Week 26, 2020
MONDAY, 22 JUNE 2020
Like selling cigarettes as “sore throat remedies”. Or selling hard sweets as “apples – that’re good for your teeth”. Or selling caffeine pills as “sleeping pills”. Or like the local Mafia who sell themselves as house-sitters. This is the so-called Social Justice Movement that sells itself as the latest incarnation of the Civil Rights Movement of the sixties, and as the leading activists fighting racism.
Think twice before following, “liking” or donating money.
* * *
“But it says ‘Apples!’ on the pack,” the swindler will argue. Or, “Doesn’t this spell out ‘t-h-r-o-a-t m-e-d-i-c-i-n-e’?” the person with the packet of cigarettes in their hand will ask. Or the member of the local Mafia will say, with mock indignation, “But look at my business card – it says ‘House-sitter’!”
Just because a follower says the organisation’s name means they’re “anti-fascist” doesn’t mean they have the faintest clue what fascism means. Chances are also good that they don’t appreciate just how much their actions and weapons and uniform outfits and their tendency to attack single individuals in groups are reminiscent of the storm troops of the real fascists in the 1920s and ’30s.
And just because they claim their attacks on people and their efforts to get them fired, or to destroy their lives in other ways are motivated by antiracism, is not to say they’re making the smallest contribution to the creation of a better world. On the contrary, don’t be surprised if their obsession with race and insistence that everyone be aware of their racial identity lead to more racism in the future.
Look at the results of the action before believing the words on the poster or the T-shirt.
* * *
People you know – friends, acquaintances, old schoolmates – show their support on social media to organisations that endorse certain ideologies. Many – perhaps most – of these people mean well. They may feel guilty about enjoying what they consider to be unearned privileges. They want to show they are not like other white people. They want to signal that they are “good” white people – who want to confess their unconscious racism, in public if possible, and who want to make a financial contribution to black people (whether they are struggling with something or not) or then to the Dominant Organisation of the Day.
People want to be relevant. People want to be on the right side of history. The intention is good. And who has time to research everything they support?
* * *
Read more about the Social Justice movement in Western countries in particular over the past two decades, their storm troops, Antifa, their ideological foundation called Critical Theory, and the latest dominant organisation of the day, Black Lives Matter. If you have the opportunity to talk with believers in the underlying ideology or with followers, ask critical questions to find out more. In particular, ask, “What exactly does ___________ mean?” and “What exactly is your plan with __________?”
A few links to kick off the process:
The BLM Manifesto: What they believe in
The Movement For Black Lives manifesto … And a piece (one of the first to come up in a Google search), written by a black writer, about why he rejects BLM (of course you don’t have to agree with all his sentiments or beliefs).
TUESDAY 23 JUNE 2020
Do people protest, burn down buildings and loot stores when an unarmed white or Asian person is killed by the police? If not, police brutality is not their cause.
Do people protest when thousands of black Americans die violently at the hands of other black Americans? If not, black lives apparently don’t always matter.
Is it systemic racism when racial crimes and oppression happen in cities controlled by black and/or Democratic mayors, black and/or Democratic-majority city councils, black education leaders, and black police chiefs? Is it white supremacy even in these cases?
If wider black representation is their cause, why not celebrate black conservative politicians or conservative black intellectuals? Why is it okay when even a white person of the “correct” ideological persuasion maligns these black conservatives?
If black empowerment is their cause, why not celebrate it when black thinkers, writers, or artists have thoughts that differ from ideology accepted and endorsed by mainstream media and the political establishment in America? Is freedom of speech and thought and belief only the right of white and other Americans, but not of black Americans?
If people are sincere about identifying the causes of black poverty, higher crime rates in black-majority neighbourhoods, and lower than average school results, why dismiss out of hand data that suggest the powerful role lack of fathers play in the lives of especially young men? Why not seriously and objectively look at the effect welfare policies have had on black communities since the 1960s? If people are sincere about solving problems in black communities in America, why not consider all possible causes?
WEDNESDAY, 24 JUNE 2020
How do I know I am not the one sucked into a cult movement? If everyone’s brains see what they want to see, and constantly look for confirmation of what they already believe, how do I know I’m not being led by the nose?
If thinking of myself as Liberal or Progressive (a supporter of the Labour Party in the UK, or a Democrat in America) were a central part of my identity, I would become uncomfortable when I see or hear something from of a conservative that made sense. Cognitive dissonance would kick in. I would probably suddenly become busy with something else in an attempt to forget about it.
If thinking of myself as Conservative (Conservative Party in Britain, and Republican in America) were a central part of my identity, I would become uncomfortable if a member of ANTIFA or BLM, or someone closer to a Centre-Left position said something which made sense, or that sounded logical, or if they quoted statistics that undermined one of my beliefs.
Here’s the thing: Labels like Liberal-Progressive or Conservative aren’t central parts of my identity. That I am a Critical Thinker Who Thinks What I Want is, however, a key part of how I see myself. If BLM or ANTIFA say something that makes sense, my identity is not going to be threatened because I’m apparently swinging more to the conservative side these days. My brain is not going to flash warning lights. I am going to get a reminder from my subconscious that I’m a Critical Thinker who listens to all arguments. So, if I thought something that BLM or ANTIFA says makes sense, it would confirm rather than threaten a central aspect of my identity.
THURSDAY, 25 JUNE 2020
Questions to Black Lives Matter activists:
1. Someone said BLM activists don’t care about facts. If I say they do, am I right?
2. Someone else defended BLM protestors and people looting and burning, saying the end – what they see as racial justice – justify the means. Are there precedents in history where eager revolutionaries claimed the end justified the means, and ended up terrorising the population and killing thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even millions of people? Does even a noble end justify any means?
3. Are there precedents in history where revolutionaries claimed to be fighting for what sounded like noble causes – liberty, equality, fraternity, justice for the landless peasant, fairness for the oppressed proletariat, the unshackling from old oppressive customs – but who ended up mostly monopolising political power, with not much liberty, equality, justice, or fairness for the individual not connected to the new elite?
FRIDAY, 26 JUNE 2020
Reasons I don’t support the organisation called Black Lives Matter, even though I regard myself as an open-minded, tolerant person who does not discriminate against people based on their race:
1. The BLM narrative of widescale repression and deliberate killing of black Americans is not supported by facts.
2. Public displays, including on social media, of submission or loyalty to BLM has been very popular the past few weeks. BLM is a political organisation. Bending the knee, or displaying any other submission to any political organisation, is anathema to me.
3. Constant reminders to black people that they are victims undermine the mental well-being and autonomy of black individuals. Labelling of this kind would harm the members of any group of people who share an immutable characteristic like race or ethnicity, especially young people. I believe this undermining of black people is racist. One must wonder who benefits from this.
4. White liberals can only support this ideology if they discount and marginalise (even malign) the writings and opinions of conservative black intellectuals. I believe it is racist to expect all members of a certain racial group to think alike.
______________________