121Contact

It’s Fun to be a Right Wing Extremist Fascist

Deep pleasures lurk within sadism and the unleashing of sexual repression. We are not embarrassed when we talk about cognitive biases that push us to overcome our good natures but we dare not admit the pleasures to be found in inflicting pain, suffering, and humiliation on others. #ThinkingAboutThinking 

We take pride in struggle to overcome the prejudices we inherit from our culture but we cannot speak of the adrenaline surges of running with a wild crowd, the joy of drowning out the chants of our enemies with our own blood curdling cries, and the pleasure to be found in declaring ourselves dominant over the body of ‘the other’.  #Resist by admitting the truth.

 

Trump Supporters and Authoritarianism

We are Trump Supporters.

We believe in absolute obedience to Trump. We believe in the oppression of those who disagree. We live in fear and know we are powerless. We are victims and Trump is our rescuer.

Our black and white worldview tells us that people are divided into two classes: the weak and the strong. Most of our social problems would be solved if we could somehow get rid of the immoral, crooked and feeble-minded people. Aggression against the weak is necessary.

We project our own feelings of inadequacy, rage and fear onto Mexicans, Muslims, and immigrants. Actually, anyone who is not with us is a valid target of our rage.

Trump & Palin trumpet victimhood over and over. We are Victims in need of Rescue by Trump-our-Rescuer to save us from Persecution by 'the other'.

The reason this kind of formulation is so dangerous in politics is that it not only fuels the fear-mongering of the oppressor that we’ve seen so much of from Republicans lately, it sets the stage for the authoritarianism (or even fascism) of the rescuer.

from the piece posted January 26, 2016 when I was blinded by confirmation bias. With apologies to Adorno, Fromm,  and Butler, Dallago, LeTourneau, Williams, and Wronski

 #Trump #Resist                                                   www.121contact.typepad.com 

Trump Politicizing London Murders is Dangerous and Ignorant

Trump's first tweet "We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!" reminds us of how we used the deaths of innocents on 9/11 to justify war against countries that weren't even involved in the attack. 

It's as if ISIS wrote the script for him to generate an overreaction guaranteed to alienate the very people we most need to help us fight terrorism. Trump's lack of knowledge, information, and awareness about  the nature of terrorism makes us less safe. #ThinkingAboutThinking

 

We are all wired

Victims of 9/11 attacks are ‘collateral damage’ (yes, that’s what they said) in a greater War on Terror. Recent labelling: Civilian deaths in #Mosul an 'unintentional accident of war'. WTF.

What is an intentional accident? Imagine a day without labels. #ThinkingAboutThinking

Dangerous Muslims in America

Just so you know what you’re up against: “Insanity Is Inviting People Who Call For Your Death To Live Amongst You. Muslims Chant 'Death To America' In CHICAGO” is riding Twitter today. The accompanying video shows a large demonstration. THIS NEVER HAPPENED.

Oh, the  2014 protest about Israel/Palestine is real, but the chant was never chanted. This video gets circulated periodically by alt-right sources. If that is where you get your news:

. you are being  encouraged to think that if one group of Muslims chants this then all Muslims must feel this way

. you have been tricked into reinforcing your fear that most Muslims in America are ‘dangerous Muslims’

If on top of that, if you don't read my blog then you will be stuck in the dark with a distorted view, twisted feelings, and probably an aversion to watching News other than your alt-right picks just so you can avoid the tension of dissonance you feel when encountering ideas opposite to your own.

Of course you don't read my blog. The cost of changing your mind would be enormous. Your friends might fade away. Your family might shun you. Culturally isolated you might become depressed, irrational...or you could accept reality, find new friends, and not have to spend so much energy convincing yourself that you are right and almost everybody else in the world is wrong. 

 

 

widow-chronicles-husbands-murder-illegal-immigrant

A headline @Breitbart's  catches your eye. It can be related to many things.

        #ThinkingAboutThinking as you try to make sense of it; link it to already existing meems. When you get a link you also get a little reward; a pleasant brain-chemical-cocktail.

        SV represents a very real existential danger. He did kill someone. He was a repeat offender.  He is an illegal immigrant. You might link SV to ‘Immigrants are a high risk’ because it ‘natural’ to assign the actions of one to the traits of the group. That links to its own set of meems. Some may steer you toward action.

          Of course you might have linked SV to ‘the legal system failed’. That links to a whole other set of meems. Some may steer you toward action.

         Or both at once. Perhaps in denial of one. Perhaps considering both with a mind free to consider.

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/03/02/widow-chronicles-husbands-murder-illegal-immigrant/

Planning War over Dinner, with friends.

The image of those people sitting around a dinner discussing, deciding upon a raid in Yemen has me thinkin’ about a smoky basement with us hovered over 8 by 8 feet of plywood; greened, landscaped, and heavy on the edges with Napoleonic Era figures in battle formations. It was the eve of a great battle to see who would command the river-cut valley below, and the once insignificant town near the center. This war could be said to hinge on this action.

[RoboWar kills civilians more easily now, as any escalation of technology will tend to do, as one side gains the temporary advantage (Until The Other matches it and the race is on again). It helps to keep the definition of Morality fluid.]

At the dinner: Trump, CIA Director, Natl. Security Advisor Mike Flynn, secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, trump’s son-in-law, I think…

---

 “U.S. military officials told Reuters that Trump approved his first covert counterterrorism operation without sufficient intelligence, ground support, or adequate backup preparations. As a result, three officials said, the attacking SEAL team found itself dropping onto a reinforced Al Qaeda base defended by landmines, snipers, and a larger than expected contingent of heavily armed Islamist extremists.” http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/02/u-s-military-sources-criticize-trump-approved-yemen-strike.html

The White House said it was a success. It was actually a bloody mess. Perhaps they were acting on stale intelligence. Whatever!

This insistence that power/violence is the answer has persisted longer than it needs to. We have evolved to the point at which we are now able to see many paths; that the non-violent paths lead to more peaceful tomorrows. There is a cost, of course.

There’s always a cost, and this change will be very expensive, probably more expensive in dollars than the current path. Enormous amounts of cash... What’s different about compassionate non-violent solutions is that the people who pay most of the cost for progress are different from the people who usually pay for technological-competition-political solutions. There’s enough cash out there to get this done. This one falls on the super-rich. Oh, my.

The lasting peace cannot come until we are all treated compassionately, justly, equally.  #Resist

February 2, 2017 Bruce Wallace 121Contact

trumpfail On the Road to Disaster.

...this country is headed in directions which can only carry ruin to it and will create a situation here dangerous to world peace. With few exceptions, the men who are running this Government are of a mentality that you and I cannot understand. Some of them are psychopathic cases and would ordinarily be receiving treatment somewhere. Others are exalted and in a frame of mind that knows no reason. The majority are woefully ignorant and unprepared for the tasks which they have to carry through every day. Those men in the party and in responsible positions who are really worth-while, and there are quite a number of these, are powerless because they have to follow the orders of superiors who are suffering from the abnormal psychology prevailing in the country.

• George S. Messersmith, U.S. Consul General

trump Entails Vigilance

Vigilance includes a state of alertness, which just might entail some insomnia. We are allowed to worry and keep our eyes open.

Hypervigilance is different; an enhanced state of sensory sensitivity accompanied by an exaggerated intensity of behaviors whose purpose is to detect threats. This just might entail increased anxiety and exhaustion.

And this can lead to paranoia and behaviors not based within reason. We are not allowed to go bananas.

Stay vigilant. We need your sanity. #resist

#trumpfail bullshit

#Thinking about thinking

"One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. "

Harry G. Frankfurt