A sure-fire test for detecting ideology.

Week 2, Day 3 of Dr. J’s Daily Chats: Toxic Ideologies and how to detect them. What do the Wuhan virus and transgender athletes have in common? Listen in. This is the text of the chat recorded on Wednesday, May 6, 2020. 

Last time, I explained that the Sexual Revolution is a toxic ideology. Today, I want to give a simple test that will protect you against toxic ideologies. I’ll illustrate by looking at something on everyone’s minds right now: the Wuhan virus.

All decent people want to control the spread of the virus. We want to reduce the number of people who become ill. We want those who do become ill to have a better chance of successful treatment and cure. We want to develop more effective treatments and preventive measures.

These are all reasonable goals.

But not everyone is satisfied with modest objectives like these. We sometimes hear calls of a very different sort. We must prevent all new cases. Prevent all deaths. Save everyone who contracts the virus. Even a single death or new case is a public health failure.

Do you see the difference between these two sets of goals?

One set of goals calls for reductions in risks and harms. The other set of goals calls for the complete elimination of risks and harms. One set of goals is attainable. The other is not.

Make no mistake. Do not be misled.

It is completely unreasonable to suppose that we will ever be able to guarantee that there will be no new cases of the Wuhan virus. It is completely unreasonable to suppose that we will get to the point where there will be absolutely no new cases.

This is Utopian thinking. It is toxic ideological thinking, not rational logical thinking. If someone proposes an impossible goal, especially if they claim it is a high moral duty, that is your clue that you are dealing with ideology, not reason.

So, why would someone propose an impossible goal?

To an ordinary person like you or me, it seems absurd to commit yourself to an objective which is intrinsically unattainable. And often, we stop our analysis or critique right there. We think to ourselves, “These people are nuts. This is impossible.” And we dismiss them, thinking the craziness will collapse on itself.

But what seems sure to collapse, never seems to go entirely away. It keep rising from the dead.

You may have other examples in mind of impossible goals that nevertheless don’t go away. The idea that a boy can become a girl, or a girl can become a boy. That’s pretty crazy. People who used to say they were pro-woman for instance, or pro-women in sports, still go along with the crazy idea that boys can become girls.

We think to ourselves, “Letting boys who say they’re girls compete against girls will mean the end of women and girls in sports. What are these people thinking? They are crazy.”

Reducing artificial sexual stereotypes kind of makes sense, in a limited context. But letting everyone decide whether they are male or female is impossible.

The goal of reducing the harm caused by the Wuhan virus is sensible and praiseworthy. But eliminating it entirely? That’s crazy.

We think to ourselves: this cannot stand.

But it does stand. Why is that?

I’ll tell you more about that, next time.

In the meantime, do be aware of this. Even though we obviously cannot catch every criminal, it is quite possible to prosecute some of them. Like Jeffrey Epstein, who did not kill himself.

See you next time.