Wednesday, July 01, 2020

The Alliance of People of Color & Karens of Pallor

Every morning I receive an email briefing from the NY Times. It informs me of their ludicrously tendentious distortion of the news of the day -- AKA the Narrative -- which the Times both defines and enforces for the sake of rest of the mimetic journalistic hacks of the left.

Today's briefing speaks perfectly to yesterday's point about the nature of personhood: henceforth the Times will capitalize "Black" on the unapologetically racist presumption that such persons share an identity. Conversely, "white" shall not be capitalized, since whites don't necessarily have anything in common.

In short, Blacks are subsumed into a racial category, thus effacing their individual identity: race first, person second, if at all. Stereotype for thee, uniqueness for me. Assuming that Karens of Pallor came up with this policy, which probably isn't the case.

Rather, the black Timesmen no doubt insist on being reduced to a racial category because of the obvious privileges attached to the designation. One assumes that most of them could not be hired on the basis of journalistic or intellectual merit (Charles Blow?). But then none of the white journalists are, either (Thomas Friedman?). On what basis are the latter hired, anyway? It's not race and it's not merit. Nor can it be privilege, or half of them would be white conservatives.

Speaking of which, it's also odd that they choose not to capitalize "white" in light to the incessant reference to "white privilege." If whites share no common history or identity, how can they share the attribute of privilege?

These are all reasonable questions, and we all know it is wholly unreasonable to expect reasonable answers from the left. You get the point. In the ideological vehicle, the car always drives the man, so it's pointless to ask the man where he's going. Let's move on.

Interestingly, there's a kind of ontological Dunning-Krugery going on here, in that people who are still subsumed in a tribal identity cannot know about individual identity, any more than people inhabiting Flatland can know anything about the sphere. Children don't understand adulthood until they become adults. Barbarians don't know anything about civilization except how to destroy it. Likewise Antifa and BLM mobs.

Yesterday I was rereading a collection of essays by Voegelin. In the introduction, Sandoz makes the point that

The man who plays his role in existence in cooperation with God is the true man, and all humans are called by natural inclination [↑] as well as the pull of divine Being [↓] to be true men. In short, true human existence is self-consciously lived in collaborative partnership by every man in his own unique measure with God.

Anything that interferes with this process -- including ideology -- renders us less than the true men we are intended to be. To reduce oneself to a racial category or tribal identity is the quintessence of ontological derailment into a nebulous world of non-being.

And here is the subtle point: this derailment into an ontological netherworld will necessarily result in feelings of estrangement and alienation.

This alienation can be symbolized in terms of race, but the left, via identity politics, provides a whole menu of identities from which to choose: gender, sexual preference, religion (so long as it's an anti-American one), et al. It doesn't matter which group identity one chooses, so long as one subsumes one's actual identity into it, and then uses it to symbolize the very alienation produced by being a self-styled victim.

Of course they are victims. And deciding to identify as a victim gives them the added pleasure of participating in their own subjection. The imaginary victimizer is but the projected image they conceal in themselves. The bully is real, they just pretend they aren't it. This is a key dynamic, and you see it all day long in academia, journalism, and unsupervised playgrounds.

The superimposition of ideology over reality results in the destruction of whole realms of knowledge -- whole academic departments. At the same time, it paradoxically results in new departments of "false knowledge" such as feminism, queer studies, critical race theory, and all the rest, all dedicated to the systematic pursuit and construction of systems of non-knowledge, AKA credentialed stupidity.

Ultimately this pneumo-cognitive rebellion and regression "obscures the reality of man" and "destroys the sciences of man." There is a loss of "insights into the nature of reality," or maybe you haven't recently attended college.

But if you have, then you know the elaborate indoctrination "is not education to openness of the spirit; it is rather, a work of closure against the spirit." It "seals off its victims"

against the life of spirit; it successfully maintains its estrangement in a position of social dominance; and hinders the public of the spirit from establishing itself in the society at large.

Yes, "the public of the spirit" is the silent majority, and the only thing standing between us and the regressive social and political dominance of illiterate and destructive crybullies is President Trump.

20 comments:

julie said...

In short, Blacks are subsumed into a racial category, thus effacing their individual identity: race first, person second, if at all. Stereotype for thee, uniqueness for me.

Ironically, the supposed "honorific" they bestow in capitalizing "Black" is in reality another link in the chain keeping them on the left's plantation. They reserve the right to bestow Blackness, and also the right to take it away as when Biden declared, "...you ain't Black!" There was another video I saw recently, where a black man was waiting in line for the Trump rally wearing MAGA gear, and a car drove up. The driver started taking the man to task for supporting Trump while black. And this is nothing new; I'll never forget my mom's shock upon learning that her aunt (a black woman in Michigan) listened to Rush Limbaugh back in the 90s. "But he's a racist! How can you listen to him?!" If you entertain the wrong ideas, comrade, you ain't Black.

Conversely, the left reserves the authority to confer Blackness to whites, too. Remember Clinton, the first black president? Or Shaun King, aka Talcum X, who apparently gets a pass for his lack of pigment due to his excess of wokeness. They hand it out like an honorary degree.

Gagdad Bob said...

The only solution is to completely ignore it. If one ethnic group or another is overrepresented in some category, be it the NBA, math, crime, jazz, physics, dry cleaning, beer brewing, whatever, so be it. It's none of our business.

Anonymous said...

Meh. Being hired because you know all the right people is as pervasive and wrong as is being hired to meet some racial quota. Either situation is a poke in the eye of capitalistic meritocracy.

Ideally then, companies hiring all the wrong people will always fail against the more meritocratic competition. But the leadership doesn't care, as long as there are short term solutions available to the golden parachute, long term effects for his company be damned.

There are blogs devoted to sociopathic success in corporate America. But this isn't one of them.

So we try mandates hoping to encourage cultural revision back to a true meritocracy. I think that would be called statism.

Yet no matter how hard we try, we all still wind up with having to deal with the citizenry we have and not the citizenry we wish we had.

julie said...

@ Bob - Yep.

There is a loss of "insights into the nature of reality," or maybe you haven't recently attended college.

But if you have, then you know the elaborate indoctrination "is not education to openness of the spirit; it is rather, a work of closure against the spirit."


Oof. Just this morning, I encountered a smug statement shared by a college student I know: "My favorite thing ever is when people say that college brainwashes you into being a liberal. It's almost as if...education...gives you a perspective that you otherwise wouldn't have...and teaches you to think in different ways...and see things from other people's shoes???"

Not a thing to be done with that level of self-satisfied smugness. It's fair to say that more than 50% of college students feel this wise, and certainly something like 90% of their professors.

Tangentially, I read this week that among teenage girls who believe they are really boys, the time spent on lockdown and away from school indoctrination and poisonous friends has helped a large percentage of them (7 out of 9 trans students, at one school) come to terms with and accept their femininity, so they no longer believe themselves to actually be boys. With that in mind, there's an American pediatric association that has been calling for children to go back to school this fall, for their health and well-being. Considering what "education" entails these days, it's probably safer for everyone if the schools remain closed.

Gagdad Bob said...

The whole gender confusion pathology is just another way to symbolize and articulate much deeper problems. Which is why the unhappiness persists.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous wrote:
"Yet no matter how hard we try, we all still wind up with having to deal with the citizenry we have and not the citizenry we wish we had."

There you go Bob. Reflect on that long time.

And here's another thing: A college education is still a great accomplishment. People are learning and growing in our colleges and universities. The faculty are dedicated and do a great job.

Bob hasn't set a foot on a college campus in what, three decades? That won't stop him from describing how awful they are today. A reliable source he is. Not.

Bob states tenured faculty members are deluded and dangerous. How many tenured faculty members does he personally know? Zero? How many did he every know? 1.5? of which 1 of those was family? Naw, he has no bone to pick. Nothing personal going on there.

When did Bob last attend a lecture from a tenured faculty member? Since time out of mind? Since before microwave ovens were sold in stores?

Be wise, make Bob your go-to source for reliable information on college educations.

Gagdad Bob said...

Finally, after 14 years, a female troll.

Krabapple said...

Ha!

julie said...

Apropos, via Vanderleun:

These ravens repeat empty-headed slogans, and screech about oppression from their perches of privilege down to working-class cops, many black or hispanic, and other ordinary folk who seek to go to work to feed their families. Indeed, the majority of those squawking about white racism and tearing down "white privilege" and "supremacy," and feigning offense over statues, road names, and Aunt Jemima syrup labels are, well-off white kids--most notably white women full of inchoate feminist resentment and rage. They have had their heads filled with a crude cultural Marxism; they live in a world almost devoid of facts and historical knowledge and context. Violent emotion rules.

Anonymous said...

Young people must learn success today depends on getting clear of the older generation's hang-ups.

The Orange Man Good crowd has to be carefully side-stepped lest a young lady get tarred with that brush.

But what if dear old Dad preaches Trump love? It is a dilemma that has to be handled delicately.

Who you know is more important than what you know. One must be seen with the right people doing the right things.

Service with Antifa can propel a young person far in life. Especially if said young person has two or more serious Aktions listed in their service record. If there are photos to document participation, that is gold. Antifa veterans need not worry about landing a great job. They will get the cream of the crop and the best appointments.

In college youth must take care to curry favor with influential faculty members. Go to their offices, chat them up, develop relationships. Dropping these names later can open doors.

This is a brave new world; it is not the world once ruled by the conservative dinosaurs who are on the way out.

Avoid reactionaries and counter-revolutionary persons lest you be linked to their sordid intrigues and seditious meetings. Keep your self clean.

This is the path for youth. Signal your virtue for the world to see, and you shall be rewarded handsomely.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of self-entitled lady managers, I always plan my sucking up before the meeting. There are usually two kinds of SELMs. One is typically named Karen, the other Shaniqua.

Karen most often got her position through her husband’s golfing buddy. She’ll have her straight hair cut above the shoulder, longer in the front, usually obviously dyed blonde, with her power suit from Nordstroms not at all flattering her large calves and thighs. As soon as she does the okay hand sign when lecturing me, just like Trump does, I know what to do. I never mention anything good about the President since that’s impossible, but instead mention something bad about his enemies, usually the Democrat Deep State Media. And then almost like magic I’ve got her eating out of the palm of my hand.

Shaniqua is an affirmative action manager. She’s remarkably similar to Karen, but blacker and with a somewhat larger butt. Instead of lecturing with the okay sign, she’ll place one hand on her hip and wag the other index finger sideways back and forth like a windshield wiper. I’ll mention the wonderful days of Obama and she’ll say: “Oh don’t chew think about playin me, playa!” And then I’ll pivot to mention Michelle and the daughters on Oprah and she'll start wanting to talk about it and once again like magic, I’ve got a self-entitled lady manager eating out of the palm of my hand.

I like this place because I can tell you people all my secrets.

River Cocytus said...

while the left are crybullies, there is a positive place for bullying in any society. For example, bullying individual j*urnalists from the NYT is a social service and medals could be offered in the future.

As much as I balk at the left's fake cultural revolution and the damage it is doing, it IS managing to bully a lot of university professors, which I'll have to rate broadly at a slightly marginal positive utility. The only issue I see with it is that it is tending to bully the professors who don't really need bullying.

The only thing we haven't seen enough of yet is the bullying of people who run social media accounts for [BRAND] - brands ranging from "Starbux" to "The Ford Foundation". Digg destroyed itself from brigading posts its posters didn't like, and that's sort of bad, but I think Digg shall become the Whole of the Internet before long, and why should not these perpetrators of crybullying and greengrocering not feel also the whip?

It is said that in the feudal world, local lords were often kept from abusing their peasants, if they were the cowardly and cruel sort, by mere fear of the mob. This was a positive social phenomenon, and to sort of a 'true democracy', in the 'joking (but serious)' way.

Personally, I like Karens. I would never marry a Karen, and I think they should probably stay in their bridge club and keep the house. Maybe rename each one of them 'Kitty' so she understands the value of her jib jab. "Oh, Kitty... please."

River Cocytus said...

By the way, colleges are now requiring that professors not state anything publicly, including real scientific research, that goes against the college's mission statements/public ideology. So it's literally not possible to learn anything at these colleges anymore. At least when these places were seminaries, one could go, "Well, I know it's gonna be unitarianism". Most kids don't realize they're going to be priests!

The Left Collective said...

We are the Left. Lower your defenses and surrender yourselves. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us.

Resistance is futile.

Dougman said...

🤣🖕

The Left Collective said...

Austerity and neoliberalism will not work. Not for long. Moderate solutions will not be tolerated by your Powers That Be. With AI automation, mutative viruses, warming, the surveillance police state, ageism and a general sociopathic malaise all on the rise the numbers of angry anarchists, BLM, and radical leftists, will only rise.

Resistance is futile.

Anonymous said...

Hello All:

On the bright side, your world government has your back. All is well. Do not let happenstance frighten you.

The Scottish Rites of Freemasonry, so central in framing the American Constitution, also forms the foundation of your World Government's Constitution.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness shall be yours always.

That is not to say you shouldn't know, heed, and obey all local, regional, national, and global laws and regulations.

Be a good world citizen by continuing to work, play and pay your taxes peaceably and on time in your Oblast, State, Canton, or other regional designation.

Thank you, C. Tritellevitz, Barcelona

Anonymous said...

This talk about Karen's dominant behavior and thick thighs has me feeling anxious to meet her. Does anyone know Karen's (any Karen's) phone number? I would like to have it.

Karen Fan.

PS. I would also like Shaniqua's phone number. The one with the larger butt.

Anonymous said...

The problem with life, liberty and the pursuit of ah-penis, is in that everybody sees these things differently (hint: the founders were gay).

While in here I may be a bit of a rascal-ish devils advocate troll, out there I'm pretty much just a mild mannered always-try-to-do-the-right-thing regular guy. I troll to get people to think. Sometimes to try and figure out why they wont think. There are probably a great many others out there just like me. And we deserve as much liberty as we can get our grubby little hands on. And perhaps a bit less time on our hands. The world's usually a better place for it.

But others, maybe not so much. Give them liberty and they'll happily give you death. My example for today:

There's talk that the Coronavirus was engineered. Just too many coincidences. But who would do such a thing? Those godless Chinese who're only good for quickly manufacturing cheap products at 92% accuracy? Maybe not. And maybe not a government, or even Putin. Maybe it's the same type of individual who gives us computer viruses. An empathyless evil genius, curious to see what havoc he can create so he can feel powerful in a world where he otherwise cant be. People like that deserve as little liberty as they can get.

So when genetic engineering chemistry sets become available for the children, what are we gonna do?

Anonymous said...

Karen Fan,

I don't think you would want to. A hallmark of Karen and Shaniqua was their tendency to want to do all the talking. And lots and lots of it. And you don't dare nod off in front of them lest they launch into an hour long lecture about you needing to listen better.

Speaking of Karen and Shaniqua, a word of advise for the gig-economy worker.

A wise old timer once told me that a sure-fire way to know that your company is tanking, is by the number of nonsensical meetings your management will freely mandate (another is by the number of Scott Adams Dilbert cartoons that've been posted in cubicles but I don't have time for that). He told me that mindless meetings are an unconscious power play. Holding you in a room wasting your time is one way that power players can control you, or more importantly to them, feel like they have total control over you. They're shrinking the amount of time you have to get your job done while blathering on about irrelevant nonsense.

It's a perversion of the real reason for corporate meetings, to showcase up and coming power players (and not those who've already arrived).

For example, while on a major huge assembly project I had to decide whether to have all the screw heads painted on installation, or by our shop, or to be bought already painted. I had 5 minutes to decide. A few phone calls and quick calculations later, and the decision was made. I then remembered my friend working at another company, complaining that he had to go to meetings week after stinking week for the purpose of figuring out how to do the exact same thing. Lets do the math.

His company: 20 attendees x 1 hour each week x 20 weeks = 400 man hours.
Me: 5 man minutes = .083 man hours.

Now I'm no mathematician, but 400 man hours is a lot more than .083 man hours. A few years later and his company is now in serious trouble, both reputationally and financially. My wise old mentor was right.

So once again, another secret free of charge. Tell nobody that I'm doing this, for the future of the American economy power player is at stake.

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