Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Trapped in the bubble


Benedict Brogan writes in his clog, under the title: "David Cameron and his party are on a collision course over Europe".

However, one can only look pityingly upon his effluvia, which contains such gems as: "Conservative MPs rejoice in a leadership team of Mr Cameron, George Osborne and William Hague that is unequivocally sceptical about the EU".

But it cannot be that Brogan is that stupid. If this represented stupidity, the man would be unsafe to let out on his own. What we are dealing with is the bubble effect. Within the putrid environs of the Westminster bubble, inhabited by Brogan and his likes, such a statement looks eminently rational.

The problem with the bubble, though – as we have sometimes observed – is that it imparts on the denizens a sense of rectitude and invincibility. Thus, while by far the majority of Brogan's commenters disagree with him, and many profoundly so, this will not have the slightest impact.

Brogan thus starts off with the premise that he is right. Anyone who disagrees with him – and especially if they are outside the bubble – must, by definition, be wrong. Then the argument become circular. Everyone outside the bubble is "wrong". And all these "wrong" people disagreeing with him simply reinforce his sense of rectitude.

This, once again, reinforces the view that you cannot argue rationally with these people - or at all. The only thing you can do is drag them outside the bubble and deprogramme them. In older times, they were dragged out and killed, but we don't do things that way any more.

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