an interesting thread. i don't think people bash and kill like this from feelings of superiority. those with power don't have to wash the blood off their hands as a general rule.
which kind of makes this a question about how to deal with the violence within the working class and the lumpen. ie., how would this change our strategy, if at all it should?
angela
maggie wrote:
>Maybe the perpetrators feel inadequate, but it is equally likely they
feel superior. then again maybe feelings of superiority come from
inferiority???
>Charles replied:
I think of the dog-eat-dog aspect contributing to the bully psychology
this way. In the generalized dog-eat-dog or rat race that capitalism
creates, we are all judged on a "curve" , so to speak. In other
words, my worth is measured by whether I am better than others. People
who feel inadequate look bullyishly for people they can literally jump
on to coverup their inadequacy and "prove" their "supremacy".
>
>I don't think those men who killed that disabled Black man in Texas
really have high self-esteem. Their problem is that they don't feel
very superior and are trying to get a superior feeling.