Moral Narcissism

Rush Limbaugh had another really good point today about "moral narcissism".  I'm going to quote most of this section from his website:

The Left’s Moral Narcissism
May 8, 2020 

RUSH: ... Somebody had a piece yesterday, very extensive piece. ...And he coined a term for this, “moral narcissism.”  ...They are claiming that their intentions make them better people than you. They don’t have to do diddly-squat. They’re just good people. And they are shaming everybody who doesn’t think like they do. And I can give you an example of it... The governor of the state of Washington, Jay Inslee, I’ll give you the classic example of what Simon was talking about.

The piece I was referring to is actually at the website called American Greatness, and it’s a piece by Cindy Simpson, and she is quoting from a book written by Roger Simon. He wrote the book four years ago, in 2016. “I Know Best: How Moral Narcissism Is Destroying Our Republic, If It Hasn’t Already.” This is four years ago now.

She remembered having read it, so she wrote this piece about it, because it applies to the self-righteous people encouraging the shutdown. These are the people that want to tattle on their neighbors for violating social distancing rules and all of that, and here’s Roger Simon’s description of moral narcissism as he writes about it:

“What you believe, or claim to believe or say you believe — not what you do or how you act or what the results of your actions may be — defines you as a person and makes you ‘good.'” I have my own theory. It’s the same thing. I’ve said it in different ways, or a different way than this. Liberalism is the most gutless choice you can make. It doesn’t require any action.

All you have to do is see suffering and point it out and you’re a good person. “Oh, look at those homeless. Oh, that’s so horrible! We need to do something,” and you automatically are a great person because you care, ’cause you have compassion. You haven’t done diddly-squat to help any of the people you’ve just pointed out as suffering.

You don’t have to.

You’re automatically a good person because you noticed it and you pointed it out and you made people think you care about it. But you really don’t, because you don’t do jack, and then when some people come along and actually want to solve a problem, they get ripped to shreds for not caring — exactly what’s happening to Trump and all of us who want to open the economy, who want to open back up, who want to get rid of this idiotic shutdown.

We’re portrayed as the problems. We’re portrayed as people who want to kill people — we’re portrayed as people that don’t care — by a bunch of busybody nobodies not doing anything but pointing how superior they are! “If your intentions are good, if they conform to the general received values of your friends, family…”

In other words: If you can articulate conventional wisdom, and if you can go along with conformity, then everything is fine. You are that good person. “You are ratified. You can do anything you wish. It doesn’t matter in the slightest what” your ideas actually would accomplish, because it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that you have acknowledged that you care, and you are superior because of it.

“It doesn’t matter that [your ideas] misfire completely, cause terror attacks,” prolong a pandemic and make people sicker, cause “riots in the inner city, or national bankruptcy. You will be applauded and approved of,” because you cared. You see, “We’re supposed to think that the continued shutdowns over the coronavirus are good. Those who dare to ask about the science and models behind lockdown orders,” people like you and me who continue to point out “the increasing collateral damage” being done to our country, “or the difference between dying with or dying of the virus…”?

Why, we are judged swiftly, and we are assessed as heartless and cold and cruel and mean-spirited — and we don’t care if people die. All we care about is money and greed and getting the economy up and running! When in truth, it has nothing to do with greed for me. I want the economy up and running because I ...do care about people! Now I see…

...You see, ladies and gentlemen, we are supposed to think that the continued shutdowns over the virus are good.

If you question them, you are bad. You’re heartless. You’re mean! You don’t care if people die. “Do you want more people to die? Is the economy more important to you than people’s lives? Is that what you’re saying? The economy means more to you than whether or not people live or die?” This is how they do it. This is moral narcissism. They’re better people.

They don’t do jack anything. The country couldn’t depend on ’em to survive one day. They’re the pajama-clad bloggers sitting around in their basements of their mother and father’s homes trashing everybody on Twitter and Facebook and wherever else. They’re a bunch of incompetent boobs who couldn’t do anything on their own.

So they sit there in moral judgment of everybody else. They go out there and attack the doers. They attack the fixers. They attack the risk-takers, and they impugn their integrity. “These moral narcissists don’t trouble themselves with facts, such as the reality that everyone dies, eventually, or that even before COVID-19 most people who died were elderly…”

Did you know that? Do you know that the greatest number of people, that most people who die every day are old? That’s a strange thing to try to comprehend, but it actually happens to be true. Have you ever asked yourself why? Most people who die every day happen to be old. What explains this? To many in the American left, it’s a very confusing question. They think there’s gotta be some unfairness in it. There has to be some bias.

There has to be some mean-spirited ’cause it’s not fair that the elderly should be dying more than anybody else. And this is how they look at it. I’ll give you some examples. One of them I just shared with you. Chuck Schumer. Here is moral narcissism on steroids. “President Trump doesn’t care about you.” This is his tweet after the DOJ dropped the Flynn case. “President Trump doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t care about your health. He doesn’t care about your family. He doesn’t care about testing. He just cares that his cronies are taken care of.” He doesn’t care if you die. He just wants to make sure his cronies are taken care of.

Now, to me, that’s libel, slander, actionable. It is the exact opposite. And not just about President Trump. Anybody else who wants to get the American economy going is doing it because they do care you, and they do care about your health, and they do care about your family because they are compassionate people. They care about testing.

Donald Trump is single-handedly fighting forces arrayed against him to make this the worst it can be. And the people who are advocating for no change, a continued shutdown and the harm that it brings, both physically and mentally and psychologically, these are the good people?

Here’s the governor of Washington, Jay Inslee. “At a press briefing Monday afternoon, Inslee was asked about a lawsuit leveled against him by a group of Republican lawmakers. They contend the stay-at-home order is too restrictive and that,” in the state of Washington people can safely and responsibly go back to work in certain parts of the economy.

“Rather than tell us why he thinks public health data makes a stronger case to keep the economy shut down, Inslee attacks his critics as heartless. He argues they want to see people die.”

These Republicans just want to see people die. They just want to see people get killed. Now, this tactic, it’s not just dismissive of the Republicans and the people who want to go back to work. It’s sleazy. Yeah. So reopen the economy during the coronavirus? Why, you’re a monster. So that’s moral narcissism and they’re all over the place. And I’ll guarantee you another ...thing, they’re all Democrats, they’re all liberals, they’re all quasi-socialists and communists to boot.

-- Rush Limbaugh.com, The Left's Moral Narcissism, May 8, 2020

Rush and Roger Simon are exactly right. The Democrats/liberals always act like they're taking the moral high road feigning compassion.  All the while portraying Republicans/conservatives as cold and heartless.  When the complete opposite is true.  Moral narcissism.

Rush Limbaugh used Idiot Inslee as a perfect example of moral narcissism.  The left will never answer legitimate questions.  They will never back up their actions with data or logic.  They can't.  They are too stupid and evil.  All they ever do is attack. That's all they know how to do.  And, unfathomably, people believe them!  The tactic works and the idiot sleaze balls keep getting elected.

Moral narcissism is the classic example of "calling evil good and good evil" (Isaiah 5:20).

That's my two cents.