Feckless politicians. Media sycophants. Deluded fame whores. Imperious men of the cloth.
These are the members of the incestuous ruling class. They know better than you because they are better than you. You have two options: sit down, shut up and do what you’re told; or, stand for integrity and refuse to accept the whole premise. We chose door number two.
Applied Cynicism exists to shatter the illusions the ruling class substitute for reality. Cynicism is an agent of accountability, the first and last line of defense. Basic honesty on the part of the ruling class would render cynicism obsolete. But integrity is antithetical to their acquisition and maintenance of power. Your allegiance is the one thing without which each of these groups would cease to exist; each faction knows this and each has something to exchange for it. Politicos peddle influence with a side of pork; sensationalist headless talkers present naked opinion as news; celebrities pimp themselves out to ’causes’ and gossip rags of every form; preachers extol the nebulous nostrum of faith.
In an ideal world, politicians lead; media inform; celebrities entertain; preachers inspire — all for the nation’s benefit. But we live in a real world where the tools of discourse are demagoguery and duplicity; where sincerity is faked without irony; where you are expected to embrace the fiction. A world where the ruling class teems with egoists who lack the intellect or integrity to abstain from crushing those in the ‘underclass’ who would experience the liberty that they have ensured for themselves. A world where ’leaders’ don’t lead; they leech. But the fact is, you have the upper hand. There are much more of you than there are of them. Don’t surrender your allegiance unearned.
Cynism lays bare the lies, obfuscations and bureaucratic entanglements that exist to divert your attention from the true motives of those who lust for power.
Here, cynicism is applied directly to the forehead of the overclass. With a sledgehammer.