Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.
The right wing fundamentally do not care about facts and meaning. You can give as many stats and facts as you want that disprove their position and it doesn’t matter. They’re not arguing facts. They believe they’re right, and they’ll make whatever noises they want to justify that.
I really hope it doesn’t get to the camps phase cause I’m know I’m at the top of thr list for an extended stay. (Or, very short stay depending on how extreme they wind up being)
They’ve already got a better system than Hitler could have every hoped for: normal prison.
The US has the largest prison population per capita, plus migrant holding facilities, plus juvenile holding facilities.
All they need to do is capture the presidency and keep at least one chamber of Congress, and they can just expand the existing laws to target their enemies. The facilities are already in operation, they just need an excuse to grab the people they don’t like.
Anyone that’s been in a relationship with an abusive narcissist can clearly see the playbook. They live in a world where the only thing that matters is power and control because their grandiosity entitles them to anything they want. They manipulate reality so that they are always on top. There is no truth beyond that. Additionally, since they are entitled to everything but don’t get it, they see themselves as an eternal victim that blames everyone else. This makes any relationship with them inherently antagonistic. Thus, anyone debating with them using logic to reach a valid conclusion will be wasting their time because the goal of the narcissist is simply to have power. They will dodge questions, distort reality, and even straight gaslight.
Another technique they use is to project. They assume that everyone else is like them, so when they accuse someone of something, the vast majority of the time it is a confession. For example, if they accuse someone of stealing an election, it’s because they tried to steal it but were unsuccessful. Since they were unsuccessful at winning the election through cheating, then the other side must have been cheating too, or they would not have won. In there minds, everyone is playing this game. They literally cannot conceive a world based on rationality and see anyone that engages in that as a threat that will dismantle their delusional grandiosity.
Watching the MAGA movement is like watching a narcissist function on a societal level. It really is the same thing. If the Democrats truly wanted to rid the country of this deranged movement, then they would hire a team of psychologists that specialize in working with narcissists in order to develop a skill set to control and limit the abuse this mentality pushes onto others. Otherwise, we’re all screwed because a narcissist cannot stop themselves from abusing others.
They are and yet we, through their actions over the years, and our own inaction, are playing their game. We continue to talk instead of act. We continue to argue instead of act. We speak of standing up and yet do not act. We hope that, in the U.S., the justice system and democracy will act for us and yet we do not trust it, and still we do not act.
I know this is a little harsh. After all, we are doing something. Just that the Republican base and especially the MAGA cult is willing and has acted. Not that we should take such harsh action, only that I feel we rely too strongly on pushing our “leaders” instead of just coming together.
Gently reminding everybody that condeming Israel’s actions in Gaza does not equate anti-Semitism. And blaming all the Jews for your troubles is anti-Semitism.
Highly recommend the essay that quote is from: “Anti-Semite and Jew”. It’s written from that post-liberation of Paris/ending of ww2 perspective, but a lot of the insights on the nature of that kind of societal hate still hold up pretty well.
Time for the sartre quote again
The right wing fundamentally do not care about facts and meaning. You can give as many stats and facts as you want that disprove their position and it doesn’t matter. They’re not arguing facts. They believe they’re right, and they’ll make whatever noises they want to justify that.
They’re bad people.
Perhaps the greater horror of fascism, from a philosophical perspective, is that it is essentially against the concept of meaning itself.
Language is merely another tool to enforce domination and submission. All that really matters is being on the winning side.
Definitely the most horrifying part to me (at this stage anyway, I imagine I’ll feel differently if they make it to camps phase later)
I really hope it doesn’t get to the camps phase cause I’m know I’m at the top of thr list for an extended stay. (Or, very short stay depending on how extreme they wind up being)
They’ve already got a better system than Hitler could have every hoped for: normal prison.
The US has the largest prison population per capita, plus migrant holding facilities, plus juvenile holding facilities.
All they need to do is capture the presidency and keep at least one chamber of Congress, and they can just expand the existing laws to target their enemies. The facilities are already in operation, they just need an excuse to grab the people they don’t like.
Anyone that’s been in a relationship with an abusive narcissist can clearly see the playbook. They live in a world where the only thing that matters is power and control because their grandiosity entitles them to anything they want. They manipulate reality so that they are always on top. There is no truth beyond that. Additionally, since they are entitled to everything but don’t get it, they see themselves as an eternal victim that blames everyone else. This makes any relationship with them inherently antagonistic. Thus, anyone debating with them using logic to reach a valid conclusion will be wasting their time because the goal of the narcissist is simply to have power. They will dodge questions, distort reality, and even straight gaslight.
Another technique they use is to project. They assume that everyone else is like them, so when they accuse someone of something, the vast majority of the time it is a confession. For example, if they accuse someone of stealing an election, it’s because they tried to steal it but were unsuccessful. Since they were unsuccessful at winning the election through cheating, then the other side must have been cheating too, or they would not have won. In there minds, everyone is playing this game. They literally cannot conceive a world based on rationality and see anyone that engages in that as a threat that will dismantle their delusional grandiosity.
Watching the MAGA movement is like watching a narcissist function on a societal level. It really is the same thing. If the Democrats truly wanted to rid the country of this deranged movement, then they would hire a team of psychologists that specialize in working with narcissists in order to develop a skill set to control and limit the abuse this mentality pushes onto others. Otherwise, we’re all screwed because a narcissist cannot stop themselves from abusing others.
They are and yet we, through their actions over the years, and our own inaction, are playing their game. We continue to talk instead of act. We continue to argue instead of act. We speak of standing up and yet do not act. We hope that, in the U.S., the justice system and democracy will act for us and yet we do not trust it, and still we do not act.
I know this is a little harsh. After all, we are doing something. Just that the Republican base and especially the MAGA cult is willing and has acted. Not that we should take such harsh action, only that I feel we rely too strongly on pushing our “leaders” instead of just coming together.
Too bad I haven’t read Sartre, that quote is brilliant and I already have reinvented it poorly a few times.
(Usually while analyzing verbal encounters with Turks\Azeris on Armenian issues, though, since open anti-Semites are hard to find, but them too.)
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Gently reminding everybody that condeming Israel’s actions in Gaza does not equate anti-Semitism. And blaming all the Jews for your troubles is anti-Semitism.
Highly recommend the essay that quote is from: “Anti-Semite and Jew”. It’s written from that post-liberation of Paris/ending of ww2 perspective, but a lot of the insights on the nature of that kind of societal hate still hold up pretty well.