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| THE GREAT NAMAZU APPLIES HIS 3,000 YEARS OF HUMAN OBSERVATION TO THE RADICALIZATION PROCESS |
GREETINGS BIPEDS!
If you've been watching America since the Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building back on April 19, 1995 you noticed that a lot of innocent Americans and others have died in America since then from terrorist attacks. The perpetrators in the Oklahoma City attack Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were clearly of a right wing persuasion. The perpetrators of the airplane attacks on New York City in 2001 were clearly Islamic, while it appears that the attacker of Senator Vitter and his baseball team was a socialists hater of the people Hillary Clinton declared "deplorables". These shooters of "Deplorables" seem to be proliferating. In the Los Vegas shootings there is some evidence of both anti "Deplorables" and Islamic influences on the shooter. In the recent Church shootings in Texas there is ample evidence of mental illness, un-suppressed hostility, and some serious anti "Deplorables" influences on the shooter. One has to ask; all these people with such disparate beliefs causing all this death; do they have anything in common? Few would argue against the idea that they are all radical believers in whatever they believe in, enough so to dehumanize and murder anyone who doesn't share their beliefs. This in turn begs the question is there anything in the various paths to radicalization that all of these perpetrators had or have in common.? Personally I think so.
I also believe that persons under going the radicalization process display certain signs of the process along the way, but fortunately for us peaceful folks not every radical is going to become a mass murderer. Unfortunately, under the right circumstances, any of them could turn to mass murder. I believe that one of the first signs of anyone who has been radicalized is the loss of a sense of humor. That doesn't mean the radical is incapable of sarcasm, indeed sarcasm becomes a predominant form of their daily speech. Perhaps the early warning sign of the loss of a sense of humor is loss of any self depreciating sense of humor, the person who can never see the humor in their own actions or pronouncements. Once this failure to see becomes a perception of insult, whenever anyone doesn't accept their ideas, the radical is about to pop out of the once at least civilized on the surface person. This is not to say that the radicalized person can't laugh, but they laugh at inappropriate things, especially sarcasm or any form of pain or insult directed at their "enemy". The radical really can't tell a joke to a general audience. Since the election of Donald Trump most of the net work late night talk show hosts have sunk into lengthy, repetitive sarcastic monologues. This is a major reason for some brighter day time shows like "HARRY" to start being replayed in the late night. The slip into radicalism by late night "pundits" has done wonders for the ratings of Star Trek reruns.
However, while this loss of a sense of humor is a mark on the route to radicalization, many people, particularly those with a lot to lose like late night TV hosts, simply turn into boorish, morose, angry people but don't destroy property or physically hurt anyone. They aren't much fun to be around but are not likely to become dangerous. However, a small minority of angry, morose, people who want the world to turn their way eventually show signs of devaluing the human life and private property of whole classes of human beings that don't agree with their world view. Eventually, in the later stages, these humorless, angry people begin to articulate their ideas about violence on those who they disagree with. They dehumanize those they don't agree with. When such people begin to articulate such thoughts they have usually set foot on the second to last step on the slippery slope to violent radicalism. When articulation turns to open advocacy of such violence they have crossed the line and either must be controlled or society and individuals will suffer, some will suffer loss if life.
The pragmatist who observes the radicalization process writ large as it is today often will make a call to arms, in terms of societal and personal self defense. Such advocacy of self defense is only reasonable and necessary. However, the true radical will respond to such a call with more invective calling those who advocate self defense "racists", "gun nuts", "Nazis", or Fascists. The pragmatists quietly arms himself and goes about his daily living in the sure and certain knowledge that you can't reason with the radical. Civil war is ignited when the attacks on the pragmatists and other non radicals become so frequent that the number of radicals confronting armed and trained pragmatists reaches critical mass and the majority of the pragmatists arm themselves. The hope of the world is that eventually enough armed pragmatists emerge to actually suppress the radicals. The history of the world is that more often than not the radicals succeed in disarming the pragmatists while the majority of pragmatists are engaged in the "bias towards normalcy", then the radicals start a blood bath. If all of the ranting of the radicals is simply too much for you to follow, don't fail to follow this one thing, radical progress in disarming the rest of us. It has not neared critical mass yet, but if it passes it we will enter a dark age.
Keep Calm and Carry. Laugh, including at yourself there Wyatt Earp. Remember the angry crazy people who can't laugh at anything except sarcasm like late night talk show hosts, liberals, socialists, globalists, neo Nazis, Reconquistas, Islamofascists, fire and brimstone preachers, et al suffer ill health effects of stress. In the end we may yet not have to shoot them in the preservation of freedom. Radicals become old fast, we will probably out live them naturally. Radicals are unattractive, may join rape gangs as many of the radical Muslims of Europe have done, but no one is really attracted to them and they aren't much in terms of reproduction. This infestation in societies emerges from time to time and often disappears of its own humourless weight. Hey I'm giant 3,000 year old catfish, if you can't believe me who can you believe?
However, while this loss of a sense of humor is a mark on the route to radicalization, many people, particularly those with a lot to lose like late night TV hosts, simply turn into boorish, morose, angry people but don't destroy property or physically hurt anyone. They aren't much fun to be around but are not likely to become dangerous. However, a small minority of angry, morose, people who want the world to turn their way eventually show signs of devaluing the human life and private property of whole classes of human beings that don't agree with their world view. Eventually, in the later stages, these humorless, angry people begin to articulate their ideas about violence on those who they disagree with. They dehumanize those they don't agree with. When such people begin to articulate such thoughts they have usually set foot on the second to last step on the slippery slope to violent radicalism. When articulation turns to open advocacy of such violence they have crossed the line and either must be controlled or society and individuals will suffer, some will suffer loss if life.
The pragmatist who observes the radicalization process writ large as it is today often will make a call to arms, in terms of societal and personal self defense. Such advocacy of self defense is only reasonable and necessary. However, the true radical will respond to such a call with more invective calling those who advocate self defense "racists", "gun nuts", "Nazis", or Fascists. The pragmatists quietly arms himself and goes about his daily living in the sure and certain knowledge that you can't reason with the radical. Civil war is ignited when the attacks on the pragmatists and other non radicals become so frequent that the number of radicals confronting armed and trained pragmatists reaches critical mass and the majority of the pragmatists arm themselves. The hope of the world is that eventually enough armed pragmatists emerge to actually suppress the radicals. The history of the world is that more often than not the radicals succeed in disarming the pragmatists while the majority of pragmatists are engaged in the "bias towards normalcy", then the radicals start a blood bath. If all of the ranting of the radicals is simply too much for you to follow, don't fail to follow this one thing, radical progress in disarming the rest of us. It has not neared critical mass yet, but if it passes it we will enter a dark age.
Keep Calm and Carry. Laugh, including at yourself there Wyatt Earp. Remember the angry crazy people who can't laugh at anything except sarcasm like late night talk show hosts, liberals, socialists, globalists, neo Nazis, Reconquistas, Islamofascists, fire and brimstone preachers, et al suffer ill health effects of stress. In the end we may yet not have to shoot them in the preservation of freedom. Radicals become old fast, we will probably out live them naturally. Radicals are unattractive, may join rape gangs as many of the radical Muslims of Europe have done, but no one is really attracted to them and they aren't much in terms of reproduction. This infestation in societies emerges from time to time and often disappears of its own humourless weight. Hey I'm giant 3,000 year old catfish, if you can't believe me who can you believe?
