In light of the Capitol Hill riot, read on about cultish zeal, warped Christianity, and the emasculation of white America, that is, about the sources of Trumpian conservatism.
It's interesting that people are so appalled by the relatively small amount of violence, considering the government is the greatest murder machine in history.
In lots of other articles I criticize what we call normality (consumerism, mental health, happiness) too. For example, our governments and societies are implicated in the sixth mass extinction and in ravaging the world's ecosystems.
In any case, what appalls me here isn't so much the violence of the Capitol Hill riot, as the Trumpian mindset of the rioters which is shared by millions of Americans. That's what this article is about.
Greta Steiner Rushton-Murray Winfrey Kahane Rabbinovitz Spectre Ocasio de Kamala von ThunbergJanuary 10, 2021 at 5:12 PM
''There’s no reasoning with cult members. They’re brain-washed and out of desperation or mental illness they’ve grasped for salvation from a guru or from some other dubious agent of change. Their paranoid conspiracy theories are preposterous, but that’s of no concern to the cultists because intellectualism is part of the reality they’re rejecting in favour of a fantasy world in which their weaknesses make them great.''
Not everything that is defined as conspiracy theory by the academic/''progressist'elites that is conspiracy theory ...
One of the main rhetoric of the new right is combating the identity politics, anti-whiteism including the multiculturalism or demographic replacement/of/native ''whites'' by immigrants of other races
Yes, there's identity politics on both sides. So immigration may be detrimental to the local tribes.
But this new right still has plenty of paranoid conspiracy theories (QAnon, the election's being stolen from Trump, fundamentalist Christianity, white supremacy, etc).
But talk of "associations" is vague. Ezra is a member of the alt right. There's some overlap with the far right (Proud Boys, etc) but they're not the same. Some of the details can be found in the first link below.
Anyway, I'm aware that some Canadian conservatives support Trump. There's better evidence for that from the second link below, which takes you to a video that talks about a poll showing that 41 percent of Canadian conservatives say the 2020 US election was not fair and should be contested (at the 18:30 minute mark). So they, too, have been conned by Fox News and Trump's lies.
Gavin McInnes is a Proud Boy, and has been a contributor to Rebel Media. I would say being a contributor to Ezra's network qualifies as an association.
He's the founder of the Proud Boys. He also has Canadian citizenship. Does that mean all of Canada is a neo-fascist hate group too?
This is the fallacy of guilt by association. Not all associations have that transitive property whereby the qualities of one of the relata pass automatically to the other one.
It's like this: I contribute my writings to various publications on Medium, and I put out different kinds of articles to suit each publication's audience. Does that mean those publications have to agree with everything I write? Well, they're "associated" with me, but because it's possible to publish selectively, to have a larger worldview than can fit in any of those publications (because knowledge has become more specialized), it makes more sense to say that the publications approve only of the kinds of writings I submit to them. Those are the only ones they review and take onboard.
I don't know specifically about the McInnes situation and I'm not so interested in it. But I can see how the association could be loose and relatively harmless. Of course, it could also be insidious, since he could encode and normalize his more harmful views by passing off tamer versions of them in more acceptable publications. Those writings would work like gateway drugs. That's what fundamentalist Christians do, too, in camouflaging their craziness to get promoted in secular society.
No fallacy has been committed. I did not say anyone, was guilty of anything. I merely pointed out that there was an association, loose or otherwise with the Proud Boys. Since there IS indeed an association, nothing I've stated is false. "Does that mean all of Canada is a neo-fascist hate group too? " That's quite a silly straw man you've erected there.
The fallacy is in deeming such an association to be worth pointing out. Everything is associated with everything else if you include weak and accidental relations.
So what's your point? Okay, there are alt right individuals in Canada. They're far less influential or extreme than their American counterparts. But whatever.
Some time ago, whenever I used to put out an article critical of US politics, I'd get spam from an anonymous person who linked to some article critical of some aspect of Canada. As if I were unaware that there are flaws in every society. It was like clockwork: I'd say something nasty about Donald Trump and I'd receive this link about pollution in Canada. Your comment about Ezra Levant reminds me of that spam.
Is the fact that there are obviously forms of social conservatism outside the US supposed to be inconsistent with my article on the sources of the Trumpian ethos?
It's interesting that people are so appalled by the relatively small amount of violence, considering the government is the greatest murder machine in history.
ReplyDeleteIn lots of other articles I criticize what we call normality (consumerism, mental health, happiness) too. For example, our governments and societies are implicated in the sixth mass extinction and in ravaging the world's ecosystems.
DeleteIn any case, what appalls me here isn't so much the violence of the Capitol Hill riot, as the Trumpian mindset of the rioters which is shared by millions of Americans. That's what this article is about.
''There’s no reasoning with cult members. They’re brain-washed and out of desperation or mental illness they’ve grasped for salvation from a guru or from some other dubious agent of change. Their paranoid conspiracy theories are preposterous, but that’s of no concern to the cultists because intellectualism is part of the reality they’re rejecting in favour of a fantasy world in which their weaknesses make them great.''
ReplyDeleteNot everything that is defined as conspiracy theory by the academic/''progressist'elites that is conspiracy theory ...
One of the main rhetoric of the new right is combating the identity politics, anti-whiteism including the multiculturalism or demographic replacement/of/native ''whites'' by immigrants of other races
Yes, there's identity politics on both sides. So immigration may be detrimental to the local tribes.
DeleteBut this new right still has plenty of paranoid conspiracy theories (QAnon, the election's being stolen from Trump, fundamentalist Christianity, white supremacy, etc).
White supremacy is related to multiculturalism and immigration en masse..
DeleteDemographic displacement of whites in Europe, in USA, in Canada, especially, is a fact.
It's not all about them that's Lie.
These are the most important points.
Trump won the 2016 elections mainly because of the anti-immigration rethoric.
Bolsonarismo is an identical copy of Trumpismo.
ReplyDeleteAre you familiar with the Canadian Ezra Levant? He runs Rebel Media and is associated with the Proud Boys.
ReplyDeleteWhat does that have to do with anything?
DeleteThe Proud Boys are big Trump supporters. Apparently there are Canadians involved in the Trump craziness as well.
DeleteBut talk of "associations" is vague. Ezra is a member of the alt right. There's some overlap with the far right (Proud Boys, etc) but they're not the same. Some of the details can be found in the first link below.
DeleteAnyway, I'm aware that some Canadian conservatives support Trump. There's better evidence for that from the second link below, which takes you to a video that talks about a poll showing that 41 percent of Canadian conservatives say the 2020 US election was not fair and should be contested (at the 18:30 minute mark). So they, too, have been conned by Fox News and Trump's lies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebel_News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbEtDD4Wvw0&ab_channel=TheAgendawithStevePaikin
Gavin McInnes is a Proud Boy, and has been a contributor to Rebel Media. I would say being a contributor to Ezra's network qualifies as an association.
DeleteHe's the founder of the Proud Boys. He also has Canadian citizenship. Does that mean all of Canada is a neo-fascist hate group too?
DeleteThis is the fallacy of guilt by association. Not all associations have that transitive property whereby the qualities of one of the relata pass automatically to the other one.
It's like this: I contribute my writings to various publications on Medium, and I put out different kinds of articles to suit each publication's audience. Does that mean those publications have to agree with everything I write? Well, they're "associated" with me, but because it's possible to publish selectively, to have a larger worldview than can fit in any of those publications (because knowledge has become more specialized), it makes more sense to say that the publications approve only of the kinds of writings I submit to them. Those are the only ones they review and take onboard.
I don't know specifically about the McInnes situation and I'm not so interested in it. But I can see how the association could be loose and relatively harmless. Of course, it could also be insidious, since he could encode and normalize his more harmful views by passing off tamer versions of them in more acceptable publications. Those writings would work like gateway drugs. That's what fundamentalist Christians do, too, in camouflaging their craziness to get promoted in secular society.
No fallacy has been committed. I did not say anyone, was guilty of anything. I merely pointed out that there was an association, loose or otherwise with the Proud Boys. Since there IS indeed an association, nothing I've stated is false. "Does that mean all of Canada is a neo-fascist hate group too? " That's quite a silly straw man you've erected there.
DeleteThe fallacy is in deeming such an association to be worth pointing out. Everything is associated with everything else if you include weak and accidental relations.
DeleteSo what's your point? Okay, there are alt right individuals in Canada. They're far less influential or extreme than their American counterparts. But whatever.
Some time ago, whenever I used to put out an article critical of US politics, I'd get spam from an anonymous person who linked to some article critical of some aspect of Canada. As if I were unaware that there are flaws in every society. It was like clockwork: I'd say something nasty about Donald Trump and I'd receive this link about pollution in Canada. Your comment about Ezra Levant reminds me of that spam.
Is the fact that there are obviously forms of social conservatism outside the US supposed to be inconsistent with my article on the sources of the Trumpian ethos?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_Underground#United_States_Capitol_bombing
ReplyDelete