On Contempt

Contempt is hard to hide.

Shawn is blithely butchering the quote and putting it into Churchill’s mouth to justify the justness of his argument turning the saying into an ideology.

There is a study that shows contempt is a good indication of a doomed relationship.

Pedantry is rarely the cause and often the straw.

I get angry at denied errors in logic. It is a rejection of the rules of debate. So is anger. I have learned to keep my mouth shut, to disqualify myself.

I can remember my lesson as long as the pedant in me is not triggered. I recall the facts to soothe the craving to correct them.

The quote is from Anselme Batbie, a nineteenth century French politician who had seen the end of monarchy, the short-lived Second Republic, and the longer lasting Second Empire. He spoke not of socialists growing up to be capitalists, nor of liberals growing up to be conservatives, nor of revolutionaries growing up to be supporters of the status quo. He used republicans and royalists as the signposts of evolving from a generosity of heart to a soundness of mind.

It was an observation, made in the early days of the Third Republic, meant to explain the evolution of Edmund Burke‘s political views. I can easily imagine it mirroring the changes in Batbie‘s views about each of the changes in the governance of France he lived through.

I have my own apolitical interpretation of the quote, the nugget that makes it so popular; Idealism versus rational beliefs. At twenty the heart rules, at thirty wisdom should be driving.

Shawn is now mindlessly droning about bleeding heart liberals caring more for the criminal’s difficult childhood instead of the victims. He wants to throw away the key. Says it would solve the crime problem.

Another camel, another straw.

Studies show that incarceration doesn’t work as a deterrent; Which makes sense; The punishment is not immediate. Humans are optimistic, quick to believe they will find a way to avoid pain.

My mental digressions have additional qualities: I appear thoughtful, facts are unemotional, and relationships are maintained.

The easiest way to hide contempt is to avoid experiencing it.

Quote of the Day

I am most of all concerned when I hear a man having done a gallant action in the field, is so far puffed up with it that he looks upon himself as a little deity, and that he may, in consideration of having been able to fulfill his duty in one point, dispense with all other obligations.

“I am most of all concerned when I hear a man having done a gallant action in the field, is so far puffed up with it that he looks upon himself as a little deity, and that he may, in consideration of having been able to fulfill his duty in one point, dispense with all other obligations.” — Eliza Haywood, “Effeminacy in the Army Censured,” The Female Spectator