The Turpitude of our Moral Superiors

The Turpitude of our Moral Superiors

With the Oscars right around the corner, it means our self-appointed moral arbiters are once again getting ready to teach the uncritical proles what moral stances are in vogue this season.

We can take a wild guess at what they are. Take your pick, but stick to the surface level stuff. If the inflated outrage and obloquy of celebrities, athletes, late-night comedians, and the press is any indication of current trends as of late, it is safe to guess that the moral (read: public relations) posture du jour will be to engage in soft sexism and racism, classifying each other like insects according to their epidermis and genitalia, and giving golden statues and ovations to those who do so. They will certainly go after sexual abuse, most of which is found rampant in their own industry. But on top of that, they will continue to get offended by and rebuke the president of the United States and whatever he says.

Luckily for us, trends and the trendy never last. It is timeless principles that reminds we should beware those who pretend to be the moral authorities while offering scant evidence beyond their power and reach as to why they are. Moral authority is not earned by way of sanctimony or pretence. In their case, it is seized by snobbery, and fed to the obsequious by way of grandstanding.

Yet sanctimony and pretence is all the elites have. The better to serve the parrots. So long as they have a stage, maybe a twitter account, an orthodoxy to promote and an audience to signal it to, they can slink back into their amorality as soon as they think no one is watching or listening. But because a presumptuous vanity guides their motives, we often catch glimpses of their charade falling apart when confronted with people they are powerless over, or heaven forbid, face to face with. Dissent for them is heresy.

Sometimes this continuous public display and promise of moral righteousness comes with denunciation, but amounts to a public relations ploy, perhaps to disguise their own moral degradation. Sometimes it is an excuse for anti-social and violent behavior Sometimes it is to signal conformity with the like-minded. Some of it is to remain relevant. Sometimes it is for alarmism, self-promotion, or rumour-mongering. Little of it, however, is a matter of moral principle. All of it is bad faith.

It’s easy to lampoon a public figure in free countries, especially when it is as broad a target as president Trump, the same man the moral elite have been demonizing and dehumanizing for the past couple years. It is even expected. But it is never brave nor even original, and the need for applause signs suggest we need to be reminded when to laugh. Rather, it’s more difficult to face down an ostentatious, unprincipled, and powerful status quo who believe they are just in doing so. At some point we should wonder if this the burning in effigy is a warmup for burning at the stake.

What we will hear about is mean words, fake injustices, and the perceived slights to whatever ideology they identify with, and identify strongly. What we will not hear about is injustice and evil. They will not speak of enslavement, genocide and oppression. Perhaps they have forgotten these exist.

When the sum-total of their moral accomplishments does not live up to the sanctimony, and is in indirect proportion, we have here an absence of moral authority. The lack of guiding principle beyond their self-aggrandizement, their identity politics, their megalomania testifies to their own moral retardation than anyone else’s.

Thus is the turpitude of our moral superiors.

LesMis

I read the first sentence and then I stopped because I don`t care about Hollywood award shows.

originally posted by: bluechevytree
I read the first sentence and then I stopped because I don`t care about Hollywood award shows.

Me too!

a reply to: bluechevytree

Great contribution to the thread
I think its about a little more than an "award show" but if you can't read more than a line guess you aren't bothered about that either

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a reply to: LesMisanthrope

Well done and very well written!

I could not have said it any better.

In recent times though, the sanctimonious are falling, all over the globe albeit in a trickle that should be a flood.

Why is their not a commission investigating Hollywood by now?

P

I learned all I need to know about morality from 'Gumby.'

originally posted by: pheonix358
a reply to: LesMisanthrope





Why is their not a commission investigating Hollywood by now?

P

Because Hollywood is not a person . It is a collective of persons with a wide array of individual characters .

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

When the sum-total of their moral accomplishments does not live up to the sanctimony, and is in indirect proportion, we have here an absence of moral authority. The lack of guiding principle beyond their self-aggrandizement, their identity politics, their megalomania testifies to their own moral retardation than anyone else’s.

Couldn't the same be said for the self appointed "Liberal" Elites that relentlessly serve up their version of PC values and social justice agenda? They have long since abandonned anything resembling an objective core of moral values in favor of squishy moral relativism.

a reply to: TonyS

I thought they were one and the same.

I thought this was gonna be thread on something crazy Pelosi did..

a reply to: acackohfcc

The summary is that our moral superiors are not morally superior, but morally suspect.

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

It amuses me to see the moral minefield they have created for themselves. Knowing one misstep now or even in the distant past could blow their careers to pieces. Couldn't happen to nicer people.

originally posted by: underpass61
a reply to: LesMisanthrope

It amuses me to see the moral minefield they have created for themselves. Knowing one misstep now or even in the distant past could blow their careers to pieces. Couldn't happen to nicer people.

That's a good point. And they are doomed to step on those mines sooner or later, or throw each other under the bus, whichever comes first.

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope
Yet sanctimony and pretence is all the elites have.

The rest of us have our fair share as well.
I've never heard a celeb use the word turpitude.

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

Excellent summation.

I won't be watching the Oscars....again.

They are hypocrites of the worst kind.

They hide so much of their depravity and hypocrisy behind the word "ART". We know better.

The revelations about Harvey Weinstein would have come out much earlier had it not been for NBC attempting to hide it. This is an interesting piece about Roman Farrow's attempt to expose Weinstein and what he was up against working at NBC. Farrow Splits for HBO

Don't think for a minute that anything has really changed in Hollyweird. There is something behind this sudden moral high horse, and I can just about guarantee it has nothing to do with a sudden "come-to-Jesus" awakening.

They are going to go for DJT's throat. But, their timing is off. We see them for what they are.

a reply to: Krahzeef_Ukhar

The rest of us have our fair share as well.
I've never heard a celeb use the word turpitude.

Why would you?

a reply to: queenofswords

Don't think for a minute that anything has really changed in Hollyweird. There is something behind this sudden moral high horse, and I can just about guarantee it has nothing to do with a sudden "come-to-Jesus" awakening.

None of it has to do with ethics or morality, that's for certain. I would wager that many feel their power is waning, and such moral high-horsery and shaming is their last ditch effort.

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

Given their knack for self-aggrandizement which you described it sounds like something they would say.

All I'm saying is that it's hard to condemn people for being sanctimonious and pretentious without being a hypocrite.

I'm just going to drop this here.

Consequences of erudite vernacular utilized irrespective of necessity

Have a nice day!