Imagine a serf is beaten by his master

[galdur]

Dan Sanchez

27 mins ·

Imagine a serf is beaten by his master, who then says the beating was requested by a slave over some alleged transgression. Seeking vengeance, the beaten serf requests that the slave be beaten in return for his own misdeeds. The master obliges, telling the slave that his beating was requested by the serf. The serf then retaliates likewise. The slave and the serf then become locked in a proxy war with each other, through the medium of their master. They are so preoccupied with their enmity toward each other, they never even consider uniting against their true and common enemy. To the contrary, each becomes positively devoted to his master, as his chief champion against his perceived enemy. “If only I could finally get the master fully and finally on my side, then everything would be great!”
That is how the modern State divides and rules.

[galdur]

Dan Sanchez

21 mins ·

A spokesman for the activists now occupying the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon is also an anti-Muslim activist. He is willing to put his neck on the line for the sake of ranchers beset by government persecution. Yet he petitions his government masters to persecute Muslims. Some of his conservative fellow occupiers may obstinately defend brutal cops and their license to persecute and even kill civilians, especially blacks.

Meanwhile, progressives are petitioning their government masters to rain down drone fire on the “domestic terrorists” for daring to occupy government “property” in protest over a state land grab. Yet many of these same progressives oppose the drone bombing of Muslims abroad, support civil disobedience and the occupation of public space (so long as its for Occupy Wall Street or Black Lives Matter), and oppose Israeli land grabs in occupied Palestine (often perpetrated under environmentalist pretexts).

Both sides seem entirely immune to cognitive dissonance.