GATEKEEPERS AND FREEDOM OF INQUIRY: From Plato's day democracy has had to defend itself against advocates of the rule of experts: wise men who substitute cool science for the rabble's howling desires. A number of problems arise from this proposition, the most important being: no such men exist today, or have existed in the past, or will ever exist. Facts and feelings mix in the breast of the exalted gatekeeper, as they do in the breast of his accountant, grocer, and garbage collector. Give the gatekeeper the power of the state, and honest folk who disagree, rather than argued with, will be repressed.
Sophistpundit has a magnificent rant on the subject, inspired by the latest IPCC report on global warming -- or, as we now hedge it, "climate change." I have said all I have to say on this particular subject -- in fact, more than once -- but Sophistpundit has dug deep into the method of this madness, and his post should be read top to bottom. I particularly enjoyed the Metternich quote.
9:36:16 PM 
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