The 7 deadly sins Pride: Intellectuals, communism and Jafar

I'm smart. I've learned and read many things. But there is one lesson that was harder to learn than any other... that I'm not nearly as smart as I thought I was. I was never christian or religious and I doubt I'll ever be. But there is wisdom in the Christian tradition and I've learned something from it that I'd like to share with you. This blog is about pride. Perhaps I'll do the other 6 deadly sins later.

Long ago I heard semi famous youtube atheist Aron Ra very convincingly argue that pride isn't bad. He made great points related to having dignity as opposed to grovelling before a priest. And obviously having warm fussy feelings when you accomplish something isn't that bad.

But intellectuals in the west seem to be going mad. And my atheistic skepticism made me resistant to social justice which eventually lead me to Jordan Peterson and reading The Gulag Archipelago.

2 things stand out when studying the origins of communism. The first is that it's always self described intellectuals behind this genocidal garbage never the working class itself. The second is that there are a lot of Jews involved. Regardless of your opinion on the JQ, understanding that Jews were blamed for communism is crucial to understanding what happened to them in Nazi Germany. But this blog is about the first, it's about hubris.

Many intellectuals have reasoned themselves out of believing in God. And far to many of those feel the need to take his place. It makes sense from their perspective. Without god the divine right of kings falls apart. Without god there is no second coming to right the worlds wrongs. Without God man is the most god like creature. And who is more god like than those that create all those miraculous technologies? Now that is PRIDE.

So they took it upon themselves to govern and fix the world. Full of OVER confidence in their own ability to micromanage EVERYTHING. 

But the intellectual approach doesn't work on societies. Calculating a bridge for example is not simple but it's doable. You get the data, look up some formula's and do some math. Within tolerances the beams can be presumed to be pure steel and the builders follow orders pretty well. The bridge doesn't have free will or dreams. But people are infinitely complex. Our needs, our wants, our preferences, our strengths and weaknesses. All this on a societal level can not be managed top down by mere mortals. 

Worse in trying you have to become very authoritarian.

There is an archetype is stories warning about this. The treacherous vizier or as you know him Jafar.

I'm assuming you've seen the (original) Disney movie. But did you ever see it from the perspective of Jafar ? The Sultan is an idiot who goofs off with toys while his country has crime and poverty abound. Jasmine is a spoiled thot. The way she treats her suitors (who are foreign princes) is likely to start a war and her refusal to marry and continue the royal line will probably lead to civil war.

It's no wonder he wants to seize power! He's certainly the most intelligent man around. But he's not a leader, he's not brave and he's not virtuous. When he gets the lamp he uses it only to gain more power he feels proudly entitled to. But he gets tricked by Aladdin who preys on his pride by pointing out genie is more powerful, Jafar forgets that the laws of magic still apply and ens up stuck in a lamp.