"Useful idiot" is an interesting term that most young people today have never heard. It is an example of many short, pithy phrases that pack a lot wisdom and expanded meaning to those who are familiar enough with history to understand the the full concept being described.
Sort of like Margaret Thatcher's reported comment:
"The problem with socialism is that you run out of other people's money."
It means a whole lot more than the few word actually say to the cognoscenti, let's call them, who have the historical context, but mean nothing to the historically ignorant. There are a lot of other sayings that are too clever by half. They presuppose the appropriate background knowledge to understand the profundity contained therein.
I think we (traditionalists/conservatives) make an awful lot of assumptions about people to whom we make these statements. Many of them are too young to have had enough time to gather relevant
observations, data points or facts and do not have the analytical tools to come to well reasoned conclusions.
Many others are quite happy living with their simplistic conclusions and are too incurious to seek new data and reexamine their conclusions.
"My mind is made up, don't confuse me with new facts."
If ignorance is bliss, they must be ecstatic. For instance, "useful idiots." Once the old order is overthrown and the new order established, the new order must purge and eliminate them, because they have demonstrated that they are malcontents who are dangerous to the a regime.
Hence. They are useful tools during the revolution, but too foolish to realize their likely fate, once the revolution succeeds. Trotsky, Reign of Terror, Stalin's purges, Mao's Cultural Revolution, etc, etc, etc.
Other than asking the unenlightened to learn new facts and learn to think, then apply those skills to analyze the new facts to reexamine their beliefs and opinions, it may be a fool's errand.
"Using logic in an argument with a leftist is like trying to teach a pig to dance. It frustrates you and irritates the hell out of the pig."
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