I have had some friends who believed very deeply in the Palestinian cause. They weren’t particularly performative though. They lived and worked in Palestine to try and make a difference and then when they were state side, they tried to convince with perspective and stories that countered the conventional wisdom and politics.
I have had some friends who believed very deeply in the Palestinian cause. They weren’t particularly performative though. They lived and worked in Palestine to try and make a difference and then when they were state side, they tried to convince with perspective and stories that countered the conventional wisdom and politics.
For me at least? It was a lot more powerful than what’s going on today.
I don’t know. I get that there is reason the issue may be more urgent today than it was in the past.
But we know a lot about the brain science of group building among homo sapiens. We also know a lot about its opposite: Genocide.
The thing I am repeatedly struck by is how often the pro-Palestinian protests (at least the ones that I hear about - which may be selection bias) preach what sounds like the gospel of the psychology of genocide.
At best, many of these protestors seem to seek a power reversal. I get that oppressing the oppressor is a political ideology and may, in fact, be having its moment.
To me? It’s not a very compelling argument.
But if this kind of thinking is successful and prevails?
I think it just keeps our species mired in the muck of cyclical violence and thousand year grudges.
People today are forming group identities with groups they don’t understand over conflicts where they understand none of the complexities.
News Flash: The world is full of people and conflicting perspectives and narratives.
For example:
You can say the Holy Wars were an evil war of aggression in the name of religion. I can say the Holy Wars were an attempt to unify a fractionalized Europe and push back expanding Islamic powers that reached the very gates of Western European power.
Let’s trace this conflict and who is right and who is wrong down through history and debate who is right.
You know what? It’s way easier than that debate though.
No one is right. We are a species whose great triumphs lie in our ability to form and hold surprisingly large groups. Our great evils are committed when we identify others as outside our group and dehumanize them.
AND WE ALL DO IT. BECAUSE ITS PART OF OUR BIOLOGY.
It’s really remarkable how religion nailed the cure without really understanding the scientific cause.
It’s joy and love. That’s all that will reduce the violence in the world today. That is it. I think it has been robustly demonstrated that globalization alone won’t do it.
We have to figure out how to see people as people.
And invading a dean’s dinner? Or portraying him in an anti-Semitic way?
Sorry - not sorry - that kind of thinking and conduct is part of the problem and a perpetuation of violence.
Will love and joy heal the world for real?
I don’t know. I get the skepticism.
But in all seriousness: Have we ever really fucking tried it in a real and large scale way? And I am not talking in a lip service kind of way.
I have had some friends who believed very deeply in the Palestinian cause. They weren’t particularly performative though. They lived and worked in Palestine to try and make a difference and then when they were state side, they tried to convince with perspective and stories that countered the conventional wisdom and politics.
For me at least? It was a lot more powerful than what’s going on today.
I don’t know. I get that there is reason the issue may be more urgent today than it was in the past.
But we know a lot about the brain science of group building among homo sapiens. We also know a lot about its opposite: Genocide.
The thing I am repeatedly struck by is how often the pro-Palestinian protests (at least the ones that I hear about - which may be selection bias) preach what sounds like the gospel of the psychology of genocide.
At best, many of these protestors seem to seek a power reversal. I get that oppressing the oppressor is a political ideology and may, in fact, be having its moment.
To me? It’s not a very compelling argument.
But if this kind of thinking is successful and prevails?
I think it just keeps our species mired in the muck of cyclical violence and thousand year grudges.
Exactly. Working on the ground in Palestine would make far more of a difference than protesting in a backyard.
People today are forming group identities with groups they don’t understand over conflicts where they understand none of the complexities.
News Flash: The world is full of people and conflicting perspectives and narratives.
For example:
You can say the Holy Wars were an evil war of aggression in the name of religion. I can say the Holy Wars were an attempt to unify a fractionalized Europe and push back expanding Islamic powers that reached the very gates of Western European power.
Let’s trace this conflict and who is right and who is wrong down through history and debate who is right.
You know what? It’s way easier than that debate though.
No one is right. We are a species whose great triumphs lie in our ability to form and hold surprisingly large groups. Our great evils are committed when we identify others as outside our group and dehumanize them.
AND WE ALL DO IT. BECAUSE ITS PART OF OUR BIOLOGY.
It’s really remarkable how religion nailed the cure without really understanding the scientific cause.
It’s joy and love. That’s all that will reduce the violence in the world today. That is it. I think it has been robustly demonstrated that globalization alone won’t do it.
We have to figure out how to see people as people.
And invading a dean’s dinner? Or portraying him in an anti-Semitic way?
Sorry - not sorry - that kind of thinking and conduct is part of the problem and a perpetuation of violence.
Will love and joy heal the world for real?
I don’t know. I get the skepticism.
But in all seriousness: Have we ever really fucking tried it in a real and large scale way? And I am not talking in a lip service kind of way.
Also remember when we used to satirize this kind of stuff? https://youtu.be/amrTOsYa4sA?si=kcfd9EREjm0j0J4Y