32. Pragmatism & Potatoes

And now for something entirely different.

Opponents of nationalized health care sometimes point to the nationalized systems of England, Canada, Cuba, and elsewhere -- as examples of the disaster, bankruptcy, and misery that such systems have always caused.

On hearing such facts, proponents of nationalized health care sometimes stare in glassy-eyed indifference, totally unmoved by the clear evidence that nationalized health care doesn't work.

Such indifference to facts may be an indication that the person is suffering from pragmatism.

Pragmatism is a philosophy which believes that reality is not real, or that reality is a shapeless, ever-changing goo, that facts don't exist, that existence can by molded by the human wish or will, ignoring or denying or in sptie of facts.

Pragmatists believe that existence cannot be understood by observing facts and drawing reasoned conclusions from facts.

How do pragmatixts operate in the real world?  When they wish to accomplish something, they do not examine the relevant facts of reality.  Instead, they just try something, anything, to see if maybe it will work (produce results in accordance with their wish).  Try what?  Why, just anything -- after all, the pragmatist isn't constrained by facts and has no way of knowing what might work, or not -- because he refuses on principle to consider facts about a reality which he considers to be infinitely changeable and therefore unknowable.

How does this work out in practice?  It usually results in disaster, bankruptcy, and misery.  But not to worry.  The pragmatist believes that maybe the next "experiment" might turn out better.  When human lives are the subject of the "experiment", the results are usually tragic.

For those who are sane enough to be grounded in reality, not fantasy, an example of pragmatism may be helpful.

Over the ages, man has learned a lot about gravity and other laws of nature (facts).  But the pragmatist ignores all such knowledge, on principle.  So how can he possibly act? 

Well, here's the example.  Our pragmatist suddenly feels that it would be very cool if potatoes could fly like birds.  So, ignoring the nature of potatoes and birds, he tosses a potato into the air to see if maybe it will actually fly.  It doesn't.  The pragmatist learns nothing from this.  After all, maybe next time the potato will fly. There is no way for the pragmatist to know (since he ignores the facts that would have given him knowledge). 

So he tries again and again until the potato is destroyed.  And still the pragmatist has learned nothing about potatoes or flying, because he believes that reality and facts do not exist.

Back to nationalized health care and the pragmatist politicians who promote it.

To the pragmatist (politician or citizen), the fact that such schemes have failed miserably wherever and whenever they are tried -- makes no difference.

Because, according to pragmatist doctrinne, maybe -- just maybe -- the potato will fly the next time, and Obama's wishes will have been imposed on a plastic, formless realty, and maybe next time nationalized health care will not result in disaster, bankruptcy, and misery.

But facts are facts. The potato does not fly, and nationalized health care does end in disaster, bankruptcy, and misery.The pragmatist will never be able to  make reality conform to his wish, in defiance of facts.

The pragmatist's attempt to impose his arbitrary wishes upon the facts of reality regarding health care will fail (or succeed, if -- as with Obama -- the perpetrator's wish is to cause disaster, bankruptcy, and misery).

"There is no such thing as truth," said Hitler.

The metaphysics of pragmatism is subjectivism. The epistemology of pragmatism is irrationality. The politics of pragmatism is collectivism.  The ethics of pragmatism is altruism.

Unfortunately, pragmatism has gained broad acceptance in the United States.

Back to the real world.

-- Reality exists.
-- Existence exists.
-- Facts exist.
-- A man is capable of perceiving facts through his senses.
-- Things are what they are.
-- A potato is a potato, and a bird is a bird.
-- Birds fly: potatoes don't.

Perceiving facts and processing them with his rational mind is man's way of dealing with existence, of living, of producing values, of enjoying life.

Motivational Poster
Pragmatist Descending
(Click pic to enlarge)