[lbo-talk] A picture tells a thousand words

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

Joanna:
> Since I don't watch TV, it's hard to figure out what this is all about.
> 
> -- Something tells me that if Schiavo were black or asian or ...., this
> would not be happening.
> -- What does normal life feel like to make one identify with a
> brain-dead person kept alive by hi tech?
> -- Is it just another soap opera that allows these sorts of people to
> feel the little bit of drama that helps them make it through another day?
> 
> ...what is it?

I think it is an embodiment of a central conservative/fascist myth of
suffering innocence - the "sacrificial lamb" of christianity if you will.
It is quite apparent when you juxtapose the characters with which these
creeps emphasize with those whom they eagerly condemn to fiery death in
hell.

Creatures worth conservative empathy:
Unborn fetuses, brain dead patients, innocent victims i.e. people victimized
by strangers while performing conventional roles (parents, shoppers,
drivers, passersby), religious adherents persecuted for their beliefs (the
so-called martyrs) 

Creatures deserving fiery death in hell:
Unwed mothers, people in unconventional social roles (intellectuals,
homosexuals, cross-dressers, unbelievers, etc.), aliens of various sorts
(immigrants, foreigners, people with different customs or just looking
differently).

The myth of suffering innocence is the fundament of the essential feature of
a conservative/fascist mindset: outgroup aggression.  It is a persistent
feature found in sympathizers of various right wing causes.  In a
conservative/fascist mindset, however, such a knee-jerk outgroup aggression
is merely a defence against threats and injustices directed at them by the
outside world.  The myth of suffering innocence reinforces the feeling of
victimization in these creeps and legitimizes their aggressive behavior.

In a nutshell, conservatism is not a rational ideology but a mental disorder
(akin to paranoia) that combines mental rigidity, difficulties to deal with
changes and uncertainty, and fear of the unknown with ritualized aggression
(i.e. aggression directed at conventionally anointed scapegoats).  People
affected by this mental disorder seldom have a rational political philosophy
of any kind - rather they adopt a hodgepodge of stories, myths, beliefs,
news and causes that fit right into and reinforce their psychotic mind set.
Hence the apparent contradiction between their support of fetuses or brain
dead human vegetables on the one hand, and death penalty, harsh punishment,
wars of aggression on the other.  

Wojtek