"Let Moscow burn, let all of Moscow burn": On the unbridled delight certain pro-war German social media commentators are wont to take in the deaths of Russian civilians
"Let Moscow burn, let all of Moscow burn": On the unbridled delight certain pro-war German social media commentators are wont to take in the deaths of Russian civilians
Last night, gunmen with incendiary devices attacked the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnagorsk, a Moscow suburb. The death toll stands at around 150 people as I write this, and it will likely rise further, as most of the dead were killed in a fire and a partial roof collapse, and some bodies probably have yet to be recovered. The FSB have arrested eleven people, including four attackers who fled the scene in a white car. Russian authorities have hinted at Ukrainian involvement, while Western sources claim the assault was carried out by Islamic terrorists. For what it’s worth, the Islamic State in Khorasan have claimed responsibility for the attack. Many theories are circulating, but it is too early for me to comment on the plausibility of any of them.
I never thought that standing firm against civilians getting slaughtered for the misdeeds of their government was a controversial position, yet here we are. Every single event on the planet is now run through the 'political filter' to determine if it's a Good Thing or a Bad Thing.
Shooting at KC parade? VERY BAD THING -- until we find out who was involved....then it goes down the memory hole. Somebody shot by police barging in to serve a search warrant? VERY BAD THING....as long as the victim is Breonna Taylor. If it's Bryan Malinowski -- crickets.
Personally, I'm pretty tired of it. Things can be good or bad irrespective of who it helps politically.
It’s a terrorist attack, it seems unreal when you hear people supporting something so awful.
I’m listening to the patreon recording from 2 Russian commentators discussing what evidence has been uncovered so far. I remain convinced that the folks who did Nordstream did this too. The commentators keep mentioning how dumb the guys are and how they were hired online, not real hardline Islamacists. It’s another op. And this crap is now impossible to hide, so I hope it all comes out.
I think it's become pretty obvious here in 2024 (or maybe more accurately: our 9th or 10th Year Zero?), that the tolerant are intolerant, the preachers of compassion are filled with hatred, the antiracists are fueled by race hate, the "defenders of democracy" are salivating to install an autocracy etc.
Something ugly and bizarre happens to people when they convince themselves that they (along with their tribe) have climbed to the apex of Mt. Morality, that they embody such an enlightened philosophy that they have become some higher form of being, that their wisdom and virtue anoint them as saviors and guides of humanity, who need to be heeded and followed. This is when people become so blind to their darker impulses that they could injure and immiserate everyone in their path and still go to bed at night imaging themselves wearing an untarnished halo. This is when massacres become excused because the perpetrators were "doing it for a good cause" and only wanted to "make the world a better place".
We are living in an age of ideological fanaticism, which not only makes you stupid but also turns you into everything you claim to oppose.
Lord save us from all the self-proclaimed benefactors of humanity!
Eugyppius: I hope I can speak for those who regularly comment here, when I say that your insights are as a rule unusually astute and sensitive. This is a particularly emblematic example: “You could be forgiven for wondering if the strong pacifist currents of postwar German culture haven’t bottled up some very dark energies, which since the Russian invasion of Ukraine have finally found a socially acceptable release.”
What you rightly call "the fetish for inclusion" is what gives a lot of people a hard time to define themselves. But when you are not sure if you're ok then it's easier to find someone who you can blame to be "not ok!" and if you find one then he's doomed. It's called negative eclectic, that's how the Nazis used Arian and today there are many groups desperately trying to create such a unifying identification, which finally states: we are better. When over here in Berlin, Germany, the corona masks appeared and I sometimes didn't have one with me I was insulted in the shops like I have never been before. By people who, judging by the things they bought and carried, "cared for nature, humanity and world peace". But not for someone who wasn't like them.
This is our new tribalism. Masses of people who view their choice of opinion on every subject as binary. Right or wrong, black or white while the world exists in analogue and shades of grey or color. The media/government industrial complex feeds the emotions of the needy. And we all get dragged in because eventually you know that everything your government and press tell you is a lie. The only remaining question is always what is there behind the big lie this time?
We are purposely being numbed. Look at the vast swaths of people who believe entire countries or groups of people are to be despised. The divisions will ruin us all - and evil abounds on left and right, and increasingly in the middle. Cogent thought and strategies are in short supply. We have no leaders.
This is a terrific essay because it so clearly describes the principal feature of the so-called liberal, peaceful, democratic and inclusive establishment: it's all subterfuge and play-acting. As their hopes, wishes and stratagems for defeating "Putin" have come to naught, the mask of civility slips off. Sadism, cruelty, and delight in the suffering of their illiberal foes, they're exposed for being no more just or peaceful than any desperate tyrant or regime at the end of its rope.
well, there was the breaking up of former Yugoslavia, which was somewhat of a war. I remember it well because I was working in the Antwerp harbor, and part of it overnight got confiscated by the American army, with container boxes stacked 3 high and surveillance with machine guns around them, something totally unseen in Belgian streets. There could be no doubt as to who put out the firecrackers.
I have no doubt that the very same people that exude these vile statements celebrating the deaths of innocent civilians, are most assuredly the same one's that, if asked, will claim that "they would have stood up against a Hitler or Stalin", and swear that they are not susceptible to mass movements or cults of personality, or culture wide brain washing...
Can't even see the vileness that they express, as they are under the very same spell!
Anyone who would condone or celebrate such an atrocity is demonically evil and there is likely no redemption or hope for them. Frightening there are so many of these demons amongst us.
The so-called “tolerance” always loudly professed by Liberals has always been a fake facade, merely a disguise for a deep and vehement hatred, always lurking just beneath the surface, for any who dare oppose or even disagree with them.
I believe the Covid/ vax campaign exposed this in its absolute sharpest relief, and ripped the mask (no pun intended) right off.
You had people espousing with an almost religious ferocity that those who refuse to comply with almighty state should be imprisoned and worse, should die. It was one of the most stunning occurrences to behold out of the entire episode.
"Western liberals, when contemplating illiberal enemies, can assume one of two attitudes towards the people of these nations. In lower-stakes conflicts, like those arising from neoconservative campaigns to spread democracy, it may be possible to cast the people as the helpless captives of their evil dictatorial leaders. In this case, they are mere victims who require liberation. In higher-stakes conflicts like that in Ukraine, however, it becomes impossible to disentangle the people from the actions of their state."
The difficult question for modern liberals is "Where is the dividing line between helpless captives and evil co-conspirators?". We can also see this in the current conflict in Israel. Are the Palistinian civilians victims or co-conspirators? What about the Israeli citizens? There is an ongoing, nasty propaganda fight over who gets to be the victim and who does not. Obviously, we expect that each side will claim to be the victim and their enemies the aggressors, but it's a strange historical anomaly, at least in modern times, that we are forced to choose sides in a conflict we are not directly engaged in. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and Chechnya we were not putting Afghan and Chechen flags in our yards, on our websites, or wearing corresponding lapel pins. Anyone who doesn't support the "right" side is declared an ally of the enemy. I've been called a Putin stooge, a Zionist lackey, and an Antisemite, on different occasions based on the same opinion. It's the same opinion I had with the Russia-Chechen, China-Vietnam, and the Falklands conflict: It's a border dispute, it's not our business, let them sort it out. Of course, I have no doubt that I will once again be getting the same old tired accusations.
I never thought that standing firm against civilians getting slaughtered for the misdeeds of their government was a controversial position, yet here we are. Every single event on the planet is now run through the 'political filter' to determine if it's a Good Thing or a Bad Thing.
Shooting at KC parade? VERY BAD THING -- until we find out who was involved....then it goes down the memory hole. Somebody shot by police barging in to serve a search warrant? VERY BAD THING....as long as the victim is Breonna Taylor. If it's Bryan Malinowski -- crickets.
Personally, I'm pretty tired of it. Things can be good or bad irrespective of who it helps politically.
It’s a terrorist attack, it seems unreal when you hear people supporting something so awful.
I’m listening to the patreon recording from 2 Russian commentators discussing what evidence has been uncovered so far. I remain convinced that the folks who did Nordstream did this too. The commentators keep mentioning how dumb the guys are and how they were hired online, not real hardline Islamacists. It’s another op. And this crap is now impossible to hide, so I hope it all comes out.
I think it's become pretty obvious here in 2024 (or maybe more accurately: our 9th or 10th Year Zero?), that the tolerant are intolerant, the preachers of compassion are filled with hatred, the antiracists are fueled by race hate, the "defenders of democracy" are salivating to install an autocracy etc.
Something ugly and bizarre happens to people when they convince themselves that they (along with their tribe) have climbed to the apex of Mt. Morality, that they embody such an enlightened philosophy that they have become some higher form of being, that their wisdom and virtue anoint them as saviors and guides of humanity, who need to be heeded and followed. This is when people become so blind to their darker impulses that they could injure and immiserate everyone in their path and still go to bed at night imaging themselves wearing an untarnished halo. This is when massacres become excused because the perpetrators were "doing it for a good cause" and only wanted to "make the world a better place".
We are living in an age of ideological fanaticism, which not only makes you stupid but also turns you into everything you claim to oppose.
Lord save us from all the self-proclaimed benefactors of humanity!
Eugyppius: I hope I can speak for those who regularly comment here, when I say that your insights are as a rule unusually astute and sensitive. This is a particularly emblematic example: “You could be forgiven for wondering if the strong pacifist currents of postwar German culture haven’t bottled up some very dark energies, which since the Russian invasion of Ukraine have finally found a socially acceptable release.”
"confrontation between NATO and Ukraine"
You mean NATO and Russia, right?
What you rightly call "the fetish for inclusion" is what gives a lot of people a hard time to define themselves. But when you are not sure if you're ok then it's easier to find someone who you can blame to be "not ok!" and if you find one then he's doomed. It's called negative eclectic, that's how the Nazis used Arian and today there are many groups desperately trying to create such a unifying identification, which finally states: we are better. When over here in Berlin, Germany, the corona masks appeared and I sometimes didn't have one with me I was insulted in the shops like I have never been before. By people who, judging by the things they bought and carried, "cared for nature, humanity and world peace". But not for someone who wasn't like them.
This is our new tribalism. Masses of people who view their choice of opinion on every subject as binary. Right or wrong, black or white while the world exists in analogue and shades of grey or color. The media/government industrial complex feeds the emotions of the needy. And we all get dragged in because eventually you know that everything your government and press tell you is a lie. The only remaining question is always what is there behind the big lie this time?
The Left is a virus of HATE.
Part of me wants them to get what they want...so we can take care of "business".
Unfortunately I don't think we'd have a choice in that situation. It's either that or not be free.
Russia fell apart in 1990/91. They already had their “Fourth Turning”. The one for the west is in progress now. It can only get crazier
We are purposely being numbed. Look at the vast swaths of people who believe entire countries or groups of people are to be despised. The divisions will ruin us all - and evil abounds on left and right, and increasingly in the middle. Cogent thought and strategies are in short supply. We have no leaders.
This is a terrific essay because it so clearly describes the principal feature of the so-called liberal, peaceful, democratic and inclusive establishment: it's all subterfuge and play-acting. As their hopes, wishes and stratagems for defeating "Putin" have come to naught, the mask of civility slips off. Sadism, cruelty, and delight in the suffering of their illiberal foes, they're exposed for being no more just or peaceful than any desperate tyrant or regime at the end of its rope.
well, there was the breaking up of former Yugoslavia, which was somewhat of a war. I remember it well because I was working in the Antwerp harbor, and part of it overnight got confiscated by the American army, with container boxes stacked 3 high and surveillance with machine guns around them, something totally unseen in Belgian streets. There could be no doubt as to who put out the firecrackers.
I have no doubt that the very same people that exude these vile statements celebrating the deaths of innocent civilians, are most assuredly the same one's that, if asked, will claim that "they would have stood up against a Hitler or Stalin", and swear that they are not susceptible to mass movements or cults of personality, or culture wide brain washing...
Can't even see the vileness that they express, as they are under the very same spell!
Anyone who would condone or celebrate such an atrocity is demonically evil and there is likely no redemption or hope for them. Frightening there are so many of these demons amongst us.
The so-called “tolerance” always loudly professed by Liberals has always been a fake facade, merely a disguise for a deep and vehement hatred, always lurking just beneath the surface, for any who dare oppose or even disagree with them.
I believe the Covid/ vax campaign exposed this in its absolute sharpest relief, and ripped the mask (no pun intended) right off.
You had people espousing with an almost religious ferocity that those who refuse to comply with almighty state should be imprisoned and worse, should die. It was one of the most stunning occurrences to behold out of the entire episode.
"Western liberals, when contemplating illiberal enemies, can assume one of two attitudes towards the people of these nations. In lower-stakes conflicts, like those arising from neoconservative campaigns to spread democracy, it may be possible to cast the people as the helpless captives of their evil dictatorial leaders. In this case, they are mere victims who require liberation. In higher-stakes conflicts like that in Ukraine, however, it becomes impossible to disentangle the people from the actions of their state."
The difficult question for modern liberals is "Where is the dividing line between helpless captives and evil co-conspirators?". We can also see this in the current conflict in Israel. Are the Palistinian civilians victims or co-conspirators? What about the Israeli citizens? There is an ongoing, nasty propaganda fight over who gets to be the victim and who does not. Obviously, we expect that each side will claim to be the victim and their enemies the aggressors, but it's a strange historical anomaly, at least in modern times, that we are forced to choose sides in a conflict we are not directly engaged in. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and Chechnya we were not putting Afghan and Chechen flags in our yards, on our websites, or wearing corresponding lapel pins. Anyone who doesn't support the "right" side is declared an ally of the enemy. I've been called a Putin stooge, a Zionist lackey, and an Antisemite, on different occasions based on the same opinion. It's the same opinion I had with the Russia-Chechen, China-Vietnam, and the Falklands conflict: It's a border dispute, it's not our business, let them sort it out. Of course, I have no doubt that I will once again be getting the same old tired accusations.