Quote of the day—Elias Isquith

I’m a great example of why it is that the NRA simply mops the floor with its opponents when it comes to influencing DC. As Bloomberg rightly notes, they — gun fetishists or simply Second Amendment absolutists — care way, way more. In fact, it’s not uncommon for that to be the only thing an NRA member cares about. A lifetime of political activism funneled into simply one tiny and, I would argue, frivolous niche.

Elias Isquith
February 17, 2012
Mike Bloomberg And The Politics Of Gun Control
[Regardless of his distain for gun owners there is a certain amount of truth in his statement. Many of us are willing to vote for (or against) someone strictly on the basis of their stand on specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms. Yes, many of us use the Second Amendment as a strong indicator of a politician’s support for freedom in general. But conversely the anti-freedom people could claim the same thing with a sign change, “If a politician supports gun ownership then you know he is not going to support the type of government that is going to send all the people we don’t like off to the reeducation camps.” But for some reason it doesn’t work for them that way.

It is my suspicion the anti-freedom people can only succeed when they are deceptive. They have to hide their true intentions. They have to express their goals in terms of free unicorns for everyone instead of jack-booted thugs crushing human skulls. Raw anti-freedom simply doesn’t generate that many votes. Gun owners understand that guns are a strong indicator, and a requirement, of free society. Hence we do care more about guns and are willing to vote on that single issue.—Joe]

Share

One thought on “Quote of the day—Elias Isquith

  1. Straight Machiavellian political theory of indirect governance.

    The (aspiring) Prince succeeds through the Prudent use of deception to make the mass of the people believe his interests align with their innate conservatism. Also seen in the subtle “nudge theory” of so-called “libertarian paternalism”.

    They recognize they can’t win in a more honest presentation of their true argument.

    Heck, for that matter it goes back to the “noble lie” of Plato’s Republic. It’s all about self-identified elites having to hide their true motives because “we the people” insist on ignoring their higher truths to continue living in ways they view as “bad for us”.

Comments are closed.