So Im taking an honors course in conspiracy theories this semester, and its proving to be quite enjoyable and thought provoking. I admit though, I would enjoy it more if the discussions were around a bonfire with a cider. We started with anti-semitism and its effects, examining the Inquisition and the protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. Now, any of you that actually know me know how THAT whole conversation was going to go, but the professor posted some good discussion questions. So I want to share them and my answers to them and see what shakes out of the FB looney tree. Feel free to ignore if you dont want to take the time. I can be a chatty beast, lol. 1) What do you feel was the most significant contributor to the growth of anti-semitic feeling over time and why? Fear of the OTHER. Frank Herbert said, Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I still believe that the largest single factor that reinforced the anti-semitic knee-jerk over and over until it became possible to do anything in its name is that when you need a scape-goat, you look for the nearest different-than-you that isn’t strong enough to hit back. The Doctor says “Fear breeds savagery”, and fear of the OTHER is one of the oldest ones in the human psyche. Fear of the different is as ancient as opposable thumbs and as right-now as brand new baby children on a playground. It doesn’t have to be learned or taught, although that makes it much, much worse. Fear of what’s not like you is the most dangerous fear there is because it seems so reasonable when it slips into your mind. Unless your scapegoat is already subjugated, fear of him just looks like rational and necessary caution when it first slinks into your head. But take that simple fear, and feed it and magnify it with centuries of wild rumors and superstitions leavened with a scattering of half-truths that add up to lies, and it can burn the world down. 2) What is the best way to judge the validity of source material? Whenever I would trip over a factoid that didn’t fit into my worldview, my Mother always said; “Consider the source.” If I find I must evaluate some extant material, that’s still what I do. When attempting to evaluate the validity of a data source, I begin with two simple words; peer reviewed. If I’m very lucky I can find the references I’m looking for in a peer-reviewed database. Unfortunately, everyday issues are rarely so convenient. When faced with a new datum that is not quantifiable by reputable journals, I must begin the sometimes laborious process of finding and evaluating the original source of the datum; who wrote it and why? Who is repeating the datum, and why, and are they repeating it accurately? For what purpose is it being used in situ and by whom? What was its original context? Is the current source reliable, unbiased, and qualified to issue the datum? I find that if I ask enough questions, and do enough digging, I can get a decent grip on the motivation of the source, and that illuminates the validity significantly. Or, if I’m feeling lazy, I can just check Snopes to make sure I haven’t just been Punk’d by The Onion again. 3) Can you draw any comparisons at this point between the conspiracy of Jewish plans for world domination with any other conspiracies you are familiar with? The substance is almost always the same. Jung or Campbell would say that there is a pan-cultural archetype of the vast and shadowy power-mad puppet masters. The “secretly engineered and controlled training of the populace for some world-domination culminating Mousetrap Game” part of the story remains the same, only the names of the would-be masters change. When I was a teen, it was all about George Bush Sr and his CIA cronies stuffing ballot boxes and creating/training/inventing Evil-Sock-Puppet-for-the-Masses Saddam Hussein so he could frighten Ma and Pa Yuppie into establishing his “New World Order” with his Skull and Bones Frat Brothers and their Big Oil Money friends. So, I wore a “Monkeywrench the New World Order” T-shirt with Jello Biafra’s name on it in Sharpie and listened to Punk music while planning elaborate pranks we could pull to “stick it to the MAN”. New model, original parts; this conspiracy is plug and play. Final thought: Nothing kills fear faster than light. Even with an ancient and powerful fear, if you pull it out from under the bed and shine a light on it so you can really see it for what it is, and then you examine that fear with light in your heart, with honesty, integrity, faith, and a decent sense of humor, the false shadows of what was fearful fall away. Thats where true dialogue begins.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 03:39:10 +0000