Someone asked me recently if I wondered if some members of the town faction would abandon their weakest contentions and arguments in light of public criticism. My reply was that they would not, and I would be surprised if they did. My surprise was met with her surprise: why would they persist, and why would I write if I doubted that they would change? I’ll explain in this post, as I did to her in my recent conversation.
A group, confident in their own sense of entitlement, accustomed to speaking without contradiction, and unaccustomed to explaining their views thoroughly, will not yield to criticism. Their sense of entitlement will, to them, justify their reticence, but in any event if they’re not in the habit of argument, they’ll not easily acquire the practice. Old, bloated, self-important dogs learn no new tricks.
Most of them will persist in their views as long as they can express any views at all.
So why write? Most people write because they believe that what they write is right. There are many people in town who share the views of this website, but they’ve not previously read posts like what I write, since the town faction’s group-think discourages criticism. That group’s one reliable media outlet, the Register, prints little local news, and of that small amount, it prints nothing not agreeable to a lemming’s view of the world. The surest sign that someone’s filled with a sense of entitlement is when he questions whether someone else has a right to criticize. It’s doubly telling – of course you have a right to criticize, and if the best reply someone can make is that you should not criticize, then you know that he has no meaningful, substantive argument to make.
It’s enough to write what you believe. Consider carefully, write forcefully, reflect on replies thoroughly, and defend fundamentals courageously. That’s all there is. All these rest is just an over-analysis. Perhaps, along the way, you’ll bolster those who share your views, and encourage those otherwise uncommitted to the issue to consider the merits of it all.