Oh, we'll keep falling for it, even as we know that it's all complete bullshit. Because NOT falling for it would mean we would have to do something--maybe reform gun laws, or even (horror!) take a long look in the mirror--and we're just too busy right now to do anything more than thoughts and prayers, and maybe adding a Teddy Bear to the memorial pile building up at the site of the next massacre.
No, you see, when a white supremacist goes all in for a mass murder-type killdering, it's really a metaphor for how Liberal America has killed the rights of gun-adled rage-porn junkies who only happen to RW WS types. It's up to every one of us to maintain some sang-froid and think critically about the figurative meanings. The letter killeth and the spirit freeth. This time literally, but don't think about that. Allegorically.
That Bawer rationalization is kind of brilliant if intentional--the killer is just an ecology activist concerned about white people as the threatened occupants of a delicate niche, like human snail darters, so how can you call that racial nationalism? Other than that's exactly what it is, translated into a hipper language?
Naturally Chait and the NYT have the dumbest, most credulous Bothsides takes on the issue. There’s almost no right-wing issue they won’t thoughtfully chin-stroke and issue a pompous Come, Let Us Reason Together about. The fact that there’s still an audience for that transparent bullshit... is there a German word for rage-despair?
America's right wing, while holding most of the meaningful reins of power always feels victimized and martyrs for the freedom they already possess. Because America has a secular Constitution that means Christians are being persecuted while other religions or no religion should be the ones persecuted. For conservatives, generally, life is strictly a zero-sum game. If they don't hold all the power then they are just prisoners of a brutal leftist state. If Christchurch and all the other white supremacists attacks are just jokes then humor is dead. (it's not, of course. It's just that the right has no idea about what true comedy is as opposed to nasty trolling.)
I know that resistance to introspection isn't an exclusively rightwing problem, but the kind of folks Roy writes about seem to have turned it into an art form. The worst part is how effective it is. Just this morning, I overheard my dad echoing Robert Spencer talking points about how society is distracted from the problem of Islamic violence and you get labelled a bigot if you don't want that ideology "living next door." Apparently, it's like when British royals and the New York Times were talking glowingly of the "order" Hitler brought to Germany, except this time the bad ones aren't conveniently concentrated in one country and soon it'll be like Children of Men for real.
I know, from experience, that my father is no bigot. He's just another example of how smooth talkers like Spencer convince people to let their fear take the wheel. Better to save my disgust for the latter, and do whatever I can to keep the ones I love from going even crazier.
I don't really understand the difference between joke and serious here. He is joking about Candace Owens' rightwing nationalism because she's not white? His actions were not jokes, 50 people are dead. I am not laughing. I thought the "shitposting" long read was sort of interesting in that it's a window into the right wing troll factories, where he obviously hung out, but I also think this online stuff is a sort of cult and that it's actions that count, and since he killed 50 people none of it is a joke anymore.
Bawer: "an expression of rage about the steady repopulation of Europe by believers in an alien ideology and practitioners of a radically foreign culture — a legitimate concern"
Not really. Pew Research estimates the Muslim population of Europe to be about 4.9% (2016). That's about the same percentage as the minority population of Vermont. Even in France, where the Muslim population estimate is highest at 8.8%, that's the equivalent minority percentage of North Dakota or Iowa.
These white guys are such fucking pussies.
P.S. If you see those right-wing projections that France will be a majority Muslim country in 40 years, just know they are not only statistically pure bullshit, but they come from a French hedge-fund manager who got his numbers from none other than Mark Steyn.
<i>Also, Bawer said, the killer was an “enviromentalist... and a fierce supporter of trade unions and ‘workers’ rights’ — details that you probably won’t hear much about during the next few days.”</i>
I'll go out on a limb and guess we'd hear more about the shooter's environmentalism if it had motivated him to gun down 50 Exxon vice presidents, wouldn't we. But then, these lunatics never do shoot up the real threats to civilization...
Oh, we'll keep falling for it, even as we know that it's all complete bullshit. Because NOT falling for it would mean we would have to do something--maybe reform gun laws, or even (horror!) take a long look in the mirror--and we're just too busy right now to do anything more than thoughts and prayers, and maybe adding a Teddy Bear to the memorial pile building up at the site of the next massacre.
No, you see, when a white supremacist goes all in for a mass murder-type killdering, it's really a metaphor for how Liberal America has killed the rights of gun-adled rage-porn junkies who only happen to RW WS types. It's up to every one of us to maintain some sang-froid and think critically about the figurative meanings. The letter killeth and the spirit freeth. This time literally, but don't think about that. Allegorically.
That Bawer rationalization is kind of brilliant if intentional--the killer is just an ecology activist concerned about white people as the threatened occupants of a delicate niche, like human snail darters, so how can you call that racial nationalism? Other than that's exactly what it is, translated into a hipper language?
When Your Racist Uncle Becomes President Of The United States, 22,334th In A Series
“Second string Andrew Sullivan.” You really know how to hurt a guy. Take that seat next to Dorothy Parker.
Other than that, everything in this post makes me simultaneously disgusted and enraged with these apologists for hate.
Naturally Chait and the NYT have the dumbest, most credulous Bothsides takes on the issue. There’s almost no right-wing issue they won’t thoughtfully chin-stroke and issue a pompous Come, Let Us Reason Together about. The fact that there’s still an audience for that transparent bullshit... is there a German word for rage-despair?
I can't even.... Is there a way to Flush Limbaugh?
America's right wing, while holding most of the meaningful reins of power always feels victimized and martyrs for the freedom they already possess. Because America has a secular Constitution that means Christians are being persecuted while other religions or no religion should be the ones persecuted. For conservatives, generally, life is strictly a zero-sum game. If they don't hold all the power then they are just prisoners of a brutal leftist state. If Christchurch and all the other white supremacists attacks are just jokes then humor is dead. (it's not, of course. It's just that the right has no idea about what true comedy is as opposed to nasty trolling.)
I know that resistance to introspection isn't an exclusively rightwing problem, but the kind of folks Roy writes about seem to have turned it into an art form. The worst part is how effective it is. Just this morning, I overheard my dad echoing Robert Spencer talking points about how society is distracted from the problem of Islamic violence and you get labelled a bigot if you don't want that ideology "living next door." Apparently, it's like when British royals and the New York Times were talking glowingly of the "order" Hitler brought to Germany, except this time the bad ones aren't conveniently concentrated in one country and soon it'll be like Children of Men for real.
I know, from experience, that my father is no bigot. He's just another example of how smooth talkers like Spencer convince people to let their fear take the wheel. Better to save my disgust for the latter, and do whatever I can to keep the ones I love from going even crazier.
I don't really understand the difference between joke and serious here. He is joking about Candace Owens' rightwing nationalism because she's not white? His actions were not jokes, 50 people are dead. I am not laughing. I thought the "shitposting" long read was sort of interesting in that it's a window into the right wing troll factories, where he obviously hung out, but I also think this online stuff is a sort of cult and that it's actions that count, and since he killed 50 people none of it is a joke anymore.
<i>killing spree was “an expression of rage about the steady repopulation of Europe"</I>
Kinda did it on the wrong continent if that's the case. Too bad the killer didn't leave any kind of MANIFESTO saying why he did it or anything.
BTW, RationalWiki FTW!
Bawer: "an expression of rage about the steady repopulation of Europe by believers in an alien ideology and practitioners of a radically foreign culture — a legitimate concern"
Not really. Pew Research estimates the Muslim population of Europe to be about 4.9% (2016). That's about the same percentage as the minority population of Vermont. Even in France, where the Muslim population estimate is highest at 8.8%, that's the equivalent minority percentage of North Dakota or Iowa.
These white guys are such fucking pussies.
P.S. If you see those right-wing projections that France will be a majority Muslim country in 40 years, just know they are not only statistically pure bullshit, but they come from a French hedge-fund manager who got his numbers from none other than Mark Steyn.
<i>Also, Bawer said, the killer was an “enviromentalist... and a fierce supporter of trade unions and ‘workers’ rights’ — details that you probably won’t hear much about during the next few days.”</i>
I'll go out on a limb and guess we'd hear more about the shooter's environmentalism if it had motivated him to gun down 50 Exxon vice presidents, wouldn't we. But then, these lunatics never do shoot up the real threats to civilization...