There is a certain type of white, British, right-of-centre, faux-intellectual person for whom racism has become fashionable. This is evidenced by the swarms of people who will come out in Youtube comments and TV news voxpops to defend David Starkey and Nick Griffin from the perceived "PC brigade", and who seem to regard any statement implying that black people are inferior to/ have a damaging effect on white people with a kind of quasi-religious reverence.
Take the comments on this video documenting David Starkey's fascinating views that the riots in August were caused by black people making white people more black. Starkey's theory is factually incorrect on about eight different levels, and both the people arguing with him make some valid and thoughtful points. But the Starkey Legion don't seem to care. They blather on about Lord David as though he's just comprehensively debunked the Theory of Relativity, and blindly assume that anyone who disagrees with his view is an emotionally-invested politically-correct juvenile leftie face. In which case, I have news. People aren't just disagreeing with Starkey because they don't want to be racist. They're disagreeing with him because he is wrong.
The comments themselves seem to directly embody what I mean by "faux-intellectual". The top-rated comment ("Starkey doesn't come across as any kind of idiot...") manages to hammer out an entire paragraph saying precisely nothing, then goes on to use a positive ad-hominem argument (Starkey is an intellectual, therefore he is right, LOL), put words in the mouths of his opponents, and baselessly claim that Starkey's points are "clear, valid and useful". The second one seems to be of the opinion that "the vast [majority] of the white population in the uk believes that black people caused these riots", and that appealing to what the majority supposedly think is a valid rational argument defending Starkey's point. Which is wrong at least twice, and yet it has been thumbed-up 440 times. What the actual HELL?
The rest of the comments go on to say that the "PC fuckers are responsible for the mess we have nowadays" - because trying to promote inclusive language towards black and working-class people is obviously going to make them riot. Another one talks about how it's shameful for anyone to ever use a black accent or stereotypically teenage dialect if you live in the same country as Shakespeare did (64 thumbs up). Another (almost hilariously) uses completely fictitious "United Nations figures" to argue that "Negroes are 10 and 20% less intelligent than White People". Yet another talks (complete irrelevantly) about how Labour have deliberately accelerated immigration to destroy European culture, and by doing so they should be hanged for "cultural genocide" (whatever that may be) (69 thumbs up). And on. And on. And on.
You can see the problem. The racialist, anti-multiculturalism bandwagon is gathering speed and passengers at a rate of knots. Political illiterates believe that any wild criticism of "black culture", or of the idea that white and blacks can live together without killing each other, is a thoughtful and valid political argument. It's insane.
How has this happened? Well, you'll be thrilled to know that I have a theory.
The thing is: almost every single human, on some level, regards themselves as an underdog. We are all conscious of the fact that, not only were we born into a world where nature is totally apathetic to our survival and wellbeing, but we also essentially have to compete with 7 billion other humans who are all trying to achieve the same things as we are*. It's a daunting prospect for everyone, and it seems that many people die without ever doing anything other than trying to cope with the massive world which seems to be so unanimously against them.
And this applies whether you are rich, poor, white, black, whatever. But when you are a member of the white middle-class, you are told constantly that you are on top, that your kind are responsible for suppressing everyone else, that you will have an easier ride of it that everyone outside your demographic group. But this doesn't seem to fit with your intuitive perception of yourself as an underdog, and your understanding that you will still have to fight to get everything you want from life.
Blacks, the working class, gays, Muslims, women- all these people have political and cultural movements dedicated to their empowerment. But if you are in all the majorities, you don't have that. As far as politics is concerned, you don't need empowerment. So when someone like David Starkey, or a movement like the BNP, espouse political theories that confirm your suspicion that you are in fact an underdog, many people can't help but grasp at them. "Of course I am threatened politically! Don't you see, my identity as a white person is being eroded by all this immigration and what have you? Isn't it obvious, the liberal elite (whoever they are) want to take away all my hard-earned money?"
One of the reasons tribalism is so appealing is that you get to join a group of people who unconditionally want to fight for your empowerment as a person. Race- or class-driven politics consists of groups of people coming together with the same belief, that they are underdogs, and channeling the blame for their (percievedly) weak position on a group of people who are different from them in some way. To a certain extent, the gay rights, civil rights and feminist movements can degenerate into the same thing as Starkeyism: "straights/whites/men are suppressing us, it's their fault, all of them are evil!". But at least minority rights movements are based on a correct observation: that these people have less rights than those people, and this should be rectified. The British Nationalist etc. movement, as well as anti-gay social conservatism, is based on the belief that equal rights will weaken the position of the majority, and this theory is embraced by so many because it presses the buttons of all those who privately believe that they are underdogs.
So basically: don't fall for it.
*I don't actually believe that all-pervading dog-eat-dog competition is a realistic or helpful view of the world, but living in proximity to other individuals with all the same wants as you will eventually necessitate some kind of competition.
Take the comments on this video documenting David Starkey's fascinating views that the riots in August were caused by black people making white people more black. Starkey's theory is factually incorrect on about eight different levels, and both the people arguing with him make some valid and thoughtful points. But the Starkey Legion don't seem to care. They blather on about Lord David as though he's just comprehensively debunked the Theory of Relativity, and blindly assume that anyone who disagrees with his view is an emotionally-invested politically-correct juvenile leftie face. In which case, I have news. People aren't just disagreeing with Starkey because they don't want to be racist. They're disagreeing with him because he is wrong.
The comments themselves seem to directly embody what I mean by "faux-intellectual". The top-rated comment ("Starkey doesn't come across as any kind of idiot...") manages to hammer out an entire paragraph saying precisely nothing, then goes on to use a positive ad-hominem argument (Starkey is an intellectual, therefore he is right, LOL), put words in the mouths of his opponents, and baselessly claim that Starkey's points are "clear, valid and useful". The second one seems to be of the opinion that "the vast [majority] of the white population in the uk believes that black people caused these riots", and that appealing to what the majority supposedly think is a valid rational argument defending Starkey's point. Which is wrong at least twice, and yet it has been thumbed-up 440 times. What the actual HELL?
The rest of the comments go on to say that the "PC fuckers are responsible for the mess we have nowadays" - because trying to promote inclusive language towards black and working-class people is obviously going to make them riot. Another one talks about how it's shameful for anyone to ever use a black accent or stereotypically teenage dialect if you live in the same country as Shakespeare did (64 thumbs up). Another (almost hilariously) uses completely fictitious "United Nations figures" to argue that "Negroes are 10 and 20% less intelligent than White People". Yet another talks (complete irrelevantly) about how Labour have deliberately accelerated immigration to destroy European culture, and by doing so they should be hanged for "cultural genocide" (whatever that may be) (69 thumbs up). And on. And on. And on.
You can see the problem. The racialist, anti-multiculturalism bandwagon is gathering speed and passengers at a rate of knots. Political illiterates believe that any wild criticism of "black culture", or of the idea that white and blacks can live together without killing each other, is a thoughtful and valid political argument. It's insane.
How has this happened? Well, you'll be thrilled to know that I have a theory.
The thing is: almost every single human, on some level, regards themselves as an underdog. We are all conscious of the fact that, not only were we born into a world where nature is totally apathetic to our survival and wellbeing, but we also essentially have to compete with 7 billion other humans who are all trying to achieve the same things as we are*. It's a daunting prospect for everyone, and it seems that many people die without ever doing anything other than trying to cope with the massive world which seems to be so unanimously against them.
And this applies whether you are rich, poor, white, black, whatever. But when you are a member of the white middle-class, you are told constantly that you are on top, that your kind are responsible for suppressing everyone else, that you will have an easier ride of it that everyone outside your demographic group. But this doesn't seem to fit with your intuitive perception of yourself as an underdog, and your understanding that you will still have to fight to get everything you want from life.
Blacks, the working class, gays, Muslims, women- all these people have political and cultural movements dedicated to their empowerment. But if you are in all the majorities, you don't have that. As far as politics is concerned, you don't need empowerment. So when someone like David Starkey, or a movement like the BNP, espouse political theories that confirm your suspicion that you are in fact an underdog, many people can't help but grasp at them. "Of course I am threatened politically! Don't you see, my identity as a white person is being eroded by all this immigration and what have you? Isn't it obvious, the liberal elite (whoever they are) want to take away all my hard-earned money?"
One of the reasons tribalism is so appealing is that you get to join a group of people who unconditionally want to fight for your empowerment as a person. Race- or class-driven politics consists of groups of people coming together with the same belief, that they are underdogs, and channeling the blame for their (percievedly) weak position on a group of people who are different from them in some way. To a certain extent, the gay rights, civil rights and feminist movements can degenerate into the same thing as Starkeyism: "straights/whites/men are suppressing us, it's their fault, all of them are evil!". But at least minority rights movements are based on a correct observation: that these people have less rights than those people, and this should be rectified. The British Nationalist etc. movement, as well as anti-gay social conservatism, is based on the belief that equal rights will weaken the position of the majority, and this theory is embraced by so many because it presses the buttons of all those who privately believe that they are underdogs.
So basically: don't fall for it.
*I don't actually believe that all-pervading dog-eat-dog competition is a realistic or helpful view of the world, but living in proximity to other individuals with all the same wants as you will eventually necessitate some kind of competition.
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