Arthur Silber on Stockholm Syndrome when the captor is the State.

Most “dissenting” writers exhibit the characteristics of Stockholm Syndrome, even if to a somewhat lesser degree than reflexive supporters of the status quo. Consider the deeply awful Sam Smith article that I analyzed the other day. Smith identifies a number of reasons for his strong criticisms of Obama — and then proceeds to offer transparently unconvincing rationalizations for voting for Obama next year (because, as Smith says, Obama will “do us the least harm,” ignoring that Obama, too, is committed to your complete destruction).

Which is all just a much more concise way of saying that common sense isn’t actually common sense for us plebeians. Which is, I freely grant, just a convoluted and appropriated way of saying “You can’t bring down the master’s house with the master’s tools”.

There is no fixing a system that’s lone function is to oppress by using mechanisms designed by the masters specifically to obfuscate the oppression.

(It’s so clear and simple, I often feel like I’ve been banging my head on a wall to write about it. But then I have to remember that it took me a really fucking long time to see it and that others have probably felt like they had been banging their heads while I rah-rah the voting apparatus. So I owe some people apologies and some people some patience. I’m good at the first and bad at the last).

H/T to Blue Lyon.