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Steven Gresham Farrall's avatar

Excellent. Your identification of the two 'classes' that matter - fantasists and realists - is a great advance.

On your comment on evil - I have long thought that these 'fantasists' are a choice from, or all of, wilfully blind, ignorant, stupid or malign.

And that they fall into three groups under the Pareto Distribution

80% are worker bees. Basically good people but who have taken on board the sophistry. We all need worker bees.

Of the remaining 20%.

16% are Commissars and Gauleiters who are fully down with the kids on the stuff and are determined to push it all through even though they know it has always failed but this time as they are so much cleverer it will all work fine.

And the last 4% I categorise as 'O'Briens' - O'Brien being Big Brother's man or maybe even Big Brother in Nineteen Eighty-Four. Our hero asks him what about the people?' the answer? 'picture a hobnail boot stamping on the face of mankind, forever. It is all about power' And O'Brien will lie cheat steal or whatever to keep that power.

So you have the three classes of: the useful idiots, the delusional, and the deceitful (which is a bit unfair on the 'useful idiots'...)

Harry Richer's avatar

I quite like this clarification. I think you are quite right about the three classes of fantasists: the useful idiots, the delusional, and the deceitful. My worry with the "useful idiots", though, is that this term is too generous to them. Yes, they are useful idiots, but their actions are causing actual harm, and they help make the class even more dangerous, as it can only exist as a force with them.

Harry Richer's avatar

I also think that "useful idiots" may be too generous, as it diminishes their agency in choosing to live in a fantasy world rather than reality.