Goddammit Cat every time you show up I wind up full of fire and brimstone. Well, more full of it at least.
You know that feeling where the kaiju stomp around a coty going RAAAAAARGH and knocking down buildings?
As a person the fascists have multiple reasons to genocide, I am permanently lowkey furious and it's fucking exhausting. But that's part of the point, of course, their one tiny bit of "strategy". They know if they just keep going with the not caring cruelty, eventually we get burned out and their path is free for a bit.
I believe "Hitler was a vegetarian" is a way of zinging vegetarians, not a defense of Hitler. It's evidence that vegetarianism isn't a reliable way of making people generally moral
I've never seen the sorts of defense of fascism (except for making the trains run on time) of fascism you describe, though I wouldn't be surprised if they exist somewhere.
I think part of what's going on is that liberals don't trust uninhibited hatred. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it might be possible to overdo it.
Roe v. Wade was overturned because there was a conservative plan, a long term thoughtful targeted plan, to infiltrate the judicial system. To say there was no intelligence involved underestimates what was going on, and here we are.
Being a gamer nerd, I've been waffling on writing a 'The real alignment chart' for a while, and this encapsulates why so well. Good-Neutral-Evil is so banal. It really ought to be Altruistic-Tribal-Selfish; Tribal essentially being 'I care about my family / friends / people I trust, meh to the others', since that's the least clear one.
You can leave Lawful-Chaotic more or less untouched though.
...It's still depressing as hell that it basically breaks down to 1/3 of the population in each category, though. The only 'good' in this current storm of bullshit is the more awful the fascists make it, the more the tribal sorts decide 'Hmm maybe higher taxes aren't so bad compared to civilizational collapse'
I chatted with quite a few of these folks online, back in the 2010's when I was curious about what made them tick. I concluded that "the 30%" who can be counted on to support tyranny/fascism/whatever you want to call it are made up of, essentially, a tiered group of psychopaths. They lack a conscience, and they don't believe such a thing exists. That's why they need to control others and are willing to use the most horrifying methods: because they simply cannot even imagine a human being who is capable of ignoring their worst instincts without the threat of some very powerful external force smiting them.
You recognize the mild psychopathy of this viewpoint at once, when they say: "If people don't believe in a God that will damn them to Hell for all eternity, what will stop them from slaughtering everyone?" And they are dead serious when they ask this because they're pretty sure that's all that stops them. I call it "mild psychopathy" because at least the ones who believe this really don't like the idea of a society based exclusively on Might=Right, and they like order and predictability.
On the other end of the scale are the hardcore psychopaths. The pure nihilists. They are so disconnected from human (and animal) emotion that they often lack even a functioning need for self-preservation, like the murderer who gets caught fleeing the scene and confesses at once: "I wanted to know what it was like to kill someone.... My only regret is that I thought it'd take longer before I was caught." (Not an exact quote, alas, from some dude whose very brief police interrogation I watched a few years ago.)
In the middle are the ones described so well in this astonishingly beautiful and appropriately terrifying article.
The thing is that the difference between the psychopath and the non-psychopath is probably neurological. And it's almost impossible to persuade someone to your view when their belief is on the cellular level. (Precisely the reason they can't persuade us to their view.)
Also the tragic paradox: they're not entirely wrong; we do need some of the systems of control they devise because we need to protect ourselves from the worst of them. Where they're wrong is in understanding where and with whom the problem lies. Unfortunately, that's a human failing, one which we all, myself included, suffer from.
Fascists trying to normalize unconscionable acts has been the background radius of most of our lives. I'm...well, getting old....and I remember Nixon doing this, and Reagan, and Bush, and Bush, and Trump. And I know it's been a part of the world order since Bretton Woods essentially laid down the economic rules which established that economic power was the only form of authority that mattered.
Call out the people who buy into fascist ideology, whether directly or not. Let there be uncomfortable silences, ask them 'what's funny about that' when they make 'them' jokes. Try to shame them, futile as it may be. A shred ot decency will take root and grow, eventually.
It's 12:48am here. For some ADHD dopamine hit reason, I decided to start reading this just before I was supposed to go to bed, and I couldn't stop, and now I'm not sure how I'm going to GET to sleep.
"Evil doesn’t win because good is dumb. Evil wins because evil is easy. " Very true, and there's often a "Prisoner's Dilemma" cooperation vs. defection motivation involved too - a lot of people defect (or choose evil) because the rewards are greater than when choosing good. Unfortunately, they forget the other side of the "Prisoner's Dilemma" - the more people who cooperate (choose good), the better off everyone is, and the rewards are scantier if few cooperators are in the mix.
Under circumstances where people are certain to materially profit from selfishness more than altruism, the only way for society to protect itself from defectors is to make it harder to defect, either by securing resources from defectors or by making rules against it and actively enforcing them. But it seems like America has backed far away from the latter option, and even rolled back such inadequate rules as we had. Worse, over the last half-century or so our society has ennobled selfishness and materialism rather than vilifying them, with the result that even conscience can't be relied upon to motivate people to punish our most successful defectors, or even recognize them as the threats to society they are - people just don't see anything wrong with even the most out-of-control acquisitiveness. (Granted that a fair number of people are waking up - or "becoming woke" - about this sort of thing, so to speak.)
Sorry, I've ventured into different territory that really requires an essay of its own - maybe I should write it after the sun comes up. I really liked your essay, though. Thanks.
He wasn't even a vegetarian. He ate vast quantities of meat and would take joy in revolting his dinner guests by describing slaughterhouse conditions. Just another lie told to try to humanise a mass murderer.
"I get to control you, and you can’t stop me." Don't forget the part where they scream about freedom while controlling everyone else. Freedom is code for control with them.
This editorial strings together and connects concepts (with journalistic support) that I think many of had noticed but not combined into a compelling narrative of why. Thank you for writing this.
Goddammit Cat every time you show up I wind up full of fire and brimstone. Well, more full of it at least.
You know that feeling where the kaiju stomp around a coty going RAAAAAARGH and knocking down buildings?
As a person the fascists have multiple reasons to genocide, I am permanently lowkey furious and it's fucking exhausting. But that's part of the point, of course, their one tiny bit of "strategy". They know if they just keep going with the not caring cruelty, eventually we get burned out and their path is free for a bit.
*Kaiju-stomps off*
You f*cking knocked it out of the park. I'm now a paid subscriber.
I believe "Hitler was a vegetarian" is a way of zinging vegetarians, not a defense of Hitler. It's evidence that vegetarianism isn't a reliable way of making people generally moral
I've never seen the sorts of defense of fascism (except for making the trains run on time) of fascism you describe, though I wouldn't be surprised if they exist somewhere.
I think part of what's going on is that liberals don't trust uninhibited hatred. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it might be possible to overdo it.
Roe v. Wade was overturned because there was a conservative plan, a long term thoughtful targeted plan, to infiltrate the judicial system. To say there was no intelligence involved underestimates what was going on, and here we are.
Being a gamer nerd, I've been waffling on writing a 'The real alignment chart' for a while, and this encapsulates why so well. Good-Neutral-Evil is so banal. It really ought to be Altruistic-Tribal-Selfish; Tribal essentially being 'I care about my family / friends / people I trust, meh to the others', since that's the least clear one.
You can leave Lawful-Chaotic more or less untouched though.
...It's still depressing as hell that it basically breaks down to 1/3 of the population in each category, though. The only 'good' in this current storm of bullshit is the more awful the fascists make it, the more the tribal sorts decide 'Hmm maybe higher taxes aren't so bad compared to civilizational collapse'
I chatted with quite a few of these folks online, back in the 2010's when I was curious about what made them tick. I concluded that "the 30%" who can be counted on to support tyranny/fascism/whatever you want to call it are made up of, essentially, a tiered group of psychopaths. They lack a conscience, and they don't believe such a thing exists. That's why they need to control others and are willing to use the most horrifying methods: because they simply cannot even imagine a human being who is capable of ignoring their worst instincts without the threat of some very powerful external force smiting them.
You recognize the mild psychopathy of this viewpoint at once, when they say: "If people don't believe in a God that will damn them to Hell for all eternity, what will stop them from slaughtering everyone?" And they are dead serious when they ask this because they're pretty sure that's all that stops them. I call it "mild psychopathy" because at least the ones who believe this really don't like the idea of a society based exclusively on Might=Right, and they like order and predictability.
On the other end of the scale are the hardcore psychopaths. The pure nihilists. They are so disconnected from human (and animal) emotion that they often lack even a functioning need for self-preservation, like the murderer who gets caught fleeing the scene and confesses at once: "I wanted to know what it was like to kill someone.... My only regret is that I thought it'd take longer before I was caught." (Not an exact quote, alas, from some dude whose very brief police interrogation I watched a few years ago.)
In the middle are the ones described so well in this astonishingly beautiful and appropriately terrifying article.
The thing is that the difference between the psychopath and the non-psychopath is probably neurological. And it's almost impossible to persuade someone to your view when their belief is on the cellular level. (Precisely the reason they can't persuade us to their view.)
Also the tragic paradox: they're not entirely wrong; we do need some of the systems of control they devise because we need to protect ourselves from the worst of them. Where they're wrong is in understanding where and with whom the problem lies. Unfortunately, that's a human failing, one which we all, myself included, suffer from.
This is so on target.
Fascists trying to normalize unconscionable acts has been the background radius of most of our lives. I'm...well, getting old....and I remember Nixon doing this, and Reagan, and Bush, and Bush, and Trump. And I know it's been a part of the world order since Bretton Woods essentially laid down the economic rules which established that economic power was the only form of authority that mattered.
Call out the people who buy into fascist ideology, whether directly or not. Let there be uncomfortable silences, ask them 'what's funny about that' when they make 'them' jokes. Try to shame them, futile as it may be. A shred ot decency will take root and grow, eventually.
My God, this is so good.
It's 12:48am here. For some ADHD dopamine hit reason, I decided to start reading this just before I was supposed to go to bed, and I couldn't stop, and now I'm not sure how I'm going to GET to sleep.
"Evil doesn’t win because good is dumb. Evil wins because evil is easy. " Very true, and there's often a "Prisoner's Dilemma" cooperation vs. defection motivation involved too - a lot of people defect (or choose evil) because the rewards are greater than when choosing good. Unfortunately, they forget the other side of the "Prisoner's Dilemma" - the more people who cooperate (choose good), the better off everyone is, and the rewards are scantier if few cooperators are in the mix.
Under circumstances where people are certain to materially profit from selfishness more than altruism, the only way for society to protect itself from defectors is to make it harder to defect, either by securing resources from defectors or by making rules against it and actively enforcing them. But it seems like America has backed far away from the latter option, and even rolled back such inadequate rules as we had. Worse, over the last half-century or so our society has ennobled selfishness and materialism rather than vilifying them, with the result that even conscience can't be relied upon to motivate people to punish our most successful defectors, or even recognize them as the threats to society they are - people just don't see anything wrong with even the most out-of-control acquisitiveness. (Granted that a fair number of people are waking up - or "becoming woke" - about this sort of thing, so to speak.)
Sorry, I've ventured into different territory that really requires an essay of its own - maybe I should write it after the sun comes up. I really liked your essay, though. Thanks.
Sweet Jesus can you write.
I literally have to read these things in pieces because I can't take so much 200-proof righteousness in one go.
He wasn't even a vegetarian. He ate vast quantities of meat and would take joy in revolting his dinner guests by describing slaughterhouse conditions. Just another lie told to try to humanise a mass murderer.
This is brilliant. I've seen other people address this. I've done it myself, but you have beaten everyone for thoroughness and eloquence.
"I get to control you, and you can’t stop me." Don't forget the part where they scream about freedom while controlling everyone else. Freedom is code for control with them.
This is some brilliant word craft.
No holds barred, forthright…. And I looooove it!
This editorial strings together and connects concepts (with journalistic support) that I think many of had noticed but not combined into a compelling narrative of why. Thank you for writing this.
Well, I read this compulsively. I hope the world does too.
"...and if what I say contradicts what I said yesterday that’s your problem."
Reminds of what...Timothy Snyder, I think, said about how the unpredictability itself is key to how authoritarianism works.
It's just really, really dispiriting to know in effect that someone can do anything to you at any time for any reason or no reason at all.