And enjoy the gamesā¦.
For some in the ruling class, Iām sure thatās true. However, for others ā arguably, some of the most dangerous to the peasants ā I think itās decidedly not true.
Once theyāre set for life and have nothing left to worry about, some of them get bored. Thatās when they become (hat doff to Dr. Farrell) those awful ābillionaire busybodiesā who canāt stop trying to tinker with human society.
It would also be a mistake to assume the entire ruling class has no ideology. I think itās clear from their actions that many of them do have ideologies ā for example, Malthusianism, social Darwinism, eugenics, or some kind of distorted Christian or Jewish apocalypticism.
āDevil makes work for Idle handsā- Iām not sure itās an Ideology, rather than just being a variety of āEvilā,- the delusion that āIāve made millions so I must be a chosen oneā ā¦
I think thatās right, a variation on the divine right of kings.
@David8pies I agree thatās part of it. I think some of the evil nutjobs in the ruling class have, if not full-fledged ideologies, then beliefs that influence their actions. Beliefs like the population will always grow exponentially and all resources are finite, so itās critical we stop population growth; or we can hasten the coming (or second coming) of the Messiah by bringing about Armageddon; or shareholder capitalism is unsustainable by nature, but capitalism keeps us in power, so we need to resort to stakeholder capitalism to keep the game going.
True enough, I suppose itās natural for frightened humans to try and quantify life, canāt be done of courseā¦ and thereās always something missing in someone who wishes to control others- an emptiness, even before they have the meansā¦and something will eventually occupy that āEmptinessāā¦
Napoleon did say that religion was there to stop the poor killing the rich, and he should know.
In Nixonās autobiography, he also said that Mao told him the Communist ideology was āfor the birdsā, and that Nixon, personally, would be fine come the revolution.
My only problem with the reality of nihilism is that people who arenāt ready for it set it up as some sort of external authority/doctrine justifying their wanton behaviour. Saying that nothing is inherently valuable doesnāt give anyone license to do anything. Thatās the point - thereās no-one to give anyone license. Taking utter responsibility for every aspect of your own being doesnāt equal becoming a maniac 'cos Nietzsche said it was okay. [/rant]
What the heck is this?