Federalist #666

I. Intro

II. On Leadership

III. On Disinformation (and the weaponization thereof)

IV. On Social Fragmentation

V. Closing Thoughts

I. Intro

Let me begin by making my stance clear. I support the BLM movement and vehemently condemn every racist, crooked, murderous, needlessly confrontational cop who commits varying degrees of violence and injustices against the very people they’re supposed to protect.

The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others at the hands of the police were a result of racially motivated police brutality, excessive force, and are a tragic indication of America’s original sins—slavery and white supremacy—which have deep roots dating back to settler-colonialism propagated by the imperialist European powers of the 14th and 15th century.

Racist sentiments of all kinds (albeit on different scales) can be found in American bureaucracies and institutions to this day, each manifesting themselves in an infinite amount of different ways which are seemingly unquantifiable (and the Right insists this is the case), but racism is indeed alive and well in this country, and Black people have suffered longer than any of us. One of my heroes, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (2020) has an eloquent quote:

Racism in America is like dust in the air. It seems invisible — even if you’re choking on it — until you let the sun in. Then you see it’s everywhere.

Hopefully the above sentiments are something that we agree upon, and now that we’ve established some common ground, we can begin to move forward in this essay containing my observations of modern society in the hopes that it will foster a positive civil discourse with even a slight possibility that someone’s behavior may change for the better. The things I’ve seen and heard recently from individuals on both sides of the aisle are troubling. I don’t claim to have every answer to every problem, so if that’s what you’re expecting from me, perhaps your time is better spent elsewhere. I only aim to shine a light on the issues I feel people are ignoring (in addition to the obvious).

II. On Leadership

As children we’re taught to trust adults or any authoritative figure (a cop, fireman, public official, etc.) which can even go so far as to include anyone who is simply older than you. This concept, while easy for young children to comprehend, is misguided and has had disastrous consequences simply because a startling amount of people never grew up and realized one simple fact: nobody knows anything.

The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has exposed this issue along with most people in power and their subjugates. It has revealed the gross ineptitude of not only the American president, but the entirety of the national, state, and local governments, and sadly, it doesn’t end there. The economic leaders in our country—those who employ anywhere from dozens to hundreds to thousands of people—have been caught dumbfounded in the divide that exists between maximizing profit and protecting their employees. The apparent crumbling of two huge pillars of our nation (political and economic) due to covid-19 has revealed what is perhaps the most large-scale case of “the blind leading the blind” in recorded history.

A dangerous amount of people tend not to believe in something that they can’t see. If it’s not visible, then it’s not a threat. This is a terrible thing that both the coronavirus and racism have in common. Neither are apparent to the naked eye. Both are deadly. The existence of both are denied by a sizable faction of society who carry about their lives in ignorance at the cost of the greater good. In the end, we all suffer for this.

President Trump’s failed response to covid-19 (100,000 deaths in the U.S. and counting) is well-documented so I won’t get into it here. Instead, I draw from my own experiences to support my argument (and thereby free myself of academic scrutiny… not that there’s any of that going on these days anyway).

I work for a large retail corporation. During the first wave of the pandemic many employees expressed extreme concern over the lack of protections provided by the company to preserve our health and well-being. Our store is the busiest store in the United States in both sales and foot traffic. We were being completely run into the ground by the hundreds upon hundreds of desperate customers who flooded through our doors to hoard and stock up on doomsday supplies and we were in close contact with every single one of them, bearing high risk of covid-19 exposure to ourselves and our families.

These employee concerns were met by management with indifferent, dismissive, and lukewarm responses nearly devoid of empathy. My own trip to the manager’s office resulted in me being “hurried” out of there with nothing more than an answer that basically said “just sit tight while we figure this out.” Needless to say, I left that office that day not feeling reassured in the slightest. What little faith I had in my superiors was completely gone now.

Now, as I write this in June 2020, measures have since been taken to protect employees. I suppose they are satisfactory, but the measures that were taken were simple and it did not take a genius to come up with them. Therefore I wonder why they were so slow to implement. “Corporate approval” be damned when lives are at stake.

The answer is because many political and economic leaders all over this nation are inept, passive, lacking in charisma/empathy, and are not forward-thinking in the slightest (some more or less than others). Trump is a microcosm of the country he represents in all the worst ways. I suppose none of us should be surprised. An important factor as to why we as a nation are in the disastrous state that we’re in is because of the gross lack of leadership qualities shown by an alarming number of people in our lives who we ostensibly trust. It starts at the top, and extends all the way down to the bottom.

Faith in public health experts has also been shaken. The Center for Disease Control has proved to be in the pocket of the federal government, which wouldn’t be a huge deal, if not for the fact that said government is completely corrupt. The 6-Foot Social Distancing Rule seems arbitrary, if not totally pulled out of thin air. So long as we stay 6 feet away from each other, Coronavirus has no chance? If we’re caught 5.999 feet away from each other, should I punch my ticket to the ICU? Lastly, the nomenclature makes no sense. It should be called physical distancing rather than social distancing. The meanings are distinct from one another. Yet many institutions use the incorrect term because they’re simply following along - just another act in the American freak show.

The assumption that the people in the political-economic hierarchy got their positions by demonstrating great leadership and “knowing what they’re doing” is false. The sense of urgency within the BLM movement is intensified by the fact that we can’t trust the people in power.

III. On Disinformation (and the weaponization thereof)

It is incomprehensible to me just how many people on the internet do not have the ability to identify “fake news.” It got so bad recently that Facebook and Instagram had to implement independent “fact-checkers” in order to notify their users whenever they were looking at an article that was fake. In the past month especially, fake news has become incredibly dangerous.

Before the end of the world began, I myself was guilty of using fake news to my advantage. I put out a couple of news articles authored by fictional characters from famous literary works. It was startling just how many people believed what I was putting out there, especially since there were hints all over the place that it wasn’t real. But my use was strictly tongue-in-cheek and self-promotional. No one was hurt, and humor/satire should always be the endgame of false news. The reality, however, is much more grim and disinformation has been weaponized to the point to where it’s become a potent tool for sparking conflict, divisiveness, and, at worst, chaos.

In the past two weeks alone I’ve come across dozens of articles and videos that people on my social media have shared that are clearly fake. The titles are sensationalist. The sources are bogus. The site of origin is obscure and fishy sounding. The body of the text (if applicable) is full of grammar and syntax errors. However, even still, people can’t identify them. So long as it lines up with their viewpoints, that “share” button is getting clicked, that it may infect others who are just as stupid as the original person who believed it. Even the most educated of my friends have fallen for this, which makes me seriously question the merits of the institution they received their degree(s) from.

At first, this syndrome seemed to only affect people on the right, however, in recent days, I’ve seen people on the left begin to share fake news and videos as well. These are defined by, but are not limited to, a doctored video (characterized by subtle jump cuts and low color quality/resolution), editing out the parts that don’t align with the narrative being pushed, and placing a caption that provides context that is far removed from reality. Even the cheapest/most basic of cellphones in the last 5+ years are equipped with high definition video cameras. Why then do some things look like they were filmed on a Kodak from the 19th century?

What has also emerged from both sides is a weaponization of “facts” as well as a flood of false equivalencies. Someone on my feed compared the George Floyd murder to another high profile issue from Europe a couple years ago that got much attention and donations and wondered why people weren’t responding today with the same vigor as back then, even though the two issues were completely unrelated and affected a totally different group of people in a completely different part of the world. It pains me to think just how many people out there are fooled by false equivalencies.

Another person on my feed cited Luke 15 from the Bible in order to prove a point (albeit fallaciously):

"If you are a Christian, and can't hear #BlackLivesMatter without feeling the need to respond with a criticism that "All Live Matter," then crack open your Bible and hit up Luke 15.

Don't have it handy? Let me summarize.

There are 100 sheep, but one goes missing.

Jesus leaves the 99 and goes after the one.

The 99: "But... what about us? Don't we matter?"

Of course the 99 still matter, but they're not the ones in danger.

The one is.

I'll say it again, #BlackLivesMatter."

First off, this man’s summary of the parable is completely off, but let’s set that aside for the moment. Provided the info he’s giving to us, his point makes sense, but upon closer examination of the actual passage, that sense quickly unravels. Anyone who actually reads those verses knows that Jesus goes on to reveal the whole point of his parable: “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”

So is this Facebook Man equating black people to a sinner who is lost and needs to repent, while 99 others do not? No, he is not. Despite having seemingly good intentions, this man attempted to change the meaning of a Bible verse to fit his political narrative. But anyone who knows this verse will be left confused, at best. Those who don’t and take this Facebook Man’s word at face value will just have their concurring viewpoint confirmed, which serves no purpose. It is not likely at all that a “Christian” from the opposing side will be swayed. This is all completely counterintuitive and I debated even including this example in my essay at all but it sums up the kind of idiocy that’s been running rampant.

IV. On Social Fragmentation

In keeping with the internet theme, social media has become nothing short of toxic for reasons completely separate from the ones mentioned above. Many “activists” (and I hesitate to call them that) are feeling the need to call out others for a variety of halfwitted reasons which include but are not limited to: putting the wrong hashtag on a post, not posting enough to help the cause, and wrongfully interpreting internet silence as complicity.

One shouldn’t guilt or pressure another into activism. At that point it becomes superficial, which does nothing to help the movement. It also only serves to divide the very people you are trying to unite. It also creates a sort of mob mentality, with the Left’s worst and dumbest social justice warriors leading faux witch hunts and burning their own people at the proverbial stake. If you ever want to be taken seriously by your detractors (of which there are many), please stop this behavior.

Even corporations aren’t immune to this social pressure and issue empty statements just to protect their brand. Perhaps the best example of this is the recent press release by Roger Goodell and the National Football League. This is happening across the American capitalist landscape. Both corporations/individuals insist they support the people’s movement but their business/life practices hardly indicate that they share our values.

A united front is important now more than ever - I’m under the belief that my generation (millennials) are the most progressive young people in history but that is severely hampered by the fact that we are also the most egocentric.

When the movement first started, the goals were not clear. This led to a bit of confusion for the average person as to how they can help. Some people, in their outrage, started pointing the finger at their own peers, interpreting their state of shock, confusion, and grief at the rapid unraveling of the social order as silent complicity (with the purveyors of systemic racism) . This is perhaps the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen in my life. There were posts from various washed up college students turned pseudo-activists stating that “if you are silent now, you are just as bad as the racists,” or “If you’re not posting your support of #BLM right now, I’m taking notice,” and many other things equally as moronic. For a solid week, social media became even more toxic than it already was.

Attacking your peers on the same side of a major civil rights movement is counterproductive, ignorant, and just plain idiotic. How do you know that person was actually silent? Do they need to post their support in order to appease you? Why guilt a person for not going out into a massive crowd and protesting in the middle of a global pandemic, or donating to the wrong charity, or for not quite wanting to burn down the whole system? Most everyone and their “followers” share the same political views anyway, so all you’re essentially doing is creating an echo chamber of redundancy. The feedback loop continues with every tweet and retweet. I understand that raising awareness is important for any movement. But preaching to the choir, as it were, benefits no one. The focus of our dialogue should be aimed at those who vocally oppose us and actually have the capacity to enact the change we’re aiming for. Inflict your outrage, insults, and passive-aggressive attitudes on people who actually deserve it.

What this all leads to is a kind of social fragmentation that we cannot afford right now. In-fighting, bickering, and guilting each other is not going to get anything done. Real change needs to happen and right now is perhaps our best chance to achieve it. We must use our collective voices, talents, and money productively and positively. The absence of a united front will be our downfall.

V. Closing Thoughts

It’s mentally exhausting to think about what’s going on in the world right now on top of all of the other stresses in my life. It’s rough out there, but I check in with my family and close friends often. I recommend you all do the same with your people.

I also urge you not to attack others who don’t share your same viewpoint. I’ve always believed in diplomacy and civil discourse.

Quite often I stop and ponder whether or not we’re living in the end of days. It does feel like the Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls are opening with each passing week. The Book of Revelation is more relevant now than it ever has been, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t cause just a bit of anxiety for me. I don’t talk about my faith much, but I’m a lifelong Catholic and it might be time for me to speak up more about it. If you’re still reading this, I encourage you to repent, believe in the Gospel, and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior. In the end, He will be all that remains.

Goodnight, and good luck.

God be with us all.