Supporting Baby Beheading

The conclusion of my thoughts on how we got here

The Panopticon

In my previous posts, I’ve laid a lot at the doorstep of White Fragility and in fairness I wish to state that I don’t think Robin DiAngelo is responsible for the irrational response to Hamas’s guerilla attack on innocent civilians in Israel. I think her rambling and unconvincing book about how all white people are racists (which is demonstrated by, caused by, and somehow also the cause of white fragility) is an exercise in circular logic poisoned by an uncritical acceptance of the precepts of Critical Race Theory. A very interesting point that I have not seen in the couple of reviews I’ve read is that she redefines racism, and her definition is most probably different from anyone not having read her book.

So, if you are white in the United States, you benefit from these systems which are both legal and civil, and so, whether you like it or not, want to be so or not, believe it or not, if you are white you are racist.

According to DiAngelo, racism is not “things people do to other people.” Rather it is systems of oppression that have come into existence and which simply are inescapable and which white people benefit from to the detriment of black people. If you are white in the United States, you benefit from these systems which are both legal and civil, and whether you like it or not, want to be so or not, believe it or not, if you are white you are racist. Note that to get there, she has to define racism in a manner which most do not.

This idea is dependent on the idea of a binary which applies to all humanity, Oppressor and Oppressed. If you are white, you are of the oppressor class. If you are not, you are the oppressed. I believe DiAngelo, and others, are enthralled by this concept, and see it as the source of all injustice. I use the term “enthralled” on purpose. If you look up the word, you get something a bit innocuous - to be fascinated by or with something. But, it literally means to be in thrall to. Some synonyms of thrall are slavery, bondage, and servitude.

The Oppressor / Oppressed binary to which many are enthralled is dependent on the theories of power that Michel Foucault developed.

I also wish to say I am not blaming Foucault for people feeling they are “on the right side of history” by voicing support for people that behead babies.

What I do want to say is when you are enthralled by a world view, you stop thinking and start reacting. This results in people expressing the belief that the real victims are the Palestinians. People are persisting in these beliefs despite facts to the contrary because they are in thrall to this world view.

Or maybe because too many people are afraid to argue the facts with these folks.

Which brings me to the Panopticon.

The Panopticon is an idea for a prison where the prison cells are arranged in a circle, and there is a watch tower in the center. Each inmate knows that they may be under surveillance, but they don’t know for sure if they are or not. Fear of being observed causes them to alter their behavior so they don’t get in trouble.

Foucault used it as an example of disciplinary power in his book Discipline and Punish published in 1975.

While Foucault was using this idea to illustrate his own theories, his arguments about it seem to have permeated into today’s social media milieu. If you think about the practice of doxing, cancelling, etc., it does seem that we have a situation where people are careful to exhibit the behavior they think least likely to get them into trouble Otherwise, they may be disciplined and punished. We have a sort of social panopticon, utilized by those who think they have a moral high ground and are obligated to keep people in line. Which is odd, because that makes them the Oppressor and therefore Bad.

This incongruency seems to give the social media bullies no sleepless nights of existential angst. They sleep soundly because they are speaking out against Oppressors. And to the extent they can keep people silent, or unwilling to participate in the public square, ridiculous and unfounded ideas are allowed to flourish.

In the case of Israel and Palestine, Israel is regarded by many as The Oppressor. This makes the Palestinians The Oppressed. The result: Israel is Bad. Palestine is Good.

Initially, it did seem that Social Media had determined that the real focus should be on the poor Palestinians being ruthlessly bombarded by the oppressive Israelis.

Israel had been called out as being a colonialist nation practicing apartheid. Colonialist = Oppressor; states practicing Apartheid = Oppressor. Who is being colonized and suffering from Apartheid? Palestine. Ipso facto, Israel is bad and Palestine is good. Therefore murdering and raping and beheading is all good. Even justified. And necessary. Note, it is necessary to redefine what Apartheid and Colonialist are to get to Israel being Oppressor.

It would be nice if people looked up some definitions instead of just making shit up.

Dictionary

Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more

co·lo·ni·al·ist

/kəˈlōnyələst/

noun

1. a person who supports the practice of gaining political control over other countries and occupying them with settlers.

   "16th century Spanish colonialists in the Caribbean"

adjective

1. characteristic of or involving the practice of gaining political control over other countries and occupying them with settlers.

   "the nation's colonialist history"

Does this apply to Israel today? No, it does not. Israel left Palestine in 2005. They even disinterred Jews that were buried in Palestine. They have no settlers in Palestine. Hell, they don’t even have dead people in Palestine. They are not Colonialists.

Dictionary

Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more

a·part·heid

/əˈpärˌtāt,əˈpärˌtīt/

noun

HISTORICAL

1. (in South Africa) a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race.

   • segregation on grounds other than race.

     "gender apartheid"

Is Israel practicing Apartheid. No, they are not. The Palestinians have self rule, and there are no Jews in Palestine. That all by itself makes Apartheid impossible.

Meanwhile, in Israel, non-Jews are present in society, in business and even in government. The term Apartheid simply does not apply anywhere in this conflict, except maybe in Palestine where if there were any living Jews, they would be held apart. Anyone who thinks a Jew in Palestine would be a member of the government there is either willfully ignorant, deliberately dishonest, or simply stupid.

So, the Oppressor / Oppressed dynamic breaks down.

The Palestinians are oppressed however. By Hamas. This is obvious to anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear.

The last thing I want to say is that the wish of Hamas is very clear. They want to kill all Jews. ALL OF THEM. They are on record as saying this. The Jews do not want to kill all Palestinians. The simple reality is this, Israel is powerful in that region, and they have the ability to simply wipe Palestine off the map. They have not done so.

Please honestly ask yourself, if the situation were reversed, if Hamas could actually make good on their chant of “from the river to the sea” would they do it?

If your answer is yes, then you know who the oppressor is.

And this is the problem. Israel has the power, and by the definition of Critical Race Theory, those in power naturally oppress. They can’t help it. Except of course, Israel could utterly wipe out Palestine, and they are not. They don’t naturally oppress. They do, however, wish to exist.

Next question, and please answer honestly.

Let us say that we lived in Virginia. If West Virginia sent several hundred people into Virginia, murdered civilians in their beds, murdered our family, our friends, our daughters, hauled off our wives and children and raped them to death, and beheaded our babies, what the f*** would we expect our government to do about it?

How can any right thinking person support the barbaric actions of Hamas? By seeing everything uncritically as Oppressor and Oppressed. Or by not having their ideas challenged by people who disagree but fear Discipline and Punishment.

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