An Interesting Week on NewsTalkers ... ... by Bob Nelson
Our little microcosm here on NT has spent the week adapting to a post-Charlottesville reality that is very different from what existed before... or rather... very different from what many of us thought to be real before.
Almost all our members are fundamentally decent people, so (almost) everyone was deeply upset by a torch-carrying crowd chanting anti-Semitic slogans... and the ensuing terrorist attack on a counter-demonstrator crowd that killed one person and injured nineteen.
Decent people don't like torch-lit crowds shouting hate. Decent people don't like the murder of innocent people. Everyone on NT (almost) was perturbed.
Ah, but...
"I'm not a racist, but..."
I don't think there are any outright Nazis on NT. There may be a few fellow-travelers. There are certainly some who would not be uncomfortable in a demonstration standing next to a guy with a Nazi flag.
And -- this is where the rubber meets the road -- there many who are perfectly comfortable in the company of those people who are OK with associating with Nazi-flag carriers.
There are no outright Nazis on NT, but many of us are at just two degrees of separation. I repeat, "many of us" . NT is a community, theoretically governed by its members. In other words, each of us is in some measure responsible for the behavior of all the others.
If we see reprehensible behavior in our community, we are remiss if we do not denounce it.
If my neighbor raises a Nazi flag on his lawn, I am morally obligated to protest. That's easy.
If the neighbor of a friend raises a Nazi flag, and my friend does not protest it, then I am morally obligated to protest my friend's behavior. That's a lot harder.
That's where our "two degrees of separation from Nazis" members are. They are very uncomfortable.
It has been fascinating to observe the behavior of some members over this week. When Charlottesville happened, everyone was briefly stunned into silence. Then some -- I was one -- were fairly quick with seeds and articles condemning the Nazis and their fellow-travelers. But hey! Let's not kid ourselves: Condemning fascism isn't exactly a heavy lift.
It was a whole lot harder for our "two degrees of separation" members, who struggled with their consciences for at least, oh, half a day... before adopting several lines of derail, distraction, deflection, ... and simple straightforward denial.
As the week has gone by, these associates-of-associates' messaging has become ever more aggressive in defense of the Nazis' fellow-travelers. The messaging has standardized around a few bullet points...
It has been a fascinating week on NewsTalkers, a site where almost everyone is fundamentally decent...
Tags
Who is online
447 visitors
"Of course I condemn racist hatred, but let's not forget... yada-yada!"
Saying straight out, "Racism is evil!" carries consequences for the speaker. It is obvious that anyone defending evil is also evil, so a simple condemnation of racist hatred requires the speaker to go the next step and also condemn racists' fellow-travelers. Which we be uncomfortably close to condemning... themselves...