Be Wary of ‘Cause Junkies’

Published February 1, 2018

There is anger in this land. There is violence. There is disdain for law. There is hysterical emotionalism.

What do all of these conditions have in common?

A cause.

Without individual identity created by purposeful value selection, what is left for malcontents to do in order to receive the unearned except regress into modern versions of primitive tribal groups that claim a shared identity and cause? We now have tribes defined by gender identity, gender-preference identity, race identity, ethnic identity, and more. Each cause-driven tribe seeks special treatment. One person alone will usually desist from outrageous demands for economic advantage and odious deeds that seek to control the behavior of others, but when camouflaged within a group they will embrace all sorts of antics with zeal.

How do tribe-groups unify to fight for power to take from or control others? Although often naming an enemy to fight against — “racism,” “sexism,” etc. — they always rally together by naming a cause to fight for: king, country, religion, booty, land; history is littered with remnants of battles fought for a cause. Riled-up anger and fired-up emotions are crucial in rousing tribes to hostile action, so clever “chiefs” may first affect a call to arms by coordinating group activities and slogan chanting so members will be drawn together as one unified force. Mass mindlessness then results from trance rituals, and more aggressive and egregious “follow the leader” action ensues as group euphoria and hedonic excitement churn members into fervent battle-mode activists for their cause du jour.

Marches, sit-ins, protest gatherings, rock concerts, and speeches provide venues for “letting off steam” while demonstrating for cause-demands and solidifying tribal coherence among (perceived) discriminated-against minorities. Even planet earth is now deemed a “victim.” Environmental causes seek to control the unconvinced; race and gender “social justice” causes want reparations for generations-past real or imagined inequities; “economic redistribution” causes exist to take a “fair share” from producers and give to non-producers. All are group-oriented maneuvers to confiscate from or control others. (Permitted riots involving arson and looting are not cause-oriented; they are fierce indulgences in anarchy; remember the Baltimore Mayor’s “…we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that…” statement.)

We have activists who are dedicated to one cause. We have repeat “performance” activists attending whatever-wherever cause events because they provide safety in numbers and outlets for rage. We have cause-participants paid money for pumping fists into the air, shouting obscenities, and instigating havoc. We have movie actors and sports figures spouting pet causes; some of their causes may be legitimate, e.g., privately funded disease cure endeavors, but most are self-promoting stunts by ignorant or uninformed celebrities who long for legitimacy beyond their narrow-skill-set professions of pretending to be others or tackling a body on the football field. We have activists of all persuasions jockeying for media coverage to validate their cause.

In short: we have “cause junkies.”

But let’s attend to the core cause beneath all surface causes that entice increasing numbers of emotionalized people to leap into the cultural fray. America’s educational, political, and media elites initiate, sympathize with, or enhance cause events because participation by those who perceive themselves to be disenfranchised keeps them occupied while the elites gain increased power and influence. Example? When Barack Obama was president, his savvy Chief of Staff — Rahm Emmanuel, now Mayor of Chicago — shrewdly stated “Never let a crisis go to waste.” What better way to use crises to advantage than to manufacture and/or fuel them; witness Ferguson, Baltimore, Charlottesville, all abetted, distorted, and/or glamorized by so many.

Ergo: cause-driven folks seeking monetary favoritism and/or control over others are themselves manipulated by elitists wielding superior control. And the end-game fix is in: more encouragement for further division of the populace, more controls to “control” the divisiveness until it is “necessary” for government to institute some form of dictatorial rule, including rule over the cause junkies who are the unsuspecting pawns being played for the win. Fine. They let themselves be used. As Spinoza said: “They fight for their servitude as if it were their salvation.”

So why should the rest of us be wary of cause junkies? Because all tribe-identity causes arise from a contempt for individualism. Group causes by definition disregard and denigrate not only the value of the individual but the concept of individualism itself. Individualism: the singular hallmark of the United States and the fundamental value that made America exceptional in history. It is individualism — the respect for individual identity, a personal and unique identity created individually by individuals — that is under siege from within. Millions attend cause events. Half of all college students prefer socialism over capitalism. According to a recent Census Bureau report, 49 percent of the entire population is already on some degree of government welfare. In the 2016 Democrat primary, Hillary (elite progressive, i.e. combination socialist-fascist) won 16,914,722 votes, and Bernie (outright socialist) won 13,206,428; that’s 30-plus million votes for pure collectivism, forget the general election where H.C. won the popular vote of millions more. Mr. Obama (elite progressive) is still active in Saul Alinsky-type community meddling through his Organizing For Action foundation (OFA). Its website boasts 250 chapters and 5 million people who have taken action through it. Federal tax records count 35,000-plus OFA-trained progressive community organizers coming to your town to “help” make policies to (in Alinsky lingo) “take from the haves and give to the have-nots.”

The penalty for keeping silent on a personal level and refraining from prosecution on a legal level of the cause junkies’ behavior now is that when they are swept fully into the sea of collectivism, every individual American will be dragged along to drown with them.

Apathy is acquiescence. Think about civic engagement in your own school programs and community policies.

[Originally Published at Newsmax]