Realpolitik - A Cold Realty - That "We" Own

Our government has soiled its hands throughout the world acting informed by the Arab/Chinese proverb:

My enemy's enemy is my friend.

It sounds so cold and calculating to describe that as Realpolitik. But, the reality is that it is a cold-blooded act to get in bed with thieves and killers. And the bad guys our government befriended will one day turn their backs on our government.

And here's the real rub:

I have not created this idea. It is based on the ideas of others, like all revelations. In sports, fans often refer to the success or failures of the teams they support with the pronoun "we." But "we" did not win the game; the players did. The insidiousness of "we" appears in elections. And it shows up wherever someone identifies with a group, even when one doesn't have direct influence on those actions.

But like Lew Rockwell says, "we" reaches its apogee with connections to the state. "We" identify with the state's actions, even though we bear no responsibility for those actions. But what I noticed in recent news conferences by Obama is that the agents of the state say "we" to identify its responsibility for the people. A statist uses "we" not only as a fan of itself, but as a way to disarm the people. "We" take responsibility for you. "We" will act when and where you are not able. "We" absolve your individual responsibility. "We" hold those who oppose the state's will accountable. "We" are the moral center. "We" are the state. You are "we."

But are "we" you? Backward is Forward. "We" are you. "We" flood your identity. "We" calm your dead soul. All choices now reference the center, the state, "we."

Big Brother has nothing on "we." "We" is self identifying, self referencing, big, small, close, far, comforting, powerful, insidious.

Beware when you identify with the state. But be warier when the state identifies with you.