Mental Security Theater
12th January 2015
Tom Wolfe once observed how curious it was “that the dark night of fascism is always descending in the United States and yet lands only in Europe”. That maxim must have been on Jonah Goldberg’s mind when he Tweeted, following the attack on a supermarket in Paris, that “the anti-Muslim backlash in France that many people were expecting this week seems to have somehow resulted in the murder of Jews.”
But as anyone who remembers the Three Stooges will know, retaliating against an innocent party is perfectly natural. When Curley Joe wants to hit back at Moe, he swats Larry instead. To strike Moe would be too dangerous because Moe would hit back. When you’re not with the one you long to strike, strike the one you’re with.
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When politicians are stumped they often do what doctors without a cure occasionally try: treat the symptoms and hope for the best. What the state knows how to do is restrict, rule and regulate and therefore they’ll increase our doses of that.