Read on Twitter
Thread.
"Anti-Semitism, in short, is fear of the human condition. The anti-Semite is a man who wishes to be pitiless stone, a furious torrent, a devastating thunderbolt -- anything except a man." Which is an excellent description of most Q-heads, Nazis, etc. in our world. https://twitter.com/arthur_affect/status/1359175172952002570
"Anti-Semitism, in short, is fear of the human condition. The anti-Semite is a man who wishes to be pitiless stone, a furious torrent, a devastating thunderbolt -- anything except a man." Which is an excellent description of most Q-heads, Nazis, etc. in our world. https://twitter.com/arthur_affect/status/1359175172952002570
Sartre pointed out antisemites (which we can extrapolate to other forms of bigotry) loathe uncertainty and responsibility for their own lives, the essence of the human condition, and seek the strength and certainty of the mob by mindlessly blaming someone else for their troubles.
Truth and logic are irrelevant. They hold contradictory beliefs without hesitation because their hate allows them to override and reinterpret events in a way that is convenient. Nothing is ever their fault. Someone else is to blame. "[He] has chosen hate because hate is a faith."
The allure of easy answers, however false, and security in the company of likeminded bigots provides a bigot with all they need to insulate their egos.
This impulse is very common and falls into well-worn grooves because society refuses to stamp out certain kinds of hate.
This impulse is very common and falls into well-worn grooves because society refuses to stamp out certain kinds of hate.
Modernity vs. traditionalism arguments often overlook that what most anti-modernity types hate is not the loss of simpler modes of life, which they don't actually want, but having the simple, false, hateful assumptions underpinning their view of the world and others challenged.
Which is why the fundamental conservative / reactionary impulse is to fear and lash out at change while pining for a "golden age" that never existed. That "golden age" is nothing but the embodiment of their desire for certainty, domination, and superiority, to hate with impunity.
That's why while the left is hardly immune from antisemitism and other forms of bigotry, the right is a cess pool of hateful, irrational beliefs and false "common sense" notions of how the world should work, and they operate as a vengeful mob that can't be argued with.
QAnon is "successful" because it's a buffet of hateful and conspiratorial ideas to draw from; people take what they want and leave the rest. It's a set of excuses for why they're right, superior, "normal" and "decent," unlike the enemy, which must be destroyed at all costs.
In a sense, QAnon is nothing but conservatism or the conservative id writ large because all its hatreds and conspiracies share the same old, familiar targets and themes as every other fascist and reactionary movement of yesteryear. The same simple, easy, wrong answers.
Arthur points out you can swap antisemites for TERFs / GCs and Sartre's analysis plays out the same. Because hate is ultimately about scapegoating and it's always the marginalized and vulnerable who are treated as an existential threat to "normal," "good," and "decent' people.
Every bigot thinks they're the Righteous Man or Woman who will come down like wrath of god on the infidels, freaks, and traitors in their midst and thereby restore "the proper order of things," but they're cowards and that's why they always pick on the weak and vulnerable.
Cowards and bullies who want to feel strong will be the death of us all if they're allowed to run things.
Which is why they and their bigotries must be fought, rejected, expelled from government, deplatformed, and otherwise rendered unacceptable in society.
Which is why they and their bigotries must be fought, rejected, expelled from government, deplatformed, and otherwise rendered unacceptable in society.
