cant: hypocritical and sanctimonious talk, typically of a moral, religious, or political nature.
synonyms: hypocrisy, sanctimoniousness, sanctimony, pietism "political cant"
“The cant is everywhere--- on television, on the radio, in newspapers and magazines, on billboards, in advertisements of all kinds, in the doctor’s office, in your school (very little else is in your school), in many a pulpit (alas), and on the lips of almost everybody you will meet…You have to be educated into cant; it is a kind of stupidity that surpasses the capacity of unaided Nature to confer…When you find a canting politician or journalist or commentator on television, turn off the sound and supply the words. There is no mind there, only a predictable drone of empty words where a mind used to be.”
– Anthony Esolen (“Out of the Ashes”)
* * *
Pastel Groupthink….Butterflies!
It’s the New Age droning gospel,
It’s the cant …thy can’t deny!
Feel good, therapeutic tonic…
Pastel Groupthink…Butterflies!
When you hear it, run for cover.
(It’s that background droning noise.)
It’s the latest , greatest fashion.
Poison gaslight from the Void.
It’s the Elevator Muzak,
It’s that Monolithic Hum.
It’s the Sound Byte we’ve all swallowed
Psycho-Babel for the Numb.
From the Ultra-Educated,
It’s the mindless cant they bray…
It’s the up-to-date-ish prattle.
It’s the catch phrase of the day.
It’s the substitute for substance,
Sugar-coated food for thought
From our moral vacuum “Safe Place”,
Western Culture come to naught.
* * *
“Here is a quick and generally reliable rule to follow. If people have always said it, it is probably true; it is the distilled wisdom of the ages. If people have not always said it, but everybody is saying it now, it is probably a lie; it is the concentrated madness of the moment.”
– Anthony Esolen
