Reference: “Accusation in a Mirror”

12 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by commart in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Philology, Politics, Psychology

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genocide, language psychology, linguistic reflection, malignant narcissism, narcissism, propaganda, rhetoric

“One of the most astonishing discoveries in the history of genocide studies was the Note Relative à la Propagande d’Expansion et de Recrutement (the “Note”), a mimeographed document found in Butare prefecture in the wake of the Rwandan genocide. The Note, which draws from Goebbels, Lenin, and others, is a manual of the rhetorical methods that could be used to inflame ordinary people to attack their countrymen.”

Marcus, Kenneth L. “Accusation in a Mirror.” Loyola University Chicago Law Journal, 43 (2012): 357-393. PDF published via Loyola Law eCommons.

In practice, the technique has become visible and easy to spot in peace / hate-peace group chatyping.

As awful as the consequences intended by “Accusation in a Mirror” (AiM) may be, the technique fits well with other forms of disingenuous speech, hate speech, and sophistry. Put it one the same page as “blood libel” and common slander.

Motivation?

Somebody thinks they’re going to get something by way of the sheer beauty and force of their will.

Such lose their conscience, their humanity, their restraints, and while they and their people may pay for it, disingenuous speech, motivated, so I suspect, by the want of self-aggrandizement powered by hate, leads always to great suffering. When the practitioners are stopped in their tracks, related suffering abate, but it takes a while to understand this.

Related Reference

Truman Web Design. “Kangura magazine.” I believe I found this one the web at least as far back as 2006. The home page starts this way:

“Foreign invaders, plundering the rich earth of Rwanda. Bloodthirsty parasites, who prefer exploitation to honest labor. An elite minority, enjoying influence out of all proportion to their numbers—ferreting their way into the highest-paying jobs, monopolizing the banking system, the educational system, even the very government to ensure the soft life for themselves and their kin. Scheming, shrewd and crafty. Without scruples. Without conscience. Fearsome, loathsome, cunning as a cockroach. Intent on the destruction of every hard-working member of the native people to whom the country rightfully belongs. If they were in your country, wouldn’t you want to be warned? Wouldn’t you read the newspaper each morning,wouldn’t you keep all the radios on?”

The Truman Web Design-prefaced site (the subset is a “~” extended location) on the use of propaganda in the Rwandan Genocide also discusses, in addition to Kangura Magazine, RTLM Radio and media coverage of the event.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) maintains a similar report online: “Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda.” Similar sub-section: “Propaganda and Practice”.

Leets, Laura. “Experiencing Hate Speech: Perceptions and Responses to Anti-Semitism and Antigay Speech.” Journal of Social Issues, 58:2 (pp. 341-361), The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, 2002. The abstract notes (this is a partial quotation), “A content analysis of the accounts produced the following patterns: (a) short- and long-term consequences mirrored a three-stage sequence found within other traumatic experiences; (b) respondents described motives as enduring, not situational, states; (c) the most common response strategies were passive; and (d) participants often sought support. The discussion focuses on implications for interventions that may mitigate negative consequences of hate speech.”

12 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by commart in Uncategorized

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FTAC: Empathy is not a Given – A Note on Conscience and Language

07 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by commart in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, FTAC - From The Awesome Conversation

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conscience, consciousness, language, power

It took me a long time to realize that “empathy is not a given in human affairs” — not even between brothers. The development of a quality — empathy’s an interesting one — requires motivation (for me: wanting to be a writer). Moving sideways but down the same line: “conscience” is also a quality developed in language out of perceived personal and social necessity. Essentially, it’s a code of behavior. The kicker, imho, involves a simple two-part argument about language itself: language behavior clinically observed may be predictable — it will have nouns and will be rule-based; however (!), language invention may be wild (it is, I assure you and will provide reference if necessary) and it’s that invention in language in which each culture suspends itself.

A friend who had cared for a senile and dying parent for some time said to me about her experience, “Can you imagine what it must have been like to be in the presence of an elder suffering from senility without the concept of senility?”

You may see where this may go with regard to excesses, cruelties, and sadism on the part of cultures that have invested heavily in the legitimacy of absolute power or who haven’t registered as problems bipolar mania, for example, or messianic delusion (we could build a long list of concepts not shared across cultures and therefore invisible from one to the other).

Remember this event? http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/08/28/libya.gadhafi.nanny/index.html

How could somebody do that? How could an entire family hide it (or, sadly, do similar things)?

Somebody had convinced themselves they had the privilege and right, and that was their consciousness and conscience.

Yesterday, another “malignant narcissist” had his military prepare nerve gas for use, probably, in his own state — estimated impact if released in an urban area: 100,000 dead within minutes. In that monster’s head, he may have the privilege and right and cause to drop those weapons in relation to his own (going colloquial here) “head trip”. Assad’s cloak has been Soviet Era Ba’ath Party ideology and encouragement, and — the same as with Saddam — it has helped him endorse his own grandiose delusions.

I’ve wandered long here and apologize if it’s too much. Nonetheless, if “language has a power” it’s this power to produce our story and suspend us — person and culture — in it, and the content of it, whether it defines a strong leader, a good man, greatness in some way, perfidy in another may determine what will matter to us and how conscience will work or seem to be absent altogether.

FTAC: Conflict, Language, and Pricks

07 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by commart in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, FTAC - From The Awesome Conversation, Philology, Psychology

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conflict, cultural evolution, global, language, psychology

A Facebooker said, “Conscience does not work in vacuum. Impact of incidents do occur over our reasoning and may even our truthfulness get shattered.” [STET].

+++

We may be more organized and programmed by the possession of language than we know.

The behavior itself is transparent (unless deliberately observed); the arrangement of associations between symbols may be taken for granted (“Everyone knows that . . . .”) until interrupted by a work of art, poetry, or war; the social grammar — what is good to say, what is not, and when or under what circumstances — of a language (language culture) has also a transparency to it as the earliest embedded thoughts, positions (attitudes), and behaviors (from how to greet to when to lie) have a “low level” or essentially subconscious life in the mind.

Those who study or work with acknowledged or well accepted as existing psychopathology (DSM present and approved, one might say) frequently apply a term to whether a person afflicted (e.g., by bipolar disorder; schizophrenia; narcissistic personality disorder, and so on) recognizes the presence of his problem. If he does, we say he “exhibits insight” and that’s helpful; if not, “he hasn’t a clue” — and others may be invited or obligated to intervene for the health of (now) the patient and for the defense of everyone in his path.

As psychology takes an interest in the life of the mind of the person, the field enjoys a convenient restriction: the concern is with the person. However, the person may turn out a leader of others, one well enough to charm and seduce, and then demonic, wicked, or wild enough to make a mess. The smaller figures — e.g., Charles Manson — are easily the subject of conversation; the larger ones — e.g., Constantine — become a little less touchable.

We have to find our way.

I feel the species will tend toward health and survival on a cooperative basis elicited by, no better word than this one, pricks.

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A smaller world with more potent weapons bodes ill, but the challenges may be met by a rapidly globalizing consciousness — in large numbers, we’re working with one another across innumerable barriers and miles, and that’s going to have an effect on normative behaviors and on the invention (through language) of a global culture sufficient to rein in or shape what in earlier days would have been more isolated events with equally isolated cultural antecedents.

FTAC: A Passing Thought on Inclusion

06 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by commart in A Little Wisdom, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, FTAC - From The Awesome Conversation, Politics

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civilizational process, conflict, evolution, exclusion, inclusion, societies

From an evolutionary standpoint, inclusion wins. It simply involves more coherent and cooperative human energy against exclusive and deeply subordinating missions. Unfortunately, arranging, defending, securing, and expanding the building blocks that sustain exclusive identity (because few humans turn out internationalist androids) in inclusive regions takes a lot of time. While that process organizes itself within global culture, the casualties climb and the refugee camps fill where that spirit remains yet insufficient.

Egypt Starts Its Slow Burn

06 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by commart in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Egypt, Fast News Share, Islamic Small Wars, Middle East

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2012, December, Egypt, protests

The above video was uploaded about six hours ago. According to “MZWORDLNEWZ”, all of that above would seem to have taken place last night.

I’ve no way of vetting the video other than by glancing over related reference.

Egomania comes with hidden costs, but it’s no secret that people — even close associates (as noted in the RT piece listed in reference) — may only take so much provided their spirits are good and intact and they have room to maneuver. At this point, President Morsi has polarized his country and lost both a fair chunk of popular support and trust as well as critical personal support.

Would that the powerful pay the price for the chaos and damage they bring to their states, but, and this seen too well in Syria’s meltdown, the would-be constituents of a democratic society and subjects of a creeping Islamic theocracy will arm up, figure out how to discern one another, and have a go in the streets while the military’s fat cats enjoy patronage and power and, for themselves, peace away from the spotlights.

Oren Dorell’s piece published in USA Today has some analytic wisdom in it and will fill in the reader on the military’s compact with President Morsi.

Won’t get fooled again?

That’s up to the Egyptians.

Associated Reference

Goldberg, Ellis. “The Pharoah’s Curse: Muhammad Morsi and the Temptations of Power.” Speaker’s address video (1 hour and eleven minutes), primarily audio communication. Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University, November 16, 2012.

Dorell, Oren. “Analysts: Egypt’s military won’t buck the Brotherhood.” USA Today, December 3, 2012.

Hauslohner, Abigail and Stephanie McCrummen. “Egypt’s Republican Guard tanks and soldiers deploy around palace after deadly clashes.” The Washington Post, December 6, 2012: “By Thursday afternoon, at least three of Morsi’s advisers had resigned over the decree, and Egypt’s influential al-Azhar University, a seat of moderate Islam, was calling on Morsi to rescind it.

Hussein, Abdel-Rahman. “Egypt violence worsens as five die in Cairo clashes.” The Guardian, December 6, 2012.

Russia Today. “Curfew hits Cairo after military tanks quell anti-Morsi protests”. The piece features a recent-events video. “They’re saying . . they will not step down, will not back off, until Morsi steps down from power.” Also notable in the RT report: “The volatile situation has also led to the resignation of five more of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s advisors, including Seif Abdel Fattah, Ayman Sayyad and Amr Leithy who quitted Wednesday over the violence. Mena news agency reported a further resignation on Thursday. Three others did so last week to protest Morsi’s November decree.”

Salter, Ann. “Egypt: Army moves in to break up protests.” IB Times. Video. December 6, 2012: “”When Egypt reaches a point, after a revolution, where a brother kills his brother, when the people of one nation reach a point where they carry weapons against each other and slaughter each other – this is not democracy. This is terrorism, terrorism from the ruling party . . . .”

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Monthly Archives: December 2012

Reference: “Accusation in a Mirror”

Related Reference

FTAC: Empathy is not a Given – A Note on Conscience and Language

FTAC: Conflict, Language, and Pricks

FTAC: A Passing Thought on Inclusion