Peace or war? Murder or compassion? The hell in Israel and Palestine these last few weeks is the planet’s latest focal point of self-annihilation, which always begins with the dehumanization of enemies. And as Fox points out, this can lead to . . . holocaust: “the unthinkable becomes acceptable when we deny people their humanity.”
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The psychological phenomenon known as projection is nowhere as glaring as with white nationalists, most of whom are direct descendants of people who invaded and occupied someone else’s land, replacing the original people. Projecting onto refugees the idea that they would do what white nationalists have already done is a sad but predictable social psychological condition.
TGR has been around for more than 40 years. It started as a newsletter and upgraded to a tabloid newspaper. TGR became an editorial column after columns written under my name appeared in “major” newspapers and irritated some politicians in Florida, and John La Capra, a Republican client, suggested it become solely a column.
U.S. Steel gave birth to Gary, Indiana in 1906. The city, named after a chairman of the corporation’s board, started as housing for steelworkers. The Gary Works opened in 1908 and for most of the 20th century was the largest steel mill in the world; it’s still the largest in this country.
“There was a time, not that long ago, when the United States presumed to teach the world how it was done. When it held itself up as a model of a stable, predictable democracy. When it sent idealistic young avatars to distant parts of the globe to impart the American way. These days, to many watching at home and abroad, the American way no longer seems to offer a case study in effective representative democracy. Instead, it has become an example of disarray and discord, one that rewards extremism, challenges norms and threatens to divide a polarized country even further.”
Unfortunately, that realization did not go very far or very deep. Although, since that time, international law has been refined, nations remain far from adhering to its provisions or accepting its enforcement by the United Nations.
On October 16, during the NATO-supplied, nuclear-armed hot war in Ukraine, the alliance began its annual nuclear attack rehearsal dubbed “Steadfast Noon.” This practice involves air forces from 13 countries, the “exercising” of fighter jets and U.S. B-52s, lasts until October 26, and will be roaring over Italy, Croatia and the eastern Mediterranean — not far from two aircraft carrier battle groups charging toward the war over the Gaza Strip.
No Vaccine for Domestic Violence…Yet
Literally every time gains toward peace, justice, and nonviolence looked promising, someone from the most aggrieved and trauma-warped groups made sure to be spoilers by committing some atrocity and resetting the hate and violence.
The plot to conduct mayhem and murder, which included beheading as well as the burning alive of women and children, is the behaviors of individuals void of their humanity. What could pain human beings to the point of behaving as savages in an attempt to launch a contrived apocalypse?