We Mustn’t Be So Open-Minded That Our Brains Fall Out
‘Be willing to use the word “evil” again.‘
The Charlie Kirk event has had different effects on different people.
For some, it is all about the rabbit hole. What really happened? Who are the shadow lords behind it?
For others, it has reinforced the desire to further distance oneself from the news cycle and the mainstream game. (As many of you know, I have done a variant of this over the last several years—albeit not with the same artistic grace as
or to the same degree of completeness as and others.)It has also elicited more statements to the effect that “they’re all the same.” Some see little reason to identify salient differences in, for example, left vs. right or Islam vs. the West. (Really, though, it is Islam vs. anyone who gets in their way—see North Africa, in which the Jihadist template is on full display: keep murdering until total control is secured. No one in the West seems to notice Islam’s body count in places like Nigeria, for example. I wonder why that is.)
This “they’re all the same” trope is common enough among my fellow anarchists and libertarians, too. The more ensconced we become in what feels like a third way (it isn’t really a third way, but it feels like it), the more that the mainstream conceptions of left and right seem painfully similar to one another.
But the truth is, they’re not. There is no equivalence between the history of the (modern liberal) left and (classical liberal) right.
There is no equivalence in terms of ad hoc political violence (the difference is several orders of magnitude).
There is no equivalence in terms of systematized political violence (the left’s body count is in excess of 150 million).
There is no equivalence in terms of crazy ideas (and if you stop and think about it for five seconds, you know this to be true).
And there is also no equivalence between the behavior of Islam and other religions. (Modern Muslims kill more people in the name of Islam in a year than the Inquisition killed in 300 years. Over the course of a millennium, Islam waged 800 major battles against the West, which responded with the 20-ish major battles of the Crusades. Well over a million Europeans were dragged into slavery in the Muslim world. Etc.)
I know this is bothersome to some. (I expect a few unfollows or unsubscribes.) But it is what it is. These things are not equivalent just because we resent, and do not wish to participate in, their reindeer games.
I understand the desire to get out of the game. I understand the feeling that the game is being rigged from the shadows. I share both of these, believe me.
But the layer of reality we are discussing now is not manufactured; it is real. It may be manipulated, but it involves real people doing real things.
For the purposes of this analysis, what actually happened with Charlie Kirk does not matter. A large swath of people believe it happened roughly as we are told it did, and they are HAPPY about it. These aren’t bots or manufactured narrative points. These are people many of us know personally. It is everywhere.
More than ten years ago, I told my readers that there was a purpose behind the left’s description of speech—that is, mere words—as “violence.” They even established “silence” (as in, failure to utter the words they command you to utter) as “violence” (often framed, when it suited the purpose of the moment, as “white silence is violence”).
This was not mere rhetoric. The purpose was to justify the future use of actual violence in response to speech. The fact that that is now occurring was as predictable as the rising of the sun, especially for those who know the history of the left since 1789.
And it is essential to note that ad hoc violence is only ad hoc so long as they are not in power. Once they are, it becomes institutional violence. Every damn time. Even if events are manipulated, the suffering and death that occur are quite real. We cannot just wish that away.
I assure you that my mission remains the same. Exit and build. I do not plan to wallow in (or attempt to reform) the old world. I plan to work with you to build a new world in the cracks of the old. However, we also mustn’t be so open-minded that our brains fall out. When we call things equivalent that are clearly not equivalent, we put ourselves at risk.
did an excellent job of laying some of this out yesterday; I commend his work to your attention:
Completely 100% agree.
Yes, the "right" sucks, too, in its own ways. Yes, they are two feet connected to the same golem who is squashing the people step by step. Yes, it's all scripted ... And certainly, I hold no illusions that those in power differ a whit between right and left. They all have the same handlers, and the same goals; they merely present with different window dressing.
BUT.
As far as *individuals* are concerned, those on the "right" at least put on the facade of virtue. Is that more insidious, in the end, than the left? Maybe, but at this point in the game, I'd rather align myself with those who worship a God of false light -- even if it's a temporary allegiance, and we will eventually have to part ways -- because our common enemy is so blatant, at this point, that it would be comical if it wasn't so brutal.
I agree that it does not matter what the truth is about Charlie Kirk. I hadn't even heard of him until he was murdered, and I certainly don't think that the official story adds up. However, the response to his public assassination HAS proven to be an astonishing litmus test for "Decent Human Being" versus "Rabid Leftard Cultist." If you believe that some has-been pedophile talk-show host getting fired from his propagandist gig is a bigger atrocity than a man getting shot, you have failed the test. Period. Full stop. Similarly, if you are gleefully celebrating the death of someone whose sole "crime" was to have public opinions, you have likewise failed the test. You are a member of a cult, and that cult worships evil. Literal, boldfaced evil.
... And they aren't trying to hide it anymore, not even a little bit. I saw a bumper sticker at the local grocery Co-Op last week -- which has a reputation for being rabidly lefty -- that said something to the effect of, "Coffee, cuddles and Satanism." I am deeply respectful of the property rights of others, even those whose beliefs I find abhorrent, but that one did give me the distinct desire to smash the windshield in.
(Total tangent, but on the topic of unbelievable and abhorrent bumper stickers, earlier on this summer I saw one on the same bumper as a "Planned Parenthood" sticker that simply read, "Vaccines!" in rainbow lettering. Cannot make this up.)
Your inclusion of Islam in this article almost reads like a tangent as well, except that I think you may be hinting at a reality that we can all sense, but that is still taboo to vocalize: the Islamists worship the same entity that the Leftists do. They might call it Allah rather than Baal, but it's the same demon, whispering to them from the same playbook of pretend victimhood. Their beliefs are fundamentally incompatible with anyone who desires even a modicum of freedom. They are backwards and deranged, and entertaining any notion otherwise is foolhardy.
All beliefs are not created equal. All opinions do not have equal merit. Some are just plain stupid ... And some are just plain evil. Time to call it like it is.
Brother, I was reading along, cheering, till I encountered my name. Thank you for helping others see that our enemies come in far more flavors than 'statist.'