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July 28, 2005
Cycles of intimidation . . .
Via Glenn Reynolds, I see that Daily Pundit's Lastango is encouraging citizens to get involved with self-help terrorist awareness training, and he's citing such programs as the "Highway Watch" and "Eagle Eyes." Concludes Lastango, We may one day decide we need to approximate Israel’s level of awareness, where even school children are given terror awareness training.I agree. But many do not. Instead, they resolutely condemn these programs as racist, xenophobic, Orwellian and, yes, even fascistic. The Eagle Eyes program has been ridiculed as moronically racist, and as downright totalitarian in nature. As to the Highway Watch Program, here's top anti-fascist Dave Neiwert: the purpose of the program is not to do anything serious about terrorism: It's to enable these truck drivers in harassing "non-American" minorities.In other words, if you support the Highway Watch program (much less get involved in it), why, you're a concentration-camp-supporting bigot. (Predictably, supporters of such self-help measures have also been labeled "wingnuts.") Aside from ridiculing and condemning citizen involvement, there are bolder means of intimidating those who might be inclined towards self-help. One of them is to make people fearful of becoming embroiled in litigation if they get involved. Recalling my own post-9/11 experience, I speculated about litigation as a possible motivation, and I concluded: We have to protect ourselves -- hopefully with common sense, but with our lives if necessary.I thought that bore repeating, because one of the reasons people don't get involved is out of fear of intimidation. I am not saying that fear of intimidation is not a legitimate fear. But I do think that the more terrorism there is, the more likely people are to lose their fear of intimidation. That's because while terrorism is also intimidation, the ultimate fear created by terrorism is the fear of death. The fear of intimidation promoted by political criticism (or by such threats as lawsuits) is grounded largely in social embarrassment (or at worst losing your job). It boils down to the shame and guilt cycle, but I think life-and-death tends to trump shame-and-guilt. posted by Eric on 07.28.05 at 09:35 AM |
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What is "Orwellian" are the Newspeakers of Political Correctness who smear loyal Americans as "racist", "xenophobic", etc.. I admire truck drivers, that is a noble occupation. Obviously, Neiwert sneers at them because he himself has never done an honest day's work in his life. Indeed, we must throw off our fears of being ridiculed or hated by the traitors within our midst in order to fight off the real threat of being killed or seeing our loved ones killed by those so "tolerated" by the traitors and wimps.