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A grudging conclusion
Jul. 5th, 2016 09:05 amWhile I don't, personally, have tons of people in my social circle who have horrid ideas, if you expand to friends-of-friends, I encounter a ton of people with horrid ideas on a shockingly frequent basis.
A few weeks ago, I was trying to convince a friend of mine, who is PoC and an academic at one of the most progressive institutions in North America, that he is underestimating the influence and popularity of white supremacy, among other reasons, because he cannot by definition hear what white people say when they talk amongst themselves. I can, and do, and trust me, it's pretty gross. The BLM action on Sunday unleashed a geyser of bile, like a burst pimple, amongst Well Meaning Concerned Straight White Folks Who Are Just Concerned About Sending the Right Message, and I'm still scraping the pus off this morning. The highlight was arguing with a (presumably Jewish, by the name) fellow who posted a Milo Yiannopoulous video about BLM and seemed unaware that he was parroting the beliefs of a misogynistic shitstain who would happily herd him—and me—to the gas chamber and then get in right after us.
It's not far under the surface, festering there. That's why the overt eruptions—PEGIDA, Trump, the alt-right, and so on—are more significant than their actual numbers imply. The vast majority of all humans can't logic worth a damn, and all it takes is the right vile viral idea for them to latch on.
Why the right has been more successful than the left on this is outside the scope of my little rant, but it has been. The fact that it's been able to infiltrate this far into my carefully cultivated echo chamber is proof of just how easy it is to slip into reactionary thinking.
A few weeks ago, I was trying to convince a friend of mine, who is PoC and an academic at one of the most progressive institutions in North America, that he is underestimating the influence and popularity of white supremacy, among other reasons, because he cannot by definition hear what white people say when they talk amongst themselves. I can, and do, and trust me, it's pretty gross. The BLM action on Sunday unleashed a geyser of bile, like a burst pimple, amongst Well Meaning Concerned Straight White Folks Who Are Just Concerned About Sending the Right Message, and I'm still scraping the pus off this morning. The highlight was arguing with a (presumably Jewish, by the name) fellow who posted a Milo Yiannopoulous video about BLM and seemed unaware that he was parroting the beliefs of a misogynistic shitstain who would happily herd him—and me—to the gas chamber and then get in right after us.
It's not far under the surface, festering there. That's why the overt eruptions—PEGIDA, Trump, the alt-right, and so on—are more significant than their actual numbers imply. The vast majority of all humans can't logic worth a damn, and all it takes is the right vile viral idea for them to latch on.
Why the right has been more successful than the left on this is outside the scope of my little rant, but it has been. The fact that it's been able to infiltrate this far into my carefully cultivated echo chamber is proof of just how easy it is to slip into reactionary thinking.
