All The Crazy People

Where Do They All Come From?

Back in 1950 Eric Voegelin—in The New Science of Politics—was already describing the West as sinking into what he described as a “gnostic dreamworld.” In the concluding chapter, “The End Of Modernity” he wrote:

In the Gnostic dream world … nonrecognition of reality is the first principle. As a consequence, types of action which in the real world would be considered morally insane because the real [and foreseeable] effects which they have will be considered moral in the dream world because they intended an entirely different effect. The gap between intended and real effect will be imputed not to the Gnostic immorality of ignoring the structure of reality but to the immorality of some other person or society that does not behave as it should behave according to the dream conception of cause and effect. …

The identification of dream and reality as a matter of principle has practical results which may appear strange but can hardly be considered surprising. The critical exploration of cause and effect in history is prohibited; and consequently the rational coordination of means and ends in politics is impossible. Gnostic societies and their leaders will recognize dangers to their existence when they develop, but such dangers will not be met by appropriate actions in the world of reality. They will rather be met by magic operations in the dream world, such as disapproval, moral condemnation, … etc.  The intellectual and moral corruption which expresses itself in the aggregate of such magic operations may pervade a society with the weird, ghostly atmosphere of a lunatic asylum, as we experience it in our time in the Western crisis.

Things have only gone steeply downhill since Voegelin wrote those words. The Covidian Reset op has brought out all the latent craziness in our society. Two stories illustrate the point. The first is from New York, but could be repeated from around the country:

NY preps for staff shortages with health care vaccine mandate

Gov. Kathy Hochul said Saturday she is prepared to call in medically trained National Guard members, retirees and workers outside New York to address potential staffing shortages created by an approaching vaccine mandate for health care workers.

If necessary, Hochul said, she will declare a state of emergency through an executive order designed to address staffing shortages in hospitals and nursing homes once the mandate takes effect Monday.

Many health care workers have still not received a required first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine days before the deadline, leaving the prospect of potentially thousands of health care workers being forced off the job next week.

In what world is this woman living? Not the real one. How would you feel about going into an operating theater staffed by the National Guard? Commenters to the article pointed out the real world implications of this insanity—not that that will deter Hochul:

mriguy

As a MRI Technologist and MR Safety officer with 20 years experience, I say good luck filling open positions with QUAILTY people that have any clue what they are doing. Despite what most people think there are more than just nurses and Physicians working at the hospitals. There are lots of other people with very specialized skill sets, working in departments that are normally leaned on pay the bill for the rest of the hospital. I have 15 years in at the current hospital I work for. I'm vaccinated, but not interested in a booster. And I'm about to quit due to the lack of staffing we are already experiencing before this mandate goes through. Even without all of this covid business going on there aren't enough people for me to pull from in my market, or close markets that have the skills and experience I'm looking for to hire.

Replying to mriguy

My wife and I are both nurses with more than 23 years experience each, we will either retire early, or let them fire us rather than get that vaccine. At this point its more about principle, and fighting authoritarianism/communism than anything else.

Replying to mriguy

I am a nurse in Iowa, friend. I too am vaccinated but wont be getting any boosters come what may. We are going to lose our surgery manager, cardiac rehab specialist, 2 Physical Therapists, environmental services people, registration workers, several nurses among many many others. What are these democrats going to do when there is no staff to care for the sick?

Who elected the goofballs running New York state? That would be the citizens of New York state. As is typical of modern politics, citizens seem incapable of divining the foreseeable consequences of voting for moral and intellectual reprobates. Over and over. They get the same results each time, but somehow expect that next time will be different.

Paul Mirengoff presents another example from wealthy Fairfax County, VA.

Judge rejects leftist Fairfax prosecutor’s deal of three years for child rape

Earlier this week, I wrote about a plea deal reached by far-left, Soros-backed Fairfax County prosecutor Steve Descano under which a serial child molester whose offenses carry a life sentence would instead receive only 17 years. A Fairfax County judge reluctantly accepted the deal but called it “woefully inadequate” and said the prosecutors had “victimized” the child in question.

Now a second Fairfax judge has done what the first was unwilling to do. Judge Randy Bellows has rejected a Descano plea deal. In this one, a man indicted for raping a girl four times during a period in which she was in fifth-through-seventh grade would have received only a three-year prison sentence.

Three years for four instances of raping a minor. That’s justice, George Soros style.

…

Only Fairfax County residents can put an end to these policies and practices.

This has been happening over and over around the country. What do people think will happen when they elect Soros backed prosecutors? They’re carrying out the exact policies they said they would. Who do citizens think is responsible?