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Catholicism.org > Politics and Society > Culture Wars > New Methods of Modern Oligarchs

New Methods of Modern Oligarchs

by Dr. Robert Hickson September 17, 2012

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The inhuman state we humans are living in at this point of history is getting clearer every day. It gets more and more obvious that the ruling elites are detached from the people they are ruling and that even these elites are ruled by other, mostly financial, elites. The citizens often feel powerless in the face of social, moral, financial and even natural disorder.

Money and Language Manipulation: New Methods of Modern Oligarchs

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apstemp

I’m sorry, but is this just a random essay, or are its themes developed and explored further? It reads as though it is the executive summary of a research paper, but it leaves the reader hanging.
Bonifacius

I have to agree with apstemp — it would probably be better to pull this “article” (it’s just a series of disjointed paragraphs) and have the author re-write it coherently.
John

Bonifacius and apstemp:
I appreciate your candid assessment of Dr. Hickson’s article. I would say though that when Bob speaks or writes he presumes that the listener or reader knows a lot. I had a similar problem many years ago when I first read G. K. Chesterton. While Bob is no Chesterton, like Chesterton, he moves very quickly, revisiting a set of related facts in order to strengthen or emphasize a particular point possibly overlooked previously. He does not take the time or trouble to rebuild the entire “set” of the intellectual “scene” he is thus revisiting. If he did so the work would be far too voluminous.
A background in Philosophia Perennis (all 7 disciplines), a knowledge of the specific enemies of Holy Mother Church, a knowledge of the specific plan of said enemies, as well as the ultimate goal of said enemies are almost all necessary prerequisites for appreciating a talk or an essay authored by Dr. Hickson.
In his defense I would say that Bob is a a little bit like St. John the Evangelist in his Gospel. St. John the Evangelist presumes you have read the other three Gospels and only revisits the scene to insert or emphasize a detail.
Additionally, I would say that the body of well meaning Catholics today can be divided into two groups: The first group wants to preserve and restore all good things. This is praiseworthy and deserves the cooperation of every Catholic. But it is incomplete. The second group (much smaller) realizes that we were born into a fight; The most intense war on God that the earth has ever seen, and fight we must. To fight an enemy you must come to know him, his methods, his goal. (as in ultimate goal) You must appreciate any and all who assist you in furthering your knowledge in such a way as to become a more competent soldier. Dr. Hickson does precisely that.
GeneDe

Well stated. I know Dr. Hickson personally and correspond with him fairly often. I have learned a great deal…
Dan

I will never forget some words of wisdom i was privileged to hear from the lips of the late Brother Francis many years ago. He said that when writing or speaking about crucial issues it is important to have a grasp of both the science and the art. He meant, of course, that knowing what you are talking about is extremely important, but expressing it in a way that people will understand it is equally important. Knowing your subject is the science; writing or talking about it is the art. If one is lacking in either department, the ideas will not be properly conveyed to the listener/reader.
In my inadequate way I have always tried to follow that advice.
Bonifacius

“A background in Philosophia Perennis (all 7 disciplines), a knowledge of the specific enemies of Holy Mother Church, a knowledge of the specific plan of said enemies, as well as the ultimate goal of said enemies are almost all necessary prerequisites for appreciating a talk or an essay authored by Dr. Hickson.”
Thank you, John, for coming to Dr. Hickson’s defense. I have read a great many of his articles over the years. I am in fact quite familiar with almost all of the issues he mentions. In other words, I know the set. I can understand how there might be circumstances in which and audiences for which such writing might be suited. However, I rather doubt that such a presentation should be widely disseminated then on the Internet. It just seems that we have here various un-sourced assertions, some of which have been better documented elsewhere, some not so (*all* major leaders of the Enlightenment were Freemasons? was Descartes a Freemason? such blanket statements are refuted too easily).

Upon a second reading, it is clearer to me what Dr. Hickson’s structure here is. It really is more like the sort of talk you mention, John, where you have a willing audience in mind, one that isn’t going to gainsay you. I see it. I will say that it isn’t the normal way of presenting such claims in, let’s say, an historical essay or an argumentative ones (and Dr. Hickson writes in those styles in other articles). In those contexts, the ones against I was judging this work, beginning three paragraphs in a row with vague, passive claims like, “It has become clear that X and Y are the case,” and then not providing sources for the more specific claims would be absolutely forbidden. But if it’s more like a colloquial talk, I can see how the more general claims work.

That’s not to say that it’s necessarily the best piece of writing to publish for an unwitting audience, such as when a casual reader on the Internet with no knowledge of these claims comes upon it. What I mean is that such talks are generally “tidied up” with footnotes and published with the disclaimer, “This is not presented as a rigorous argument; it’s more a series of observations tied together.” That way the reader does not enter the piece with the wrong expectations in place. That said, I pull my earlier criticism that the work was incoherent. Coherent, yes, but perhaps missing some helpful contextualizing notes.
Bonifacius

And I was even going to delete my comment about it being best not to publish it on the Internet, but then my computer got the better of me and wouldn’t let me edit any further.
Bonifacius

I would add that the title is rather misleading, however; it misled me, anyway. One imagines an entire essay specifically dealing with the manipulation of language by financial interests, but that is not so much the point, is it? It is more along the lines of, “Modern Isolation: Oligarchic Interests vs. Catholic Living.”
Bonifacius

As I look over all the words I’ve spilled here over the past week, I wish I hadn’t written any of them except my suggestion that the talk be given a new title. In light of what John wrote below, I see what Dr. Hickson was striving at and why he wrote how he did. I shut my mouth. My sincerest apologies, and appreciation, to Dr. Hickson.
John

I am in full agreement with you. Always remember how valuable honest forthright criticism can be in the end. I refer to your very first statements about the article which brought about an attempt on my part to explain. It has been good for everyone. I believe you have hit the nail on the head with the above assessment together with the solutions offered. Anyone reading your present post is sure to get far more out of the article.

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