Friday, December 05, 2008

Speculations On The Secret Jewish Emperor Of The World

Ever since Obama’s election, I’ve amused myself by occasionally lurking at white supremacist forums and watching the posters go gaga with furious fear over the coming “Obamanation.” (Note to white readers with equally white fiancées: hurry up and get married before inauguration day, when Obama will make miscegenation mandatory as part of his master plan to pollute and destroy America’s remaining European bloodlines.)

I’ve always thought of racism as an evolutionary hangover, first cousin to the monster-under-the-bed fears that plague small children; for most of humanity’s hundred thousand years on earth, a toddler’s world really did contain hungry predators looking to eat him. And people who looked noticeably different from you really were to be feared (along with anyone else not in your tribe).

So if the racism found on sites like Stormfront boiled down to a mere “My race is better than your race” or “I’d rather not hang out with those people,” I wouldn’t be surprised. But what they’ve got isn’t just a vestigial dislike of the Different; there’s also a paranoid certainty that everything bad that ever happens in the world is due to a secret conspiracy of Jews. With less than one-half of one percent of the world population, they’ve managed to secretly control all the military, monetary and media power in the world for an indeterminate number of centuries.

The forums are vague on the details of just how this works; a secret Jewish emperor hidden in a bunker at the center of the earth? Special radios that broadcast world-domination plans on a secret Jews-only frequency? (However they do it, it must’ve been a lot harder before the advent of modern technology.) And the sad thing is, I’m not even exaggerating all that much.

The Stormfronters’ unyielding belief in Jewish James Bond-Supervillain Powers pretty much blows out of the water my “modern American racism is just another evolutionary hangover” theory. “I dislike them because they’re The Other” would be simple reversion to humanity’s historical norm, but not “I dislike them because they’re part of the secret all-powerful conspiracy responsible for everything bad in my life.”

So I wonder: are there any modern American racist groups that stick to the simple evolutionary dislike of The Other? Such racism can certainly be found elsewhere in the world; the Japanese are notorious in their dislike of foreigners, but don’t dress us up in conspiratorial Illuminati trimmings. Are there any – for lack of a better term – “straightforward evolutionary racist” groups in the United States? And if evolutionary racism still lies at the heart of Protocols of the Elders of Zion variety, why is it, in America at least, so irreversibly intertwined with paranoid conspiracy rants?

19 Comments:

Blogger Caveman Lawyer said...

You've got your egg before your chicken. The conspiracy theory develops from the fear of the other combined with the fact that these people are failures and need to blame someone other than themselves. It couldn't be that they are pig ignorant cross cultists who didn't even graduate high school, naw. It's got to be a conspiracy that's keepin' them down. It's the JEWS!!!

6:18 AM  
Blogger Jennifer Abel said...

these people are failures and need to blame someone other than themselves.

Caveman, I'm sure that is part of it, but even the desire to excuse personal failure doesn't explain the Stormfronters' conspiracy rants. If you're a white American looking for reasons why your failures are not your fault, there's plenty of race-based scapegoat possibilities, like affirmative action or minority-only scholarships, that do NOT require belief that a tiny religious minority has near-supernatural powers of conspiracy.

10:17 AM  
Blogger dhex said...

to be fair, they're piggybacking onto a cultural current that is over a thousand years old at this point.

though i wonder why it just doesn't turn into plain old class warfare at some point.

11:18 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey, dammit, who rattled my cage?

Jennifer-I don't see it as that much of a leap. You have the black racists alleging that crack was created by the CIA, and Louis F and his crowd would probably pony up to the same trough when it comes to the secret jewish conspiracy. I'm really not sure why it's always the jews, but it seems to be. Why not have the white racists engage in conspiracy theories themselves?

When I was spending a lot of time in Haiti, there were times when you couldn't go places, such as Citi Solie (is there a Kreyol spelling nazi?). There's always a rumor, always a conspiracy, except they have like seven different shades of black there so they have any number of different boogeymen depending on their own particular darkness. One time I was down there, there was a rumor that a group of white doctors was going around giving poor women vaccinations causing sterility. Of course, it didn't help that I was travelling with a group of doctors at the time. (for record purposes, the rumor was false, though there are some more nefarious elements of the population control crowd who might advocate that, based on some of Sanger's more controversial writings).

To me it's a cultural thing, which I've noted more among poorer people and less educated. Since, albeit with some notable exceptions, most racists regardless of color are uneducated, it makes a lot of sense to me. This is especially true since the internet in a lot of ways is the modern equivalent of the "gossip fence" of old Appalachia, where you pretty up your 'garden' (website) so the neighbors will come over and share the gossip.

I don't encounter a lot of thinking racists, simply because the idea doesn't stand up to intellectual scrutiny. Neither do conspiracy theories for the most part. So, seeing them together is kind of a nonsurprise to me.

1:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Then again, every time I hear Obama say "Help is on the way!" and the corresponding reactions, I keep getting a picture of the Sheriff riding into town in Blazing Saddles. I can't help it.

1:53 PM  
Blogger Jennifer Abel said...

Jennifer-I don't see it as that much of a leap. You have the black racists alleging that crack was created by the CIA, and Louis F and his crowd would probably pony up to the same trough when it comes to the secret jewish conspiracy.

But that's what I don't understand. We evolved a default setting for racism because for most of our history, it really WAS a survival mechanism: if a guy looks different from you, that means he's not in your tribe and really might kill you. (And frankly, in light of American history, I can see why American blacks would be doubly suspicious of whites, especially the ones old enough to remember segregation.)

But you don't need all this conspiratorial bullshit piled on top of it! If a black American wants to be a racist against whites, there's plenty of legitimate historical evidence to back up his prejudice; what with "driving while black" and the disproportionate ways blacks are hurt by the drug war, he doesn't need to resort to Jewish scientists inventing AIDS and crack with CIA black-ops funding. Or if a white guy wants to blame his failures on non-whites, there are actual government policies to perhaps support his claims, without needing worldwide batshit conspiracies.

It's kind of like the point I made in my column a couple of weeks back: there are plenty of legitimate reasons to dislike Barack Obama, so why ignore those to focus on "Yeah, all this time he's secretly been an Indonesian citizen, and lucky for him nobody on McCain's or Clinton's campaign teams ever though to exploit this?" And there have been ample reasons to dislike Bush-Cheney, so why ignore those and focus on secret 9/11 conspiracies?

2:09 PM  
Blogger Caveman Lawyer said...

Jen, not understanding racism is probably a sign of sanity. Fortunately you have plenty of wackos like me around to explain it to you.

I've hung out with failures from all colors, creeds and cultures and the one thing they have in common is a hatred and fear of the successful. Jews just happen to be the most successful of the cultural groups so they are the most likely to be hated and feared as the Secret Masters of the Dark Conspiracy. Asians rank second, which explains why when Blacks riot they burn down the Asian owned stores.

7:54 PM  
Blogger TrueSkeptic said...

Really Jennifer - if you are going to go after these guys, I hope you are getting some of that H.R. 1955 money. You know - "The Homegrown Terrorist Act," where the government is policing the internet.

I mean - being out of job and all - you shouldn't have to do this for free.

I think if you compare the way you conflated hate groups with those whacko "9/11 truthers," you clearly did a better job than Mark Weitzman who attempted the same thing testifying in favor of H.R. 1955: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFcShxswrOE&feature=related.

Weitzman told Congress: "We must be prepared to invest in positive sites to present alternative narratives."

Caveman Lawyer told me you are already getting this government money for your site, but I never know when he is joking. You nailed what the government is looking for as a "positive site" to help police the internet - so I say go for it. If AIG can get billions, why shouldn't you get your share?

Good luck!

11:29 AM  
Blogger Caveman Lawyer said...

Tom, dude... check the expiration date on your anti psychotics. I think your prescription must have lost its efficacy.

12:43 PM  
Blogger TrueSkeptic said...

LOL Caveman.

Sorry dude. I know I was not suppose to mention H.R. 1955.

But seriously, Jennifer came up with "9/11 deniers." That alone should be worth some kind of award in the government's search for a positive narrative site to counter this growing internet chatter raising questions. Like: http://patriotsquestion911.com/

That site alone is up to over 150 military/intelligence personnel; over 640 engineers and architects; and over 150 pilots and aviation professionals all questioning the government's story.

I'll take Jennifer over those psychotic nut jobs any day and the government should pay her for work.

I really cannot see where the Islamic anthrax hoax has anything to do with it. So those "Death to America, Allah is Great" notes were a fake and the anthrax instead came from a very secure US military bio-weapons facility.

Some people are trying to combine that with recent revelation that the whole 9/11 Commission narrative was composed of summaries of the testimony of torture victims who later recanted post-torture. Just because they refused to turn over the transcripts or videos of the interrogations to the Commission and now have destroyed them does not prove anything.

I mean obviously it was a big Islamic conspiracy to kill us because they hate our freedom and our liberty. I don't see anything unreasonable about such a grand conspiracy being pulled off by the head Islamic Chieftain deep in a cave in the mountains.

Anything else is absurd. Well not anthrax but ...

Well I gotta run. Kid wants his dinner.

(I'll try to stay on script.)

2:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

But you don't need all this conspiratorial bullshit piled on top of it!

It's human nature to try to make things make "sense." We don't like things that happen at random, the uncertainty is too much. It's much easier to believe there is a conspiracy, an intelligence at work, rather than simple randomness.

6:02 PM  
Blogger Caveman Lawyer said...

There's a Paranoids Christmas Carol in here somewhere...

On the fifth day of Christmas the Internet gave to me!

640 engineers and architects!

150 military!

150 pilots!

a very secure US military bio-weapons facility!

and an Islamic Chieftain deep in a mountain cave!

Needs work, I know. Heck, it's early and my meds haven't kicked in yet.

6:14 AM  
Blogger Anne O'Neimaus said...

The Jews are the favorite conspirators because they have been set up to take that rap for the past several centuries. The Moslem anti-Jew bandwagon is relatively new, probably as a direct result of the imposition of the State of Israel through armed might. The European anti-semitism has a much longer history of cultivation.

Jews are clannish; it's built right into their defining characteristic: the religious Laws of Moses. Obviously, not all Jews are always insular - but those with a tendency to assimilate into whatever dominant culture is currently repressing them stop being identified with and as Jews. Jews also have a traditionally high rate of literacy (at least for the males), because there is a strong cultural pressure towards actually being able to read the Torah. Literacy in a predominately illiterate world, combined with a clannish tendency towards mutual support, has allowed the Jews to recover from catastrophic repression (e.g. militarily-imposed relocation and slavery) several times in recorded history, while keeping them a highly-visible minority. They have been culturally crafted into the perfect "alien among us" target.

----------------------------------

Fundamentalist Catholic extremists managed to take over the dregs of the old Roman Empire, and imposed their interpretation of "The Word of God" onto the laws of the land. One of the results was that any use of money except the direct sale or purchase of real property or commodities became effectively illegal. Charging interest (including many types of fees) was termed usury - and a "Good Christian" could get hauled before an ecclesiastic court for that. Since he had enough assets to be lending money, the Church would seize said assets as a penalty for committing such a heinous crime.

Commerce, beyond mere bartering, almost stopped, and Europe went into a truly Great Depression (the Dark Ages). Sure, there were many other factors contributing to this collapse of the "global" (OK, Mediterranean) economy, but the unworkable financial restrictions imposed by religious "fundamentalist" extremists were a big part of it.

Plenty of anti-semitic activity continued to occur, but one of the "solutions" that evolved was to allow non-Christian residents to be moneylenders. In Europe, the Jews had a classic "People of the Book" relationship that allowed them to dodge being labeled "heathens" who had to convert or die. After all, Jesus was a Jew. Thus, most of the financial-market business was managed by Jews, because of the skewed laws of the time. There were often also laws preventing Jews from engaging in many other professions, except as they dealt only among themselves. While not all (nor even the majority) of Jews were moneylenders, the majority of moneylenders in Catholic countries were Jews.

Thus, a culture that was crafted by Moses to be clannish and insular, became even more so over time. People who owe debts in times of privation often come to resent their creditors. People with secular power (e.g. Nobility) who owe large amounts of money under such circumstances sometimes find it useful to renege on those debts. Doing that without losing all economic credibility with one's own people requires that the loans be popularly seen as somehow "wrong" - illegal, immoral, etc.

A little favorable legislation, a bit of rabble-rousing, and you've got a nice little pogrom going. Now you can not only "morally" default on your debts, you can seize the assets of your creditors. Even The Church and most Medieval Governments weren't usually so far gone as to actually sanction this as legal behavior. However, if a "spontaneous mob of The People" just happened to terrify the Jews into leaving (those it didn't kill)...well, somebody has to manage the abandoned properties and assets.

This sort of behavior cycled several times throughout various places in Europe. Meanwhile, the Moors (Moslems) built a strong and dynamic society that had imperialistic designs on Europe. Being an up-and-coming enlightened society, they actually provided a refuge for many Jews from the ever more-repressive laws of Europe. Jews thrived in much of the Moslem lands; in particular, in Alhambra and the rest of Moorish Spain.

When the "liberation" of Spain was accomplished, everyone who did well under the Moors was seen as collaborators. A bit more rabble-rousing and politicking, and you get the Spanish Inquisition.

Technically, the Inquisition was not about abusing (excuse me, Saving) the Jews. It was definitely about rooting out any remnants of the Moorish presence that might spark or support a counter-revolution. However, just like with modern law-enforcement, allowing the authorities to seize and keep assets "used by criminals" quickly corrupted the process. In all fairness, there probably was some (minuscule) amount of "honest religious fervor" by many of the Inquisitors; but the legal exercise of "follow the money" shows which way the whole enterprise clearly drifted.

3:51 PM  
Blogger dhex said...

see, i always figured the truthers were an op in the first place - after all, who has more to gain from a narrative of total government omniscience?

those who run the government.

does it feel good to be a tool of the global elite, tom? calling yourself a "researcher" because you can use the internet? they've managed to delude an entire generation of people into thinking they actually understand how the world works, and turned it into a comic book where every two-bit intellect can be a superhero; fighting the good fight without ever leaving the house.

it's damn clever, don't get me wrong.

5:58 PM  
Blogger TrueSkeptic said...

I'm sorry dhex, but if I really were a "researcher," I could probably decipher what this means on my own:

"they've managed to delude an entire generation of people into thinking they actually understand how the world works"

Who is they?

7:38 PM  
Blogger Jennifer Abel said...

I appreciate this, guys, but please don't egg Tom on.

Tom, I ask you in all sincerity: please stop posting here. You have made your point: you think I'm shilling for the government, my view of 9/11 is wrong ... Fine. Got it. Good-bye.

8:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Jennifer - somewhere someone in government is tracking how many times you visit white supremacist websites - you know that, right?

8:15 PM  
Blogger Jennifer Abel said...

Judy, if the government reaches the point where they "sic" people for having the wrong opinions, they wouldn't need to spin a case out of my anonymous lurking on bubblehead websites; what I've written on my blog and professionally under my own name is all they need.

9:36 PM  
Blogger mike3 said...

To me it's a cultural thing, which I've noted more among poorer people and less educated.

("it" = "racism")

Which goes to show just how important it is to give everyone education and to eliminate the extremes of wealth and poverty.

12:29 PM  

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