April 11, 2014
Again I must apologize to my ever-expanding readership for the paucity in essays as-of-late — but I was hacked — and the hackers released some malicious software onto my site which caused my host to shut me out. It took me awhile to work through this (could it have been my \’ISIS\’ essays?) and then I was clobbered by mid terms — which downed me for awhile — but now I can pull \”The Devil Without\” from the boiler plate — where it has been simmering for quite some time…
As most folks know — I\’ve been teaching sociological theory the past two semesters and have been re-acquainting myself with classical and contemporary theorists. I feel like the German Jew, Georg Simmel, best informs us of the perspective RE: spotlighting the Devil \”outside of US\”: because once we\’ve done that — we no longer have to concern ourselves with the Devil within US. And this is the process countries use to legitimate violence against each other (it certainly worked brilliantly for US with 9/11).
Another example comes from visiting the folks in Florida; again, when my Mother (brainwashed by Fox, like so many septuagenarian and octogenarian) complained about Arabs shouting \”Death to America\” and calling US the Great Satan. I attempted to explain to her that US doesn\’t just step into these situations as the guy with the White Hat, and, that the \”bad guys\” may have good reason for saying the things they do: like the deaths of 2 million Iraqi civilians at the hands of US since Operation Desert Storm?
But the brainwashing techniques of Fox Media are so efficient, that many Americans can\’t conceive of an etiology to present-day situations (an \’etiology\’ is: the antecedent causal events that lead up to the present day). So — those brainwashed by Fox (and CNN) — only see the American Lone Ranger riding in to root out the bad guys.
Let\’s say (just for fun) that US gave Saddam Hussein poison gas to use on the Iranians after our boy Khomeini didn\’t fulfill his end of the oil deal that had US (and the Brits) removing the Shah for him. And, let\’s say that this same Khomeini forced hard line Islam down the throats of those disco-loving, hard-partying Iranians: I\’d say Iranians now have 2 reasons to shout \”Death to America\” — even though I personally don\’t care to hear another disco song in this lifetime.
But Fox Zombies (yes, my Mother and Father are such), only see US riding into situations that have been magically filled up with bad guys: always on a noble mission to clean up the ilk by any means necessary.
I\’m not sure when we became the world\’s moral police (probably after WWII when we were the only country standing) — but I am struck by the amazingly long way US have come from the frightening racism that US once practiced (written tongue-in-cheek — as the number of unarmed black men being shot to death by white policeman incredulously mounts) that US can sort out the world\’s moral and ethical issues. I mean, between the years of 1882 and 1901 White America lynched an average 150 Black Men a-year — in communal events! I guess we\’ve come a long way quickly — to be able to spread our immaculate morality around the world. Hell! Our \”Negro\” veterans of WWII were still treated as second class citizens after US. Every American student should study Mike Wallace\’s interview with Farrakhan and Dan Rather\’s interview with the Shah…but then they would glimpse the Devil within — and we\’ve got to keep the Devil without…
So, as long as US can find that Devil without — US will never have never have to confront the Devil within. In fact, US have grown so cocky in the face of the Devil that US even threaten him by saying: Be Nice to US or we\’ll Give You Democracy.