"The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil." Hannah Arendt. As Pogo the Possum said, "we have met the enemy and he is us."
Less than two years ago (seems like longer) we saw grown men with guns, angrily screaming about needing a haircut. They stormed state capitols because I guess they couldn't stand to be around their families anymore and some of these even plotted to kidnap, rape, and murder a state governor. And then the attack on the capitol last year to stop the certification of the election and murder Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi. Yep. I'm a little worried some of us might be whistling past the grave yard on this one.
This gets more play today than similar vigilante and fringe groups got in the past. But it is a real question as to extent. The paramilitary types have existed for some time on the edges of society. Have such movements actually gotten bigger? How concerned should we be. Note that graveyards are not inherently dangerous, except to those of us that can visualize our own final destination.
True enough. But the boy in the poem doesn't know that but I wonder when it was that we missed the armed storming of state capitols, a plot to kidnap, rape, and murder a governor in the past. From what I've read and by my impression, the groups are still a bit fringy, though not as much as they used to be, but they are now able to magnify their presence with the use of social media (who, I might add, do promote their agenda using algorithms). Still, there's a big enough portion of a political party that plays to this group, or should I say, the donors they share in common.
It's also notable that Tucker Carlson was able to drag a Senator into an interview and not only get him to apologize and grovel because telling the truth played into the hands of the others, but was able to get the Republican Senator to agree that right wing terrorism isn't terrorism.
After being put in his place by the tv entertainer, the Senator did the tv entertainer's bidding by putting forth one of the tv entertainer's favorite conspiracy theories so that the tv entertainer could entertain his consumers and attack political enemies and the government.
I listened to some of the Hearing. Cruz, who I assume is the "Senator," does come across as a tough inquisitor. I haven't seen all of the Carlson interview, but I thought Cruz got as well as he gave. One thing is really clear from these segments. People like Carlson and Cruz are promoting themselves and their interests before any concern for the public good. Are they representative? Of what? Perhaps, more than I want to believe. For all of us motives are mixed. Are they "evil?" I prefer to think like Arendt that it is banal, with a strong seasoning with extreme selfishness. Some people don't seem to care about who they hurt, of who they distract, or who they misinform as they speed their tank down the middle of the road.
If there were a political version of the Darwin Award, the Republican party would be a winner. Here are some very interesting data in terms of COVID infection and death rates by party and by state:
Less than two years ago (seems like longer) we saw grown men with guns, angrily screaming about needing a haircut. They stormed state capitols because I guess they couldn't stand to be around their families anymore and some of these even plotted to kidnap, rape, and murder a state governor. And then the attack on the capitol last year to stop the certification of the election and murder Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi. Yep. I'm a little worried some of us might be whistling past the grave yard on this one.
This gets more play today than similar vigilante and fringe groups got in the past. But it is a real question as to extent. The paramilitary types have existed for some time on the edges of society. Have such movements actually gotten bigger? How concerned should we be. Note that graveyards are not inherently dangerous, except to those of us that can visualize our own final destination.
True enough. But the boy in the poem doesn't know that but I wonder when it was that we missed the armed storming of state capitols, a plot to kidnap, rape, and murder a governor in the past. From what I've read and by my impression, the groups are still a bit fringy, though not as much as they used to be, but they are now able to magnify their presence with the use of social media (who, I might add, do promote their agenda using algorithms). Still, there's a big enough portion of a political party that plays to this group, or should I say, the donors they share in common.
It's also notable that Tucker Carlson was able to drag a Senator into an interview and not only get him to apologize and grovel because telling the truth played into the hands of the others, but was able to get the Republican Senator to agree that right wing terrorism isn't terrorism.
After being put in his place by the tv entertainer, the Senator did the tv entertainer's bidding by putting forth one of the tv entertainer's favorite conspiracy theories so that the tv entertainer could entertain his consumers and attack political enemies and the government.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4995564/senator-cruz-questions-fbi-official-ray-epps-role-january-6
I listened to some of the Hearing. Cruz, who I assume is the "Senator," does come across as a tough inquisitor. I haven't seen all of the Carlson interview, but I thought Cruz got as well as he gave. One thing is really clear from these segments. People like Carlson and Cruz are promoting themselves and their interests before any concern for the public good. Are they representative? Of what? Perhaps, more than I want to believe. For all of us motives are mixed. Are they "evil?" I prefer to think like Arendt that it is banal, with a strong seasoning with extreme selfishness. Some people don't seem to care about who they hurt, of who they distract, or who they misinform as they speed their tank down the middle of the road.
.
If there were a political version of the Darwin Award, the Republican party would be a winner. Here are some very interesting data in terms of COVID infection and death rates by party and by state:
https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2021/12/08/data-wonk-how-republicans-are-killing-their-supporters/
Daryl
Thank you John for another great thought provoking esssy.