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Eric wrote:<br>
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cite="mid:5864400D-EEAF-428B-BF56-7A71F90FB017@santafe.edu">
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Yeah, the theme of performative cruelty as a social movement has
now fully found and asserted its identity.
<div class=""><br class="">
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<div class="">I wonder when the rest of us decide this is enough
of a threat to need an organized response, and how we do that.</div>
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<p>Having just recently toured the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam and
walking the streets of Weesp, seeing brass plaques memorializing
the jewish families taken (and almost consistently exterminated)
by the Nazis, I am freshly sensitized to how fast and how bad
things can get... especially recognizing that this all happened in
my parent's lifetimes. Mary's mother was born the same day/year
as Anne Frank and identified with her from the time her diaries
were released in English (early 50s). Another friend's parents
were at Nuremberg for the trials (Belgian mother worked service
for the Allies and father was an MP guarding those on trial).
All of this generation are dead now but we heard (some of) their
stories growing up. <br>
</p>
<p>We also met (on our European travels) our own generation (moslty
professional class) who still remember growing up in the aftermath
of WWII, bombed out buildings, machine gun holes in walls, etc.
Their perspective on the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a bit
sharper than mine has been. The few "strangers" we spoke with
about US politics were very circumspect... this would be service
people we met along the way, usually somewhat displaced by EU
opportunities (e.g Czech in his 30s driving a bus in Iceland) and
pretty careful about making assumptions about our politics when
discussing (at first)... I didn't run into anyone casually (or
otherwise) who was openly populist or right wing. On individual
issues, we did meet our share of anti-globalists and anti-progress
(i.e. Brexit, Windmills, etc), however... <br>
</p>
<p>The forces of anger/intolerance always seem to have a certain
kind of transitory upper-hand... if you don't stand up to them
you lose, but if you stand up to them too strongly you risk
becoming them and lose doubly. And yet, those periods of extreme
always seem to burn themselves out? <i><br>
</i></p>
<p><i>Performative cruelty</i> *is* a very apt term.<br>
</p>
- Steve<br>
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