the absurd.
In the 19h Century, the existential Christian ironist Kierkegaard reiterated this concept in Fear and Trembling when he established Abraham's faith "by virtue of the absurd."
iierkegaard also wrote on of the first books critiquing modern society and the masses. He felt faith was so essential that we should believe "because it is absurd." What is not absurd, we need not believe, for we can know it.
Modern art captured the sense of the absurd in color and verse.
Doestoevsky, another man of faith, wrote Notes from Underground: the Dream of an Absurd Man, in which he declares that sometimes 2 plus 2 = 5.
This revolt against the inhumanity of rationalism found its way onto the political stage with Hitler's mass rallies, in which he offered lies so big his followers could not doubt them. Trump read Hitler's speeches and has become a master of both advertising and the Big Lie, by which he came to power. He has learned that only a lie so big, so absurd that many would not think such a colossal lie possible, can transform otherwise rational people into blind followers.
In a NYTimes interview, Trump was asked what he meant by Make America Great Again, and with the surprising candor that interrupts his compulsive lying, he said that "People want a fantasy...." and he gives it to them. He called it, in true Orwellian fashion, "truthful hyperbole." a construction that echoes the Big Lie and terms such as collateral damage (to describe the murder of innocents killed in the quest to kill people who kill innocents). This term is itself a perfect example of the Absurd.
The saddest thing for me is not that Trump lies but that a man I once respected and supported has surrendered to the Big Lie. Lies are the tools by which America carries out its imperialistic aggression, and here is one of our former heroes promoting the Big Lie that justifies violence:
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"In a world of vicious dictators, Syria's Bashar Assad tops the list as a dictator who has killed hundreds of thousands of his own citizens to protect his own power and wealth. His regime's use of chemical weapons against the men, women and children of his country, in violation of all international conventions and moral standards, makes him a war criminal." Bernie SandersWhen the most respected leader on the left adopts the lies that promote aggression, now is the time for our tears: it's alright ma, I'm only crying.
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