rumitoid

In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato distinguishes between people who mistake sensory knowledge for the t***h and people who really do see the t***h. It goes like this:

The Cave

Imagine a cave, in which there are three prisoners. The prisoners are tied to some rocks, their arms and legs are bound and their head is tied so that they cannot look at anything but the stonewall in front of them. Right Wing Partisans.
These prisoners have been here since birth and have never seen outside of the cave.
Behind the prisoners is a fire, and between them is a raised walkway.
People outside the cave walk along this walkway carrying things on their head including; animals, plants, wood and stone.

The Shadows

So, imagine that you are one of the prisoners. You cannot look at anything behind or to the side of you – you must look at the wall in front of you. That is what your party dictates.
When people walk along the walkway, you can see shadows of the objects they are carrying cast on to the wall.
If you had never seen the real objects ever before, you would believe that the shadows of objects were ‘real.’

The Game

Plato suggests that the prisoners would begin a ‘game’ of guessing which shadow would appear next.
If one of the prisoners were to correctly guess, the others would praise him as clever and say that he were a master of nature.

The Escape

One of the prisoners then escapes from their bindings and leaves the cave.
He is shocked at the world he discovers outside the cave and does not believe it can be real. Can Liberals exist?
As he becomes used to his new surroundings, he realizes that his former view of reality was wrong. Not really wrong but so limited as to be unable to make a t***hful assessment of anything.
He begins to understand his new world, and sees that the Sun is the source of life and goes on an intellectual journey where he discovers beauty and meaning.
He see’s that his former life, and the guessing game they played is useless.

The Return

The prisoner returns to the cave, to inform the other prisoners of his findings.
They do not believe him and threaten to k**l him if he tries to set them free.

And there you have the vision of the Right here and elsewhere.

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

Is it not q***r that the "escaped" prisoner returned to the cave? Sounds like when people leave OPP and within a short time returns.

rumitoid

No, not q***r, compassionate. He thought he could help them escape their false reality. This would not work with OPP.

Rose42

Not prescient but myopic with delusions of grandeur. Today’s brand of liberalism is amoral and wants all to be s***es of government. Compassion is a facade which most don’t look past

son of witless

So you have 3 prisoners. You are saying that only the Liberal was smart enough to escape from the cave, while the Libertarian and the Conservative were unable to escape ? Okay, well when the Liberal escaped his bindings, why didn't he release the other two at that time ? He only thought of himself, the Bastard. No wonder the other two wanted nothing to do with him, when he came back into the cave.

proud republican Loc: RED CALIFORNIA

Iliamna1

What claptrap. You could insert the 'liberal' or 'lefty' and come to the same conclusion.

rumitoid

The story of The Cave is not "myopic with delusions of grandeur," though I like that mix of thought. Compassion is a facade? What have we come to? I do not and know of no one that leans to the Left that "wants all to be s***es of government." Absurd and a cheap comment. Propaganda BS. Not very becoming of you, Rose. Just stick to honest dialogue and not alt-right base insult.

Rose42

LOL!!!

rumitoid

No, I am not saying that. It is not about parties. It is about getting the eyes to see. This is true for the Right and Left.

rumitoid

If he had only thought of himself, he would not have returned to the other two to tell them the t***h.

son of witless

You took a classical story and plugged in the people you do not like. No explanation of how the right are the people still in the cave who do not want to accept the t***h. That is pretty thin.

Why don't you expand the story and show us how and why it all fits ? I like a good story. Go for it.

Rose42

You can spin your story any way you want. The selfish guy was all for himself and left them there. We can logically deduce he wasn’t a Christian because of his lack of compassion.

Edited to add - I’m just having fun with it.

rumitoid

Okay, MAGA hats. You have to be blind or diminished in some way to wear one. Only the unreality of a Cave-like view of the world could account for such a sad statement. You do not and maybe can't get it. The reality of Trump's undermining our vital institutions, the Constitution, our image as a nation, the office he holds, and American ideals is so clear and unmistakable there should be no need to mention it. It is just crazy not to see it.

redpill Loc: Oregon - not PDX

Just talking points. I counter every one of them and challenge you to support your accusations. Vital Institutions?: Name them. The Constitution? really?: How? Image as a Nation? Again REALLY?: What talking heads are you listening to? The Office: let me guess on this one, you don't like his tweets? Explain. American Ideals: Picking and choosing are we?: List the ones you think he is undermining. Hope it is not the Rule of Law or Freedom of Speech. What are the ones you are thinking of? And it is just crazy to spew hatred. Discussions are great. Rhetoric is not.