I wasn't going to write this, but then, of course, I saw something so ridiculous and related to the subject that I just had to. Much in the same way that Jim Carrey's horrendous picture prompted me to write a few words on another distasteful subject. I'll return to the thing that convinced me this essay should be wrote in a couple hundred words.
Does racism exist or is there another driving force that needs to be taken into account? By extension, does ageism, sexism, and all the other related 'isms exist? These really seem to be subcategories, and as subcategories, they don't actually exist. What exists is the thing that gives birth to them: in-group bias, of which tribalism is closely related. Racism is just in-group bias turned against people because of their ancestry while bigotry is lower level bias towards the same group of people. Sexism is just in-group bias turned against members of the opposite sex. And ageism is in-group bias...you get the point. Or I'm going to assume you do, because I'm not biased enough to assume you're too stupid not to. Which would be called mentalism, since I'm on the subject. All these are just subcategories of a greater thing that seems to be lost in the emotion din of 'you're x' and 'no, you're x'.
Which completely ignores the fact that everyone is racist in some way in regards to disliking some group of 'others', which is what directing out-group bias against people really appears to be. Guess what? You have your preferred people to hang out with. You have your preferred music. You have your preferred everything. And guess what? So does everyone else. When someone is hostile to or doesn't prefer your preferences, you can have a bad reaction to it, some of the reactions have been given names, which are really labels that have been created haphazardly without regard to the underlying hard wiring that really controls things. This is complicated by the fact that everyone's in-groups aren't the same. Someone or something that is okay to one isn't to another.
For instance, I have no problem at all admitting that I direct in-group bias towards certain people and participate in an 'ism'. It's just not based on where someone appears to be from. It's based on whether you're a slacker or not. Keep a job? Check. Work while at the job? Check. Can manage your money? Check. Don't ask to borrow money? Check. Aren't a junkie? Check. Don't have a problem that I have a problem with these types of people? Check. Looks simple and socially acceptable enough, nor do I care if someone thinks it's not. It's 'slackism' or whatever you want to call not having a thing for people that can't keep their shit together. But then if one of those dozens of people happen to be from Africa, does that make me racist? The argument could be made, but it's like arguing a boat is going to sink because there's not enough air on the topside rather than too much water inside. Either way, it's the same argument about prejudice against specific out-groups. So, do 'isms exist? Does something so easily manipulated have a real form beyond a concept or was its form lost?
I think the form was lost. I think society got too far into labeling things and has started to forget what things really are. Everything has roots that can be uncovered once facades and propaganda are brushed aside. Which brings me back to the thing that spurred me to write these few words.
'The Hunt' is a film by Universal Pictures that's due to be released on September 27th. The premise of this film is political groups killing each other while yelling pseudo-Nazi one liners like 'Nothing better than going out to the Manor and slaughtering a dozen deplorables.'. It could be a line screamed out by Nazis in 'Inglorious Bastards' and it'd fit right in. The story outlined in the articles about it is the perfect picture of what I'm talking about in this essay: two groups are opposed to those outside their in-group. It's basically an in/out group satire story and the 'ism displayed is that of two political groups with extreme prejudice for each other, of which there is no label. I'll make one up real fast: politism, prejudice against those that have differing political beliefs. It's an 'ism, which makes it an in-group bias fueled prejudice, so all that is just a nice way to say it's 'racism against people that don't vote the same way'. But since I'll argue that no 'ism exists beyond being a concept and that each has simply gotten its own label, I'm really saying it's 'hostile group bias manifested as politism'.
Where this political nonsense is going is hard to say, but the one thing I do know is that the people wanting guns to be confiscated are the same people that would apparently support Democide, because that's what killing citizens by a government entity is called. It's a form of genocide which is merely large scale homicide. Therefore, guns can't logically be allowed to be confiscated, because that's the same as giving a crackhead the key to your house. Long story short, you're screwed if you do and anything that results from doing so is your own fault, especially, when it's coming from people that want to cry racism and other 'isms without acknowledging their own.
The real interesting cases are those that are prejudiced against those who were once their own in-group. The Caucasians that jump on the racism bandwagon like a MeToo 'survivor' on that bandwagon after their violator dies. Or the gay guys that are causing trouble with the trans people like a weird, modern reboot of the 'Rocky Horror Picture Show'. What would this be called? Monoism? Prejudice against anything remotely dissimilar to oneself to the point of ostracizing someone in your own in-group based on their out-group preference alone? But again, that would just be a label. What really exists is in-group and out-group bias and more and more focus is being put on minute details which creates splinter groups within splinter groups.
I won't get into the details of why I think this process is happening. Such things are covered to one degree or another in my other essays and have to do with things such as prescriptions, environmental toxins, identity politics, social media, and news media combined with a bad culture that includes a lack of foresight for the future, a lack of a common goal, a lack of personal responsibility, a lack of regard for anyone else, entitlement mentality, and dehellenization. We're a failed culture. We have things to fix, and they won't be fixed by worrying about 'isms that are just labels for something that is hardwired into us. Nor will they be fixed by pretending they're something they aren't. At the end of the day, if you can show me how to keep someone from trying to kill someone over a Chevy/Ford bias, I can show you how to fix the 'isms, because they all have the same underlying cause.
And how to 'fix' them? We could start by acknowledging that everyone has their preferences and just because they don't agree with your own doesn't make them 'evil' or 'deplorable' because that type of language is what leads to more violent events. How this mindset has come to be has to do with the reasons outlined above, I think. People have forgotten that when it comes to a country, the title of citizen or lawfully here is all that matters. Don't prefer some group? Fine, stay away from them. But that also means stay away from the people that prefer that group if you can't get along with them, however, remember they're a part of this country with you. Everyone doesn't have to like you, and if everyone does, that's a problem itself. Another way it can be fixed is simply having some standards. There's far too much enabling and helicopter parenting of children, and this has been going on for many decades as looked at in my essay '1950: The Beginning of the End of Men', and creates a sheltered environment in which there's a stronger reaction to outside stimuli. Hence, there should be a stronger inclination towards bias in someone that's been sheltered versus someone that's experienced more of life, and this sheltering needs to be taken into account. Basically, people need to put their electronics down and live life a bit more so different ideas and outlooks don't create an anxiety ridden life in which they don't take in information and change their thinking based on new input. Another major issue that needs addressed is prescription drug use and their side effects and how much they could be affecting all this nonsense. And I don't just mean opiates. Gabapentin, for instance, has long been known to affect neuron development and nearly every anti-depressant, anti-anxiety, and sleep aid med has some form of madness as a side effect, ranging from suicidal thoughts to sleep driving to...excessive gambling, and it wouldn't surprise me if we find out they also increase the propensity to do other things like engagement in biased activities. All because the person is essentially running around high on powerful chemicals. That fact that is easily forgotten when someone has a script, but more readily remembered if they are a crackhead. The possible effects of rampant prescription drug use on our political environment and number of mass shootings deserves a book all to its own.
Additional reading:
Tribalism is terrorizing America: https://www.thepostmillennial.com/tribalism-is-terrorizing-america/?fbclid=IwAR1k7cmu4tzwmar_Ofr1CfSxOrs-DoskqkqzPtWLzijzJtZLy-wwPy2v1EY
Ads Pulled for Gory Universal Thriller 'The Hunt' in Wake of Mass Shootings (Exclusive): https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ads-pulled-hunt-wake-mass-shootings-1229829?fbclid=IwAR11KNN9hyUtNLpyetttqRv9NdEeoMOckTvfWVGfM10won2T5O6Ujs3FNYg
DEATH BY GOVERNMENT-Chapter 2-Definition of Democide: https://hawaii.edu/powerkills/DBG.CHAP2.HTM
Gun control American Left starts calling for eradication of Trump supporters: https://www.puppetstringnews.com/blog/gun-control-american-left-starts-calling-for-eradication-of-trump-supporters?fbclid=IwAR0ubTwYjAw4DLzor-GjK2QerVDIJzFmqnB6j6GFG-oEffgkUMHeLPQeMys
Kirsten Gillibrand Is Right: Racism Is About White People: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/01/opinion/2020-candidates-race.html
Tensions between trans women and gay men boil over at Stonewall anniversary: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gay-pride-transgender/tensions-between-trans-women-and-gay-men-boil-over-at-stonewall-anniversary-idUSKCN1TV0V0
What Is the Ingroup Bias?: https://www.explorepsychology.com/ingroup-bias/
Ford vs. Chevy argument leads to man stabbing, shooting girlfriend during Easter dinner: https://abc7.com/ford-vs-chevy-argument-ends-with-gunshots-over-easter-dinner/5283722/
Study pinpoints key mechanism in brain development, raising questions about use of antiseizure drug: https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2009/10/study-pinpoints-key-mechanism-in-brain-development-raising-questions-about-use-of-antiseizure-drug.html
US antidepressant use jumps 65 percent in 15 years: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-08-antidepressant-percent-years.html
You made me think of a book that I read as part of a psychology class in my masters degree program, Stigma. To have a stigma is to have a stain on oneself that almost all of society abhors. These new isms are trying to break down stigmas that have long been held for the wrong reasons.
I also like what you wrote about helicopter parenting. I came up through the, behaviorist, educational route, but I believe that genetics plays a larger role than educators want to believe. The fruit doesn't fall very far from the tree. Unless we allow our children to make mistakes and learn on their own, they are going to become pawns of our in-group, or rebel in nonpositive ways when they reach their teens.
Ron