The Error in Regarding the Man-Made as Immutable

An example of this kind of error is in seen in those "political realists" who assert that we must be "realistic" and not oppose the status quo. "Hey, if you break the law then the cops will beat you--that's reality--there is no point in fighting it." Here, "reality" in the man-made sense is equated with "reality" in the metaphysical sense---the metaphysically given is not open to opposition or alteration, it simply is; the man-made, on the other hand, is open to such opposition and alteration.

In this view, it is "unrealistic" to reject the supernatural if one's ancestors were religious--or to fight for capitalism if big government is the popular trend--or to reject racism when Hitler is in power--or to create representational art when the museums feature only smears--or to uphold principles when the schools turn out only pragmatists. This approach leads to the sanctioning of any status quo, however debased, and thus turns its advocates into pawns and accessories of evil. It makes sacrosanct any human conclusions, even those that contradict metaphysically given facts. The essence of this so-called "realism" is the evasion of reality.^[1]

If it's a waste of time for those rational men to bother changing anyone's minds on rational grounds because people will believe whatever they believe then it is surely just as much of a waste of time for these conflationists to try and convince the rational men to stop.