Changes

==Vision of the anointed==

==Vision of the anointed==

Economist Thomas Sowell in his book published in 1996, ''The Vision of the Anninted'', discusses the anointed vision of liberals and liberalism to promote their agenda, and control the writing of history and the national consciouness.

Economist [[Thomas Sowell]] in his book published in 1996, ''The Vision of the Anninted'', discusses the anointed vision of liberals and liberalism to promote their agenda, and control the writing of history and the national consciouness.

Desperate evasions of discordant evidence, and the denigration and even demonizing of those presenting such evidence, are indicative of the high stakes in contemporary cultural wars, which are not about alternative policies but alternative worlds and of alternative roles of liberals in these worlds.  Opponents must be shown to be not merely mistaken but morally lacking. This approach replaces the intellectual discussion of arguments by the moral extermination of persons.  This denigration or demonizing of those opposed to their views not only has the desired effect of discrediting the opposition but also has the unintended effect of cutting off the path of retreat from positions which become progressively less tenable with the passage of time and the accumulation of discordant evidence. The very thought that those  dismissed as simplistic or maligned might have been right–even if only on a single issue–is at best galling and potentially devastating.  Their last refuge in this situation are their good intentions.

Desperate evasions of discordant evidence, and the denigration and even demonizing of those presenting such evidence, are indicative of the high stakes in contemporary cultural wars, which are not about alternative policies but alternative worlds and of alternative roles of liberals in these worlds.  Opponents must be shown to be not merely mistaken but morally lacking. This approach replaces the intellectual discussion of arguments by the moral extermination of persons.  This denigration or demonizing of those opposed to their views not only has the desired effect of discrediting the opposition but also has the unintended effect of cutting off the path of retreat from positions which become progressively less tenable with the passage of time and the accumulation of discordant evidence. The very thought that those  dismissed as simplistic or maligned might have been right–even if only on a single issue–is at best galling and potentially devastating.  Their last refuge in this situation are their good intentions.