This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Cynicism is Intellectual Cowardice ... a Cop-Out to Rationalize Fear and Laziness
Cynicism Is Not Smart, Sophisticated or Detached … It’s a Cop-Out
Preface: Obviously, giving up cynicism and getting active doesn’t mean adopting phony hopium. It means abandoning both fear and laziness – on the one hand – and false hope on the other.
In other words, question authority and be cynical of those in power. But don't be cynical of the desirability - and necessity - of acting to challenge the destructive or criminal acts of those in power.
We have overwhelming numbers (and see this). If we worked together we would win.
Why aren’t we?
A large reason that we are failing is that people are copping out … by adopting a cynical attitude.
Many of us pretend that we are too smart to think anything can change. Too smart to get emotionally involved in the destruction of our prosperity or our liberties.
“Cynicism is nothing but intellectual cowardice”.
- Henry Rollins
“Cynicism is not realistic and tough. It’s unrealistic and kind of cowardly because it means you don’t have to try.”
- Peggy Noonan
“A cynic is a coward …. Cynicism always takes the easy way out. It is a form of laziness that provides someone with an excuse for not making any attempt to change the world …. Cynicism is a way to hide …. Cynics are afraid …. So, instead, they pass judgment on anyone who is trying to make a difference. They ridicule the efforts of individuals and organizations that are working hard under incredibly difficult circumstances …. Being cynical is often thought of as being composed and detached. It is considered to be a sign of sophistication. Cynics are mistakenly given credit for possessing a deep awareness regarding the limits of what humans can accomplish which is somehow lacking in those who spend their time in passionate efforts to change the world …. Being filled with cynicism is indeed a cowardly and sad way to go through life. ”
- Michael Crawley
We’ve previously noted:
The ironic thing is that if all of the people who think of themselves as cynics or skeptics made noise, things would instantly change for the better. In other words, the millions upon millions of cynics/skeptics/self-described “realists” aren’t raising a ruckus against the fraud being committed by the giant banks, the corruption of our political system, or the lawlessness and imperial arrogance of our military-industrial complex because they think things can’t change.
But by staying silent, they are actually creating the conditions in which nothing can change.
If the millions of cynics woke up to the fact that they are a huge group – especially when combined with the people who are already actively working for the restoration of a democratic republic, justice, and the rule of law – they would suddenly realize that collectively we can change things in a heart beat.
***
Skepticism, cynicism and “realism” is an act of fear, of cowardice, of apathy. Because if the skeptics just got off their backsides and made some noise, things would change.
The Real Hero Fights Without Knowing Whether Or Not He’ll Succeed
The optimist – whether a person of faith or plain old positive temperament – is sure that he’ll succeed.
The pessimist - i.e. the cynic - is sure he'll fail. Indeed, the powers-that-be try to instill pessimism (see number 2) so that we won't try.
But the truth is that we never know in advance whether we’ll win or not.
How do we know if what we’re doing will really have an effect or not? How do we know if we are being called upon to struggle in order to succeed in changing things for the better … or for the heck of it?
***
We are called upon as part of our core purpose to struggle to try to make the world a better place. But we are not privy to fruits of our actions. We are not granted a view of the future … we will never know how many people we will help, and how we will change the course of history.
We are called upon to struggle, but we can never know the end result of our efforts … that is not for us mere mortals to know.
Chris Hedges – the Pulitizer-prize winning reporter who challenged the indefinite detention law and amazingly succeeded against all odds in having a judge strike down that law, saying:
None of us thought we would win.
Another judge – amazingly – halted all nuclear construction and licenses until disposal risks are addressed.
They didn’t know until they tried whether or not they could win.
And – even if we lose the immediate battle – we will help win a long-term war. Specifically – as bad as things are (and yes, we know things are getting worse) – they would be much worse if millions of people worldwide hadn’t struggled.
As Hedges writes:
The battles that must be fought may never be won in our lifetime. And there will always be new battles to define our struggle. Resistance to tyranny and evil is never ending.
So how can we fight not knowing whether we’ll succeed?
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote:
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.
Hellen Keller pointed out:
Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.
And Czech leader Vaclav Havel said:
Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out.
Go Viral … It’s Contagious
Courage is contagious (and as scared as we may be of the powers-that-be, they're terrified of us as well.)
So is the ability to think.
As we’ve previously noted:
[Studies show ] that even one dissenting voice can give people permission to think for themselves. Specifically:
Solomon Asch, with experiments originally carried out in the 1950s and well-replicated since, highlighted a phenomenon now known as “conformity”. In the classic experiment, a subject sees a puzzle like the one in the nearby diagram: Which of the lines A, B, and C is the same size as the line X? Take a moment to determine your own answer…The gotcha is that the subject is seated alongside a number of other people looking at the diagram – seemingly other subjects, actually confederates of the experimenter. The other “subjects” in the experiment, one after the other, say that line C seems to be the same size as X. The real subject is seated next-to-last. How many people, placed in this situation, would say “C” – giving an obviously incorrect answer that agrees with the unanimous answer of the other subjects? What do you think the percentage would be?
Three-quarters of the subjects in Asch’s experiment gave a “conforming” answer at least once. A third of the subjects conformed more than half the time.
Get it so far? People tend to defer to what the herd thinks.
But here’s the good news:
Adding a single dissenter – just one other person who gives the correct answer, or even an incorrect answer that’s different from the group’s incorrect answer – reduces conformity very sharply, down to 5-10%.
Why is this important? Well, it means that one person who publicly speaks the truth can sway a group of people away from group-think.
If a group of people is leaning towards believing the government’s version of events, a single person who speaks the truth can help snap the group out of its trance.
There is an important point here regarding the web, as well. The above-cited article states that:
When subjects can respond in a way that will not be seen by the group, conformity also drops.What does that mean? Well, on the web, many people post anonymously. The anonymity gives people permission to “respond in a way that will not be seen by the group”. But most Americans still don’t get their news from the web, or only go to mainstream corporate news sites.
Away from the keyboard, we are not very anonymous. So that is where the conformity dynamic — and the need for courageous dissent — is vital. It is doubly important that we apply the same hard-hitting truthtelling we do on the Internet in our face-to-face interactions; because it is there that dissent is urgently needed.
Bottom line: Each person‘s voice has the power to snap entire groups out of their coma of irrational group-think. So go forth and be a light of rationality and truth among the sleeping masses.
And a recent study shows that when only 10% of a population have strongly-held beliefs, their belief will often be adopted by the majority of the society.
This is true of soldiers as well as civilians. Indeed, if the soldiers, sailors, seals, flyboys, intel operatives and law enforcement officers wake up to what is really happening, things would change overnight.
Some historical quotes may be helpful in illustrating the importance of struggling to make things better …
It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
- Robert F . Kennedy
We must never despair; our situation has been compromising before; and it changed for the better; so I trust it will again. If difficulties arise; we must put forth new exertion and proportion our efforts to the exigencies of the times.
- George Washington
There is no act too small, no act too bold. The history of social change is the history of millions of actions, small and large, coming together at points in history and creating a power that governments cannot suppress.
- Howard Zinn
If you don’t like the news, go out and make some news of your own.
- Scoop Nisker
To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.
- Bruce Lee
»
- advertisements -
If you're tired of trying to wake the dead, you might be a cynic.
"Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave." - Frederick Douglass
And George Carlin says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLW1vFO-2Q
Since this is an article full of cliches I thought Id add my favorite:
"Winners never quit and quitters never win, but those who never win and never quit are idiots."
Abandoning a failed system that 99% still believe in and spending your hard earned money on preparations for the coming collapse takes courage. Its not cowardly, its just good planning.
The zombies can eat their courage (and their own children) when there is nothing left to eat. I will be eating the food my cynism compelled me to buy when I still could.
"It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to." - W.C. Fields
If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.
Ray Bradbury
Everybody wants to be Thomas Paine...
Nobody wants to eat his shoes at Valley Forge.
A lot of miles twixt one to the other.
This dude will abide. You'll know when the time is right.
eat your shoes at valley forge and be grateful for them. full circle.
It's not cynicism that is the issue, the cynic at least knows and has reason for his nature. It's the people who "believe" and the "believers" that are the real problem, because they never really test their beliefs against reality, like people's believing in the notion that they are "free" or that this next election means anything or that instead of being concerned with the here and now, with what is, they should actually be concerned with the hereafter..
Too many people still "believe" in the system, and are very dependent on it. The system depends on its victims believing and provides small rewards for the people's pacification and unfortunately, it works.
I do think we can change things, but it requires a good portion of the populace to stop believing..
There is no courage needed to keep taking the blue pill.
If we want to talk intellectual laziness, GW, this article is approximately 75% quote (including recycling your own work). It's also typical political cheapshotting: anybody who doesn't believe YOUR approach is the one true and correct one is clearly fearful, lazy, cowardly and if only they thought exactly as you do, then everything would be great. It's bog-standard religious-style zealotry.
Only the truly lazy would believe that somehow 330 million people will organize around a single idea (and ridiculously egotistical to think it will be your idea), or that such an idea is even a good one. Even 10% of that is 33 million, and they can't even come to agreement on American Idol.
Please to be noting that Margaret Mead quote doesn't say "changed it for the better."
Asch's experiment proves that people are easily swayed, which has lead us to this impasse in the first place.
Howard Zinn is a jackass. He's certainly no historian.
You've just written statist claptrap.
I appreciate what GW tries to accomplish in general. But quoting Howard Zinn is shark-jumping territory. We are talking about a man who subscribes to manufactured and fictional accounts of history to legitimize his theories and masturbatory visions of society. This goes beyond hubris. Zinn is a quasi-criminally intellectual bankrupt "historian."
I'm an optimist but I'm also cynical.
Having lived in CA from 1983 to 2002 it took the cynic in me to get the hell out of Dodge. So my question to George Washington: Was I a coward for leaving California because I recognized the futility in trying to change what is now ocurring there? Because surely the optimist in me fought long and hard to change minds to the point of losing my own sanity.
The one saying I HATE the most is this; If at first you don't succeed, try , try again. The cynic - or so called "coward" - realized I would have wasted the last decade trying and trying and trying and trying and trying and trying...or maybe I'm not a cynic after all. Maybe I'm just a realist without an Ivy League degree in economics. Or a "journalism" degree from Columbia.
At least my 'Woman's Studies' "degree from the U. of Dirtt wasn't a total waste of time. And having a piece of farmland with plenty of rainwater where you can grow 24/7/365 was also wise.
I read most stuff critically. Zinn, certainly. He always brings a point of view.
But on a fact by fact basis he is largely conservative in his selection of the events he depicts. These are well documented events. It's not that Zinn is off the wall. He is not.
Why the desperation?
It's not as though you had been assigned a task of defending Ayn Rand from a Catholic perspective. Or being told to find a living Nazi Buddhist.
"...manufactured and fictional accounts of history..."
please provide a single example of Mr. Zinn doing what you allege.
Cynicism is the result of statist psyops upon the masses making individuals believe government is so large and powerful that resistance is futile.
Creating the image that government is infallible and all powerful has always been carefully cultivated since Roman times to discourage any challenges to the state. Those massive buildings and Monuments are intended to make the individual feel small.
Meaningless cynicism is another expression of individual submission and powerlessness, like depression or fear.
Government is a confidence scam.
..until they kick in your door and put a sack on your head.
That was a brilliant comment, sir.
aw come on - i practice mean cynicism - these fuckers can not be trusted, and their illusion gets thinner every time i get someone to doubt the sanctity of the illusion.
i also realize the illusion doesn't do well in the face of laughter, but levity is tough when the consequences loom large...
my cynicism is not retreat, its dissatisfaction and a big mouth with lots of arguments and observations.
was carlin a cynic for his position on not voting meaning you're withdrawing your sanction for this farce? lew rockwell, i just learned, is taking the same position. i'm satisified that by not voting for good reason puts me in pretty fair company.
If you haven't already, check out "Seeing Like a State" by James Scott.
Antisthenes, Zeno >> GW
They have us all divided into too many diverse groups to unite. I can list just about all of them but everyone here on ZH is smart enough to list them themselves. Uniting will take compromising and shared sacrifice. Anyone seeing that happening anytime soon? Perhaps the best thing is that everything collapses and we're all in the streets. No place to go then. There's your multi million man march on DC.
wish and hope in one hand
shit in the other
see which gets full faster
I'm NOT talking about "wish and hope". I'm talking about ACTION
Do tell us then what YOU have done in the way of action?
If a person's cynicism toward the present system motivates them to plan for leaving that system because they see no evidence said system will improve, that is action, very wise action I believe, far wiser than believing a lot of people making a lot of noise will change said system for the better.
How bad does it have to get GW before you acknowledge America-as-we-know-it is finished and will never be restored to America-as-we-know-it?
You have a severe case of hope-itis. Blind hope-itis. Stupid hope-itis.
Exactly. This post smacks of Karl Denninger-style "I'm writing blog posts about changing the world, now what are you going to do to make it happen?"
What utter delusions of proportion and contribution.
Another blogger who thinks he's affecting change by sitting in comfort and writing about it, and then claims superiority over those who would lose their life and liberty actually enacting change.
Thanks for the dose of moral superiority GW. Actions speak louder than words.
If you want to make a point, get out there and change things GW. But don't write about everyone else's reluctance and inability to do so. And when you personally consider "changing things" (not just writing about change) you will realize the impossibility and danger in what must be done, and you will have shattered your own accusations of "cynicism".
the great majority of Merikans are not prepared to admit to themselves that their world has been turned upside down...truth has become fictionalized, and fiction insititutionalized, to the point where seriously challenging the new status quo can lead to incarceration or even assassination.
Therefore, they are unwilling to accept that duplicity has become the order of the day...and noooobody does duplicious dissimulation better than the guy who has coopted the name of an 18th century Merikan 'revolutionary' in order to make sure that the counter-revolution he is a shill of succeeds.
George is not using the pen to gather the flock together for "change"....George is shepherding yu into the pen. In article after article he has shamelessly effected the Alinskyist tactic of 'talking to his audience's experience' in order to gain their sympathies and then provoke their conditioned acquiesence to the elitist project of the 'social organizer' - that species of creature which marches to the orders of the moneypower, and lives off of the crumbs from it's table.
All in vain...in time, folks gonna see thru this kollection of kant, and realize that GW has outed hisself without doubt as working for the dark side. The more ingenuous of them will perhaps then become cynical...the more realistic will get on with the bizness of effecting real resistance to the powerz...after isolating the phonies in their midst.
A thousand down votes from a thousand dupes aínt gonna change the way it is...BUT DO CAST YUR VOTE, and get a chance to win this weeks' MOSTEST MINION AWARE....1st prise....a CHEAP TRICK T SHIRT!
tha tha that's all folks!
Yes, agreed.
I have raked the fraudulent pseudo-patriot GW over the coals here on ZH ever since I've been here, constantly saying he should be kicked off this site, a financial site, not a sounding board for his moronically simplistic pseudo-patriot trash.
I don't think he's smart enough to be a shill for anyone. He writes like someone dropped on the American scene from another planet, just now figuring out things like "Wall Street is full of bad people", things everyone here has known way better than GW and way longer.
His knowledge of the financial world doesn't extend past the end of his nose. He never shows any original thought, his articles are nothing more than c&p google searches, apparently done in some belief that quantity is quality, which it isn't.
No, I don't suspect he's a shill for anyone, just a dumbass emotional bubba redneck make-believe-patriot who somehow got contributor status on ZH.
Why he hasn't been kicked off ZH is a head-scratcher to me. His off-theme trash nonsense articles tarnsh the integrity of this site.
Does "Financial Site" imply that only those who are gambling addicts with common weaknesses and perspectives need attend. I suppose as a purely "financial site" those of us who refuse to participate in the self destructive process should just keep our mouths shut and watch and listen for when you all decide to finally blow this place to hell. Personally i'm glad to see people still somewhat patriotic as i hope somebody out there gives a shit what happens to America. I know a lot of you just see the rot, but I actually go outside once in a while and talk to people. Most are pretty darn decent. And as far as your view that "wall street is full of bad people" I would think you would see only someone who's "knowledge of the financial world doesn't extend past the end of his nose" as credible, given that obviously any participating professional is a crook. I have accepted that a significant volume of posts on this site are just stupid, but you surely must be the pot calling the kettle black when considering relevancy. Integrity indeed!
One man cannot change the world. However.......one idea can.
This is why all tyrants and tyrannical regimes fully understand that the pen is mightier than the sword simply because most people will not resist unless and until they are inspired. Thus those who inspire are extremely valuable. I would propose that those who are apathetic or cynical are simply starved for inspirational ideas.
Keep writing GW because you most certainly inspire me.
And I too. Today, I was visited by a guy in the Canadian Military, moving his belongings from the west coast of Canada to an Ontario military airport posting. He needed UHaul transportation & storage for his belongings. We spoke for about an hour, an hour & a half. I think I confirmed much of what he had already been thinking, and I honestly think that he will in turn move forward and pass those heretical and subversive thoughts (I'm sure that the PTB would think them to be so) to other individuals in the military that he interacts with. I'm a small (really small) businessman in a small community & it is difficult most of the time to feel that you can make any difference or contribution to addressing the significant problems that you see developing. But today I went home thinking that I HAD made a significant contribution. Hubris, maybe.
Each and every person as they become aware MUST do ALL they can to move this forward. ONE person at a time.
G.W. - BEST article I've ever read by you. DON'T STOP.
david - don't stop. i have similar stories, and in the years i've been spreading my brand of cycnicism (really just want to pop that shell of comfortable ignorance), i've seen changes. many more people lately seem to be getting it. guys like you are the fuse.
First, they have to turn off the TV.
Anyone knows that ant
can't
move that rubber tree plant.
But he had high hopes.
OK, let's all sing together the song "High Hopes". For those too young to remember, it has nothing to do with the previously high Hopium-dispenser-in-Chief.
I think you're confusing cynicism with pessimism.
cynicism = distrust of others' motives
pessimism = belief that all will not turn out well
Right on!
It's the same with courage. Real courage isn't a lack of fear. That's just stupidity. Courage is being terrified but doing what you have to do anyway.
I always disagree with people who say that voting is a waste of time.
Voting for someone you don't like is a waste of time, but there is no reason you have to vote for one of the major parties. People say voting for a 3rd party candidate is waste of your vote. I feel the same way about voting for a major candidate.
I'm very cynical about this article and it scares the shit out of me!
I like the Million Man 'Bring your gun to Washington' March.
That ought to cause a few loose bowels.
But the reality is that it won't--the people in DC do not give two shits about any particular issue unless they can use it as some kind of lever to get something they want. You can have whatever million-person jerk-off session you want, it won't amount to anything and rightfully so, because who in their right mind wants mob rule? The Million Mom March was a lie--first of all because it failed to attract even close to that number of people, and second of all because it was an astroturf campaign to get Gore elected and nothing more. But the women who did show up thought it was about gun control. At the end of the day, it's all somebody else's psyop or whatever and the best thing to do is just not play--they only win when you give them the attention they need. Fuck them, their elections, and their entire house of cards!
Make no mistake, this event scared the crap out of TPTB. Listen to or read the full text, it's rather revolutionary.
Ya know, I think one can be a Cynic and use that cynicism as a base for creating preparedness for future events. Just because I look askance at Obama when he talks and look twice at any and all new initiatives by the federal government does not mean that I am not doing anything about it. It means that I am motivated to prepare for disappointment with the people who we are supposed to be able to trust but cannot because they have shown themselves undeserving of trust.
I do not need to be a community organizer and am skeptical of community organizers because in the mode of Saul Alinsky, Obama or Marx they are organizing for the purpose of power change, but still consolidation.
If one cannot help others learn that their trust is misplaced then we cannot start them on the way to independence, free will and preparing for their future. In that respect, the cynic who knows not to trust an Obama and can provide examples why is helpful. I disagree that we should just replace one untrustworthy power with another.
Apropos your comment, Bartanist, I'll add another quote:
"Most people prefer to believe that their leaders are just and fair, even in the face of evidence to the contrary, because once a citizen acknowledges that the government under which he lives is lying and corrupt, the citizen has to choose what he or she will do about it. To take action in the face of corrupt government entails risks of harm to life and loved ones. To choose to do nothing is to surrender one's self-image of standing for principles. Most people do not have the courage to face that choice. Hence, most propaganda is not designed to fool the critical thinker but only to give moral cowards an excuse not to think at all."
~ Michael Rivero
<3
Logged in just to give ya a greenie, Raccoon.
Cynicism is the only shield I have left. It protects me from the cancerous bullshit produced by bankers, politicians and sycophantic academics.
A cynical lense filters out the warm fuzzies that preceeds a rape of the soul.
Well said. +1
Exactly. One cannot engage a new system without first disengaging from the old system. Cynicism is the critical first step to disengaging from the corrupt system.
Now, you can criticize the cynic for stopping at that point. But, consider this: if EVERYONE simply disengaged from the system, and did nothing else, the system would lose its power and would collapse. What if everyone simply stopped voting and stopped paying their income taxes? The system would collapse within 6 months.
Of course the way OUR system is structured, that wouldn't be quite enough, given that income taxes are automagically deducted from our paychecks (now you now how fiendish and diabolical withholding is). But still, you get the idea.
Great words, bro. That is exactly my thinking as well...I can think of several examples im my life of that occurring.
Some idea you grow up with as Freaking Gospel (Government being out for your best interest, Big Pharma being out for your best interest, etc), you suddenly realize is not as it seems. You become cynical...it happens. It is actually, IMO, a good thing as it forces you to self-examine many areas of your life