Conflation (Personified)

I take a trait, a characteristic, a philosophy, a belief system, a worldview--anything--that I happen to detest.  I might deem the trait harmful, counterproductive, or simply unaesthetic.  I find a person, people, group, nationality--whatever--who embodies the worst of that trait.  And I begin a deliberate, systematic, and thorough denunciation of that people and that trait.  I subtly infer that that people are debased because of that trait.  And if I am a good enough polemicist, I can pull it off.

I can do it refined and shrewd, like an essayist, or blatant and offensive, like a tabloid journalist.  The rationale for my detestation might arise from any one of a number of political, social, and religious ideologies.  The tactic of conflation is marvelously adaptable; royalist or republican, communist or capitalist, freethinker or fundamentalist, my own affiliation is almost a moot point; all that is required is a gift of gab, a Machiavellian pragmatism, and a steely resolve.

i can tell others, or even myself, that my motivations are ultimately altruistic, but the end results are the same; the trait, characteristic, philosophy, belief system, or worldview that i happen to detest is stigmatized; the person, people, group, or nationality who embody the trait are marginalized

You might protest that the masses will go for it, but what about the intellectuals?  You would be surprised at the intellectuals who ignore their humanitarian impulses and stumble over one another in their rush to justify their pet point of view.  For, you see, they began in the first place to rationalize their denunciation of the trait in the name of the greater good; they assured themselves that when the undesirable trait was removed, like diseased tissue, then the draconian measures could be relaxed.  But movements and enacted measures can take on a life of their own.  Draconian measures impart power, and no one intoxicated with power relinquishes it willingly

I began with conflation and arrived at despotism  It’s not as circuitous a road as you might think; like the oft-repeated saying about the shortest distance between two points, it's a hop, skip, and jump.  Now let me end with a word of advice; not that I’m especially altruistic; I’m more about self-interest.  But, regarding my advice; want to amend the world?  Then start with yourself.  Heed the words of G. K. Chesterton: “What's wrong with the world?  I am.”

Someone Else has said it even more pointedly.

{Luke 6:41-42} And why behold the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but perceive not the plank that is in your own eye? And how can you say to your brother, “Brother, let me pull out the speck that is in your eye,” when you yourself behold not the plank that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, take out first the plank out of your own eye, and then shall you see clearly to pull out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

But there’s a way of putting it negatively; there's a more succinct way to phrase it, a moral lodestone that is articulated with slight variations in every tribe and culture, every time and place.


{Romans 13:9} you shall love your neighbor as yourself.


As I said, I’m not the altruist; I’m the opportunist, the conflationist.


By the way, like the plank in your eye, don’t look for me within others; I’m primarily within you.