Ironic, isn't it, how just at the same time we are being threatened by god-intoxicated theological fascists from around the globe, we are facing the same threat here at home, in the figure of George Bush?
Yesterday on dailykos (I believe the most popular Democratic website), there was a piece entitled Slouching Toward Kristallnacht, outlining all of the eery parallels between pre-nazi Germany and contemporary America. For the hundreds of frightened posters that commented on the article, it is not a matter of if, but when Bush suspends the charade of democracy and imposes a fascist state on us. As Kos himself wrote, "It won't come in the same form. It never does. But it's coming. The lure of fascism is too powerful for men like the ones currently pissing all over our Constitution."
By the phrase "pissing all over our constitution," I believe Kos is referring to Bush's inordinate interest in listening to telephone conversations of his fellow fascists who wish to impose a different theology than he does. Whatever. They're both motivated by the "lure of fascism."
Since the Jews are in on it this time, Kos concedes that Bush's targets for genocide "Probably won't be the Jews." Instead, "Maybe Arabs. Maybe gays. Maybe 'libruls.' Who the fuck knows?"
Yes, who the fuck knows? Kos doesn't have a krystallnacht ball. What do you want, names and addresses? As another wag put it a couple thousand years ago, "Of that day and hour no one knows, no, not even the angels of heaven."
Kos knows only this: "It almost certainly won't be recognisable to most people until it's far too late."
Actually, it's the other way around. Once you start harboring persecutory delusions, it's too late. There's not much that psychology or even psychopharmacology can do for you. First of all, such individuals rarely seek treatment for their paranoia, because they don't know they are paranoid. Nor is there any medication for a fixed Delusional Disorder, especially a collectively held one that is reinforced by all of the members of the paranoid group. Here are just a few of some 450 comments I harvested off the top:
"Yes, we saw a documentary last week on the Holocast and how it began -- its all true and its all happening again."
"Us non-heterosexuals have been the canary in the coal mine... and we have been singing for DECADES about what is coming down the road for us all.... Just as the communists, the socialists, the jews were all picked off one by one, we all get in the cross hairs eventually unless we stand together when the first are in that spot."
"We are not at the beginning. We have walked well down the fascist road. In my case, I woke with this rhetorical question: what is a Holocaust Denier? To my mind, the most dangerous of Holocaust Deniers are those who embrace the uniqueness of Auschwitz, who privilege the particularities of the past and all the shopworn realities of 1930s Germany and who wilfully deny its resonance to what is happening now."
"The capacity for evil must exist before the evil is done. Before there are gulags and death camps, the apparatus that sustains them must exist. We are worried because the apparatus is forming: a government that considers itself beyond the rule of law. This is not about the evils already committed, it is about the evils that may be committed in the future if the apparatus is allowed to grow unchecked. We won't know until it happens that Bush is planning a 'final solution' of his own -- and though I personally suspect he is (im)morally capable of it, I really, really would rather not find out." [Finally, a moderate and slightly skeptical view!]
"The Patriot Act is intentionally destined to fail so that when the Globalists carry out a terror attack they can blame 'civil liberties advocates' for preventing them from keeping the general public safe and then reject out of hand criticism of all future police state legislation that they pass."
"Who else thinks September 11, 2001, was our Burning of the Reichstag? The historical parallels are obvious."
"This is where we're heading, folks. If the legislative or judicial branch does nothing, we are, for all intents and purposes living in a nightmarish version of Nazi America. And given the bullshitstorm that place has become, I think I'll be looking up the location of local gun ranges and trainers in the next two weeks along with going out to shop for a gun. I can't believe America has gotten to this point and my reaction to this new reality can be summed up in one word: Fuck."
"I'm extremely alarmed by the hate coming from FOX News. The whole 'war on Christmas' is coded anti-semitism. There is a history in this country of tying the 'war on Christmas' to the 'international Jew threat.'"
"Many conservatives will indeed start making physical threats when arguing with someone who disagrees with them, and many are happy to act on those urges. They treat their spouses and kids the same way and are too immature to see other adult strangers as any different."
*******
Isn't it odd that these lost souls are deathly frightened of you and me and President Bush, whereas I am afraid of their thoughts. Specifically, it is very unsettling that these people believe things about us that are not only untrue, but cannot possibly be true. They are afraid of a fantasized version of reality, while I am afraid of their seemingly boundless capacity to fantasize and to inhabit their malicious fantasies.
The purpose of language is to communicate about reality. But what if it is not communicating reality, but fantasy? Somehow, these people are "successful" in communicating to one another (they all know exactly what the others are talking about, while you or I would say, "wwwhhhhaaaat?), and are even emotionally "nourished" by the communication. It is a relief to them that others share the same fantasy--it satisfies them, fills some kind of need. But it is not a need for truth. It's like an anxious group of primitives who invent a spurious cure for a disease they don't understand.
Without historical perspective, anthropological knowledge, and psychological insight and maturity, one's present being will simply rush in to fill in all of the gaps in one's psyche. This is how primitives remain primitive--they are trapped in the now, with no accurate knowledge or history. Now, with the rise of the internet, perhaps more than ever before, we have micro-cultures, or "psychoclasses" that can become echo chambers for its anxious, frightened, paranoid, and even borderline psychotic members.
We must always remember, that culture is man's adaptation to his humanity, to having a mind. The reason why cultures can appear so strange and dysfunctional is that, more often than not, they are an adaptation to the inner world, not to objective reality. The sort of tribalism of dailykos consists of omnipotent and deified knowledge that spuriously succeeds in blotting out ignorance. But only by "unknowing" their delusional knowledge can they begin to know reality. This is notoriously difficult to achieve in groups immersed in a paranoid world view. For they are not the victims of mere ignorance, but a motivated stupidity. In this way they are comparable to Islamists and nazis, in the sense that they are drowning in an invincibly dysfunctional worldview. We can only hope they don't act on it.
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9 comments:
I think the last person you quoted may be partially correct, but he leaves out the real heart of the matter.
When organized protestors chant divisive slogans outside of a military hospital in which those who were seriously injured in Iraq are now being treated;
when supposedly "well-meaning" activists not only spout casualty figures but proceed to hijack the names of our dead servicemen without the blessing or even knowlege of that soldier's family;
when these self-appointed saviours spout all manner of profane invective against our country and our leaders with no care as to the ages or sentiments of anyone who is within earshot;
and when any attempt to dispute their howling is met with spittle-in-your-face, frothing name-calling, and at-all-costs measures to silence your own right to speak your own mind (whew!),
THEN I imagine many normal, usually self-controlled citizens might react physically. And yet, when we let our guard down and stoop to their level, we're the ones who have become "barbarians and fascists."
- they simply don't have a clue what would really happen if things were truly settled on the street as some claim is happening - it is hard work for mainstream Dems to disconnect from their rabid base and that is a distinct political advantage to the other side. Sheesh! as if the rabid left needed a butt-whuppin on the street - they hang themselves every time in the political arena with their own rope.
Since I quoted you heavily in it, I'm curious as to your reaction to this post. Especially as it is in relation to a growing mass movement here.
My email address is gunrights-at-comcast-dot-net.
What will happen to these individuals when Bush leaves the white house? I fear that when they lose their focus for hate, they will start acting on their paranoia. This may result in more than a few wackos hurting others. I especially fear this when another Republican president is elected. I am amazed that the connection between getting out to vote, and who is elected has not entered their minds.
Anonymous . . .
I wonder, too. Only 750 days or so from now we'll be seeing a new President sworn in. God willing.
That's not far away.
I've been lately engaged in a civil correspondence with a "moderate left" friend who is beginning to question all things Left. Beginning to worry about left-wing thought process. I pointed out to him that terrorism/Islamofascism did not begin with George Bush, and will be with us well after Bush has left office.
The light dawned.
oops, my bad. More days than that. Nevertheless. It'll be here before we know it.
Gag Bob:
"But what if it is not communicating reality, but fantasy?"
Isn't the very essence of a political party often the selling of a particular Utopian fantasy?
I don't see that this feature of the Left is all that surprising.
The aim of politics could be well described as turning fantasy into reality
(Visualize Whirled Peas)
I reckon, though, that THEIR particular wished-for Utopia,(if they could even articulate it in any cogent form), would be pretty horrific.
Regards;
If the world they thought existed, in fact existed, they would not exist. Witness: Tim Robbins, using the public microphone of celebrity to gravely inform us that "a chill wind of censorship is blowing in America," and yet continuing to walk around, un-arrested. Along with Moore, Sheehan, etc.
Paranoids have an uncanny ability to make their fears come true. As in d. vision's comment, their actions tend to be self-fulfilling -- not for any large group of people, but for themselves personally.
There is projection here, of course -- believing that what they themselves would do if they had the power is what the Republican bare majority is in fact attempting to do.
These folks need to sit down and have a serious conversation with the people of Eastern Europe.
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