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Had a strange-feeling realization today, questioning my own views on racism in a new way
My grampa fled Germany in WWI then fought the Nazi's for the US in WWII.
A thread ...
My grampa fled Germany in WWI then fought the Nazi's for the US in WWII.
A thread ...
I grew up hearing him compliment people with "so and so is a real Mensch! "
Translation: upstanding citizen, moral and righteous, worthy of respect
Today this phase feels deeply racist. Is it just me? 2/n
Translation: upstanding citizen, moral and righteous, worthy of respect
Today this phase feels deeply racist. Is it just me? 2/n
My teen mind connected this idea to some of Nietzsche's writings. According to Wikipedia, the phrase is much older.
Those writings were used as justification for racism, for genocide. The same rhetoric in the air today. 3/n
Those writings were used as justification for racism, for genocide. The same rhetoric in the air today. 3/n
My grampa was proud when I learned German, and when I read Nietzsche (and others) in the original.
In my memory, he hated the Nazi's for their racism, and yet he prized a value system they used to justify war.
Oh, how history repeats itself! 4/n
In my memory, he hated the Nazi's for their racism, and yet he prized a value system they used to justify war.
Oh, how history repeats itself! 4/n
I can apply this idea in the way I think Nietzsche meant it - about overcoming our own "simplistic urges", "base instincts", to "turn our mind into a tool we control"
To become a trustworthy member of civil society, with integrity and honor... 5/n
To become a trustworthy member of civil society, with integrity and honor... 5/n
Or... I can use the same idea to categorically other any group (race, etc) whose value system prizes those things Nietzsche so hated, and/or whose societal norms are different enough to be incompatible with upper class European strictures! 6/n
Like non-dyadic love, and being lesbian, and wanting a society that cares for the sick and prizes different ways of living in relation to the earth ...
which all sounds pretty great to me
(that's my interpretation of Nietzsche's bad things list, not his words) 7/n
which all sounds pretty great to me
(that's my interpretation of Nietzsche's bad things list, not his words) 7/n
So here's what I'm struggling with
Every stratified social system I'm familiar with, from Germany to India to China, posits for itself a noble goal for socially-lower citizens to aspire to.
As a result, they're all vulnerable to the same hijacking! 8/n
Every stratified social system I'm familiar with, from Germany to India to China, posits for itself a noble goal for socially-lower citizens to aspire to.
As a result, they're all vulnerable to the same hijacking! 8/n
And now we - the US tech oligarchy and all the intelligencia whom they employ, myself included - have built a machine so capable of swaying opinion of entire societies ...
wait, that's what ppl said about TV and radio and ... the printing press!
No, tech isn't the problem 9/n
wait, that's what ppl said about TV and radio and ... the printing press!
No, tech isn't the problem 9/n
That members of any society which doesn't share the same goals CAN BECOME SEEN as "animal", less than human, incapable of becoming Mensch, and therefore to be treated as such.
That's the vuln. Humans are the vuln.
Social media? just the latest exploit used by ideologues
10/n
That's the vuln. Humans are the vuln.
Social media? just the latest exploit used by ideologues
10/n
Oh, how history repeats itself.
I think I'll stop here. That was a lot.
/fin
I think I'll stop here. That was a lot.
/fin
