Smollett Thoughts

Guest Post by The Zman

Because I am not insane, I assumed the Jusse Smollett caper was a hoax as soon as it made the news. It ticked all the boxes of a hoax. The alleged victim was a black Jewish homosexual, who makes a living as a drama queen. The alleged incident happened in Chicago, where the last racist redneck was last seen in the 19th century. The incident happened in a part of town that caters to deviants like Smollett, not MAGA hat wearing Trump supporters. Again, only a nut would accept the story at face value.

Similarly, once the hoax was made plain, I knew the believers on the Left, by which I mean everyone on the Left, would go through the usual phases that they always pass through when confronting disconfirmation. Initially they would lash out at doubters, calling them blasphemers. As the truth was slowly revealed, they would search for explanations to excuse Smollett. Finally, once it was confirmed to be a hoax, they would enter the phase where they admit it was a hoax, but claim these crimes are common.

This brilliant post on the topic goes into more detail, but the general explanation is that these people need to be reinforced in their beliefs and they need to reinforce one another in their beliefs. Progressivism is a social system, as well as a set of beliefs. The believer is not just defined by his beliefs, but by his association with others. Much of the signaling we see from them is not intended for us. Like fireflies blinking in the dusk, they are signaling to one another. These hoaxes provide the opportunity for it.

The people in this photo, for example, don’t care about the details of the case or whether it is even true. They play make believe for a living, so facts grounded in observable reality are not important to them. This Smollett thing was like a stage that suddenly popped up in the public square, allowing them to climb aboard and perform. What they will remember and what their coreligionists will remember, is that they were on board early and stood strong for a victim of those terrible white people on the other side of the wall.

It’s why these people not only fall for these hoaxes, but amplify them. You can be sure that many of the people in that photo have fallen for many of these hoaxes. The little Jewish guy, front row, third from the right, is a barking at the moon anti-white. He really believes Hitler is about to pop out from the bushes and carry him off to a camp. The next time whites are libeled in some way, he will be right there showing his support for the anti-white, regardless of how silly the claim. He is consumed with a hatred of white people.

That’s the thing though. Not only do these people keep falling for these hoaxes, these hoaxes are becoming more common and more outlandish. This one is so absurd, it would not pass muster with Hollywood script writers. The University of Virginia rape hoax was also laughably absurd. In other words, instead of these hoaxes leading to greater skepticism, these hoaxes result in greater credulity on the Left. It’s as if each one is an appetizer, wetting the appetite of the believers, who are desperate for the real thing.

The other side of this dynamic is the civic nationalists are close to a frenzy, trying to prove the next hoax false, confident that this time will do the trick. The Left, confronted with the reality of these hoaxes, will throw down their weapons and finally admit, that yeah, these things are fake. The fear of the secret invisible Hitler people is all nonsense. During every one of these, the CivNats start blinking to one another, working the details of the puzzle, confident that their “eureka!” moment is at hand.

It is a good example of the central challenge of this age. Guys like Steve Sailer truly believe they can turn the tide with facts and reason. He probably has 25 posts on this Smollett thing. He has been working the hate-hoax angle for close to two decades now, yet here we are anyway. He is no closer to unriddling the hate hoax puzzle than he was twenty years ago. If anything, the hoaxes have become more outlandish. Even so, he will keep trying to use facts and reason to address a matter of belief.

No doubt, some civic nationalist types would argue that their project is not about convincing the Left. It is about demonstrating to normal people that these people are dishonest, crazy or even dangerous. In other words, using facts and reason is not about countering belief, but about convincing the rational. The trouble is the Left is undefeated against this strategy and it permits them to own the moral high ground. In this case, they were the ones defending the victim against those evil whites.

Culture wars are moral wars. It is about imposing your morality on the other side, no matter what it takes. It’s why radicals have had no qualms about using violence against their perceived enemies. It’s why Antifa exists. They’re not trying to prove their case or win arguments. They are about clubbing the doubters into submission. From the perspective of the Left, this Smollett affair was a big win. They reinforced an important point They control the morality and they will impose it on society.

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anarchyst
anarchyst

This is no different than holohoax fraudster Eli Weisel declaring that “some things are true that never happened”, especially when it comes to “all things holocaust”. It’s an old jewish trick that is quickly losing its “punch”.
In the Smollett case, the jewish left’s usual excuse is that, despite being a total lie, “it can be (and still is) a learning experience”.

Captain Willard

I agreed with everything Zman said right up to when he said this was a victory for the Left.

Quite the opposite, I feel it was a rare defeat for the Left. Politics in America is played between the 40-yard lines in general. Normal white folks who prefer to go about their daily business ignoring the Culture War to the extent they can were appalled by this hoax. Even Charles Barkley spoofed it during an NBA broadcast of all places!

The cumulative impact of Kavanaugh, Duke Lacrosse, Jackie/UVA, Covington kids, Mueller, Smollett cannot be assessed immediately. But if even 3pct of the White electorate is moved, it will have a profound impact on politics. Younger White males in particular surely must be thinking, at least in private, that they are the principal victims of this War.

Anonymous
Anonymous

I was thinking about pressuring my boss for a raise but maybe I will just try to live within my means by cutting back on things like drugs and paying people to kick my ass.

Iska Waran
Iska Waran

This guy, Wilfred Reilly, https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/02/22/jussie-smollett-empire-attack-fired-cut-video-chicago-fox-column/2950146002/ wrote a good column about how so many of these (probably most) are fake. He’s writing book about the subject. He’s a black guy and professor at a historically black college. There’s a debate on YouTube between him and Jared Taylor about diversity (which I have not yet watched). I assume he leans left, but he’s calling out these hoaxes. So maybe there’s hope.

hardscrabble farmer
hardscrabble farmer

He makes an excellent point. The framing isn’t so much that he committed a fairly serious series of crimes with the intent of inflaming a violent reaction against innocent people, but that racist hate crimes by MAGA hat wearing Trump supporters against vulnerable black gays are a very serious problem in America even if this time it was a hoax.

It’s pretty impressive if you think about it.

RayK
RayK

The problem with using reason and facts to debunk these obvious hoaxes is that you have to approach the hoax from a perspective that it ‘could be true’ and proceed from there. We try to be sensitive and not offend the hoaxster, nor his/her sympathetic crowd, and be restrained in our ‘pointing’. This approach has not worked for the last 20 years, and trying again and again only points to the definition of insanity.

To really have a chance to kill this process, which the conservatives have not been able to do, is to mock the hoax and the hoaxster. Rolling on the floor laughing one’s ass off. Sure, use reason and facts to point out the hoax, and then let out a good belly bucking guffaw, loud and frequent, and repeat each and every time.

Charles Barkley has the idea. Follow the example.

DD
DD

“In a victimhood culture, even when hate crime hoaxes are exposed, they are excused as an attempt to raise awareness of a real problem or as the understandable reaction of someone suffering from so much unrecognized oppression.”

https://quillette.com/2019/02/22/hate-crime-hoaxes-are-more-common-than-you-think/?fbclid=IwAR3OZUtow0t9XOLR7FmFsyK_xBW_f5FRnniLliCHvnuhO-rL2cz_k0hXuBg

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