Jul 17 2008
“The Genesis of Right and Left” by Kyrel Zantonavitch
The Rational Argumentator
A Journal for Western Man
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The Genesis of Right and Left
Kyrel Zantonavitch
Issue CLXVII - July 17, 2008
The permanent fight between existence and non-existence, life and death, pleasure and pain, flourishing and suffering, prosperity and poverty, civilization and barbarism, happiness and misery, good and evil, truth and falsity, etc. takes many forms. But for the past 2600 years — ever since rationality was discovered and invented — the world has principally been engaged in an unending battle of reasonism versus skepticism and dogmatism.
This ferocious war can be further broken down into two parts. The first is “confidentism” and “certaintyism” vs. skeptic-based relativism and subjectivism — both of which ultimately lead to nihilism. The second part is thinking and logic vs. dogma-based feeling and faith — both of which ultimately lead to nihilism.
The sophisticated thought-system and advanced culture of reasonism began with the first truly rational man. It began with the creators of philosophy and science, namely Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes. Rational thought and Western liberal culture had an early climax with Aristotle, Epicurus, and Zeno the Stoic.
The primitive belief-system and retrograde culture of skepticism and dogmatism began with the first truly irrational man. It began with the largely senseless and contradictory thinkers Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Gorgias, and Zeno the Paradoxist. Irrational, illiberal intellectualism had an early climax with Plato, Arcesilaus, and Carneades.
The fundamental culture, life-style, and philosophy of reasonism eventually led to the thriving, dynamic, awe-inspiring nations of Athens, the Roman Republic, Western Europe, and America. The fundamental culture, life-style, and pseudo-philosophy of skepticism eventually led to the leftist, communist, belligerent, military dictatorships of Sparta, the late Roman Empire, the Soviet Union, and red China. The fundamental culture, life-style, and pseudo-philosophy of dogmatism eventually led to the rightist, fascist, belligerent, theistic dictatorships of the Dark Ages, the absolutists, the Nazis, and the jihadis.
Reasonist arguments, speculations, and claims were almost always presented calmly, dispassionately, systematically, and rigorously. But skepticism and dogmatism engendered a kind of mental and psychological tyranny which made the skeptics and dogmatists rather hate abstract truth and science, as well as any neutral, objective, fair-minded presentation of evidence, facts, and proof. The presentation of their arguments, speculations, and claims generally involved a kind of hysterical passion and out-of-control fanaticism.
To this day both irrational belief-systems and illiberal cultures wantonly and maniacally attack the reason-based thought-systems of Western civilization and Western liberalism. A left-wing, progressive-style illiberalism ineluctably leads to a post-modernist, socialist slavery — including mental and psychological tyranny. A right-wing, conservative-style illiberalism ineluctably leads to a pre-modernist, theocratic slavery — including mental and psychological tyranny.
Leftism today is exemplified by Stalin and Mao. Rightism is exemplified by Hitler and Khomeini. “Upwingism,” in contrast, is exemplified by Locke and Smith, if not Voltaire and Jefferson.
A personal, social, political, philosophical, and cultural paradise would be derived from a fully-realized, completely civilized world of pure reasonism which oozes confidence in, and certainty about, thinking, logic, rationality, science — and sensible, solid, sound philosophy. It would be devoid of left and right, of collectivism and god. This utopia would be based upon the entirely reasonist and idealist world of pure liberalism.
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Kyrel Zantonavitch is the founder of The Liberal Institute (http://www.liberalinstitute.com/) and a writer for Rebirth of Reason (http://www.rebirthofreason.com). He can be contacted at zantonavitch@yahoo.com.
This TRA feature has been edited in accordance with TRA’s Statement of Policy.
Click here to return to TRA’s Issue CLXVII Index.
- “Voting Responsibly and Morally: A Reply to Gennady Stolyarov II” by Kyrel Zantonavitch - The Rational Argumentator
- “Voting Responsibly and Morally: A Reply to Gennady Stolyarov II” by Kyrel Zantonavitch - The Rational Argumentator
- Right or Wrong - What’s Left
- Liberalism, Gas Prices, the Environment, and the connection between their disconnections
- The beginning of high school.
Don’t fool yourself, my friends. Rationality can be used to empirically prove its existence of right and wrong. To resist change (Conservativism) is irrational. To go with the flow (Liberalism) is rational. To ignore a person’s suffering (selfishness) is antisocial. Antisocial behavior is certifiably sociopathic. To liberate a person from suffering (selflessness) is righteous. Righteous behavior is patently appreciated by all who healthy people who witness it. The Shakyamuni Buddha appeared in this world at the birth of rational thought, and he arrived at completely different conclusions than any of the Western thinkers that you mentioned. But you are right about one thing, a paradise of pure reason is possible in this world, and it has been illustrated by innumerable Buddhist thinkers for millenia. I invite all of you to awaken from this materialist illusion and join me on the path toward true liberation.