this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2025
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GenZedong
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It really comes down to people's perceptions of systems in some cases. SK is a good example, right? They are a "liberal democracy" and if you've not lost faith in liberal democracy yet, then, you'll likely look at the history of South Korea and think "This was necessary to stop Communism from taking over all of Korea, and eventually build liberal democracy". You'll look at current history, and the attempt at martial law, and the eventual impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol as evidence that those hard times in SK's past really did ensure democracy won in the end. It's a similar line of thinking, although not one rooted in materialism, as Parenti's ideas about "Capitalist Encirclement". If we were to "secularize" his thinking, it would be, "States of all stripes will engage in authoritative measures to preserve and maintain the ideological core of the state".
Liberals can accept historical examples of "authoritarianism" if A) they believe those measures were preserving or installing "Liberal Democracy" and B) If that history created a state they recognize as a "Liberal Democracy". In the same way that "communists" (to paint with a broad brush) will accept historical examples of "authoritarianism" as preserving or installing "socialism". Obviously, the big difference here is how one arrives at either conclusion.
Basically, what Mark Twain is describing is the process of "Deprogramming", or the process of a true shift in his underlying world view, which he views and interprets reality through. This process isn't the culmination of "knowing a bunch of facts about history" as you point out. It is the ability to look at history, from a different perspective, from which new questions and understandings are drawn into "focus".
I believe that, for most people, they do not have a concrete "world view", or they do not understand this concept of "world view" and are not cognitive of its impacts on how they interoperate the world. Getting at the heart of "why" they believe what they believe, instead of getting mired in the mud of debunking or fact checking what they believe, is probably a better path to walk in these situations. The goal should be to draw the topic into focus, or to help them see it through a new lens.
And I say all this knowing that I'm not good at it, and if anything this is just a good reminder to myself (and others) to not get stuck in the mud.