Tom Wolfe said, "The dark night of fascism is always descending in the United States and yet lands only in Europe." James Lileks runs with it:
Soon the streets will fill with angry men who want to break store windows and set cars on fire.
No no not those guys, they’re good! We mean the bad ones.
There will be mobs who attack Jews. No no not those guys, they’re angry about colonialism or acting out whiteness doctrines of otherizing, please keep up.
There will be throngs of white men in positions of authority demanding that Asians be suppressed in academic admissions –
What? No, no, that’s different. Please, you’re not conversant in the prismatic subtleties of the intersectional matrix, so maybe sit this one out? Once you’ve done the work, then perhaps you will be alert to the neo-Fascist elements who will restructure society to otherize those who do not have pure blood –
What? No, no, that’s different. That’s a matter of public health. Of course, you should have to show your papers. Point is, America is a lost cause. Soon, very soon, a group of people will try to burn down a city because they saw some tweets about a thing, and there will be a horrifying moment when the authorities prevent it. The nascent subterranean Fascist instinct ignites in the citizens, and they will join the police to prevent the people from smashing the store windows and burning down the legislature building.
When the morning rises and the streets are not twinkling with broken glass – Kristall-not! – and the legislature is not a smoldering heap – well, then you’ll know. The Second Wave of Fascism has crashed on the shores of America, and engulfed us all.Related:
It sounds crazy, but The System could wake up tomorrow and convince half this country that the sky is green.
* * *
And the shaming would begin. Oh the shaming. Anyone talking about a blue sky would be treated like some deranged conspiracy theorist. Families would divide over it. Facebook would ban you for discussing “blue skies”.Both h/t Glen Reynolds.
Tex, that's James Lileks, not Treacher.
ReplyDeleteKeep up! Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists have published work showing it's Treacher. You Treacher-deniers and Lilek-fetishists have no business here!
ReplyDeleteReaders here will like the more complete story on the Wolfe quote. Delicious.
ReplyDeletehttps://assistantvillageidiot.blogspot.com/2013/01/revel-to-wolfe-to-volokh.html
Lately I find so many gems that I keep leaving too many tabs open and getting them confused.
ReplyDeleteJ, that's funny!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link, AVI.
I have a secret fear that that's just what the Left wants. It will justify really cracking down and "temporarily" suspending civil rights.
ReplyDeleteAnyone talking about a blue sky would be treated like some deranged conspiracy theorist.
ReplyDeletePlenty of people here have tried and including humanity in general. But a Son of God takes no counsel from the opinions of those who actually think they can oppose God's DIvine Plan by calling it "deranged conspiracy theorizing".
The resistance to Authority is what I have and what humanity lacks. Thus this is part of your lessons.