Savagery is contagious
Mob violence has been part of human behavior for a long long time, and that hasn’t changed in any fundamental way. Anyone who studies the reality of human history rather than some sanitized or woke version is aware of that. Sacked cities, Indian (native American) raids, the Rwandan genocide, and so often the massacre of Jews, all part of a long sorrowful and savage story. The Nazis were extremely brutal, but because they had been part of modern Western civilization they for the most part tried to keep their brutality somewhat hidden from the German people, because they were afraid that they might protest.
What Palestinians did on October 7 in Israel shocked much of the world, but it inspired many people. I believe that such inspiration was part of the calculation Hamas made before unleashing such barbaric violence: that it would terrify the right people (the non-Left West) and motivate others with the lust for imitation. We saw that latter group rejoice all around the world almost as soon as the violence happened. And since then we have seen mobs screaming for the death of Jews and even going around to airports trying to find some Jews to kill.
As far as I know, there have been no copycat massacres – yet. But don’t be at all surprised if they occur. For example, it is my belief that Hamas wanted the Arab population of Israel, which is two million strong, to rise up in more violence within Israel itself. That hasn’t happened yet and perhaps it won’t; I hope that’s the case, anyway.
Kurt Schlichter has written a related column entitled, “Accept That Savagery Is the True Nature of the World – and Deal With It.” An excerpt:
The true nature of the world is savagery.
The world’s true nature is that good is forever pitted against evil.
That has never changed. What happened over the last 70 years or so was an interregnum of peace in the West, created by violence against barbarians and facilitated by people willfully looking away from the butchery still continuing at the fringes of the map. The West managed to build a civilization that was – for the first time in history since perhaps the Pax Romana – generally internally peaceful. And the West convinced itself that this was normal.
However, those first two sentences contradict each other. The true nature of the world is that savagery is a big part of human nature’s potential, and that peace must be earned and guarded and at times requires war for its defense. But when Schlicter says that good is forever pitted against evil, he is also saying that good is another part of human nature. Societies can emphasize and foster one part at the expense of another. And one of the drawbacks of a long peace is that we forget – especially, our younger generations forget – that savagery is always possible and we sometimes must fight fiercely against it, and that we must be able to tell good from bad. We’ve fallen down on that vital latter ability, as well.
When the October 7 massacre happened, I quickly published a post that quoted Kipling’s The Gods of the Copybook Headings. Kipling himself was quite aware of these harsh truths, and here are two verses of that poem again [emphasis mine]:
When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “Stick to the Devil you know.” …And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!
But in addition to the poem itself we should pay attention to the concept of copybook headings, which were maxims schoolchildren used to be taught by making them copy them over and over in penmanship lessons:
A copybook was used to teach penmanship in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries because it was considered an important business skill. A student’s copybook had a different, perfectly handwritten phrase or statement at the top of each blank, lined page–thus, copybook headings. The student was required to copy the heading down through the lines on the page, attempting to reproduce it faithfully.
Inasmuch as moral education and citizenship were features of education at that time, the copybook headings often reflected that focus. Instead of isolated words or random phrases, the copybook headings were more often proverbs or maxims. Kipling included examples in the poem. Every teacher and parent surely expected that, by the time a child had written, “A stitch in time saves nine,” down the entire page, they would have internalized the lesson.
Thus, the “gods” of the copybook headings were the dictates of a culture attempting to live in peace with itself, knowing one of the requisites of educating children was to explain the realities of getting along with others and thinking of more than oneself, whether one had faith or not.
We don’t teach penmanship anymore as far as I know. But that’s the least of it. Our attempts at “moral education and citizenship” are either feeble or counterproductive. And as Kipling knew, that won’t teach us the necessary lesson of how to keep the forces of savagery at bay, or how to recognize and fight them when they do appear.
Kurt Schlichter is largely correct here. It’s interesting. We often describe acts of extreme savagery and cruelty such as the events of October 7th as “inhuman”. But in a sense such acts could actually be argued to be very human. After all, there’s endless historical precedence of such behavior. History is replete with instances of (mostly young) men glorifying in the torture, rape, and butchery of men, women and children during war and campaigns of terror.
Scientists have called a gene that’s been linked to psychopathy the “warrior gene” and there’s been arguments made about the prevelence of aggression and cruelty being an advantage in human populations historically. Perhaps there was a larger percentage of psycopaths in the human population millenia ago and it’s only in more recent centuries and in the West that being a monster is less advantageous and tends to get you locked up or executed.
Coordinated savagery and violence is also a feature among Chimpanzees.
One of the best classes I took at Creighton was on the French Revolution.
One of the professor’s points stuck with me: The veneer of civilization is very thin.
VDH makes the same point when he says that human nature hasn’t changed over the centuries.
The United States was high civilization until the Class of ’68 (The Clintons) and their crew got into power.
“Our attempts at “moral education and citizenship” are either feeble or counterproductive.”
Absolutely true Boss…specifically because we’ve abandoned the Biblical worldview which had been held as foundational for such morals & any understanding of citizenship in the moral universe.
You can’t do “moral education” if by “moral” you mean “whatever is true for you.”
Caroline Glick Show, “Giving Gaza to More Barbarians is an Insanely Bad Idea” (37:57): https://youtu.be/ewI-IRLbLsA?si=ly3sTCJJjb0JSt1p
Contagious…and apparently, for some, advantageous…(at least in theory)…
“This is the drug Hamas terrorists took to help them slaughter Israelis”—
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-769250
Related:
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/379033
The way to deal with savages is to give them their Chief Joseph moment.
“I will fight no more forever”
We’re very close to doing what the PLA did to end the cultural revolution.
I have related the story of the Chimakum before.
From Wikipedia
“ Around 1789, there were about 400 Chimakum Indians living on the Quimper Peninsula and along Hood Canal, about 2000 Clallams spread in 16 villages from Discovery to Clallam Bay, another 2000 Makahs and Ozettes at Neah Bay and west of Lake Ozette, and another 500 Quileutes to the south, making the number of native peoples roughly about 6000. Shortly before 1790 they were fighting a number of tribes, including the Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Klallam, Makah, and Ditidaht (or Nitinaht).
In 1847, a disastrous conflict with the Suquamish devastated the Chimakum, effectively wiping them out. According to Wahélchu of the Suquamish, various conflicts and tensions between the Suquamish and Chimakum had reached the point where the Suquamish decided to launch of “war of extermination” as soon as some immediate provocation was offered. At least two pretexts for war soon came to pass and a war party was organized. Because Chief Kitsap, the Suquamish war chief, was either dead or unable to lead, Chief Seattle, for whom the city of Seattle was named, became the leader of the war against the Chimakum. The Suquamish under Chief Seattle were assisted by about 150 Klallam warriors. Before long, the Chimakum were confined to one village with a stockade, located near the mouth of Chimakum Creek, near present-day Irondale. The village stronghold was named Tsetsibus, or C’íc’abus, and had long been an important gathering place. The Suquamish warriors hid themselves near the village and waited for a good chance to attack. A Chimakum family left the village and headed north, passing by the hidden Suquamish. The father was recognized as the man responsible for the death of respected Suquamish Tulébot, which had been one of the pretexts for war. The Suquamish immediately fired a volley of bullets. Many of the Chimakum villagers rushed to help the man and his family. Seeing the village mostly empty, the Suquamish rushed through the woods and entered the village from behind. Once their numbers inside the stockade were sufficient, the Suquamish opened fire upon the Chimakum inside the village. The Chimakum were taken completely by surprise and found themselves unable to resist or escape. According to Edward S. Curtis, recounting Wahélchu’s telling, “the rapid rain of bullets mowed them down.” Women and children were captured and taken away as slaves. The Suquamish paddled away, leaving the last Chimakum village in ruins and nearly all of the people either dead or captured. One of the few Suquamish who died in the encounter was Chief Seattle’s eldest son.”
Neo said, “Our attempts at “moral education and citizenship” are either feeble or counterproductive.”
Compare with Deu 6:4-7, “Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. And you shall repeat them diligently to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down, and when you get up.”
Isn’t it fair to say that attempts by the state are worthless, attempts by catechisms withing the parents’ faith better, but best is parents directly teaching their children when they are young?
And isn’t the problem largely one of parents passing the buck to religious institutions, or even worse, public schools, to do what parents should be doing themselves?
Just who is the ‘we’ in ‘our attempts’ Kemosabe?
And it’s only going to work if we follow John Guilfoyle’s worldview, which is fast-fading from the scene.
“The way to deal with savages is to give them their Chief Joseph moment.” “I will fight no more forever” Chases Eagles
When dealing with people who see their death as the entrance to paradise, it’s problematic that simply killing them will prove to be an effective deterrent. Until the incentive for jihad is removed that will continue to be the case. Clue; Allah has declared in the ‘sacred’ Qur’an that a Muslim, who at the time of their death has been rendered unclean cannot enter paradise. Any contact with any part of a pig instantly renders a Muslim unclean. Which is why they get so upset when they unknowingly eat pork. Pig fat can be easily incorporated into gun oil…
There is precedent: https://es.redskins.com/topic/55903-how-to-stop-islamic-terrorists-a-true-story/
the pershing story, right, then again the indian mutiny is said to have been provoked by similat rumors in 1857
In the present case, savagery is certainly instructive. Jew-hating bigots are exposing themselves around the world. I make no excuses for the egregious events of the twentieth century in Europe; however, it is clear that today Muslims, black racists, and leftists are the ones consumed with evil.
“moral education and citizenship”–the phrase itself sounds out of place, or worse, in the current climate, especially as a component of organized official education. “Moral education” today, at least in higher ed, means learning to despise everyone who came before you, unless you are part of an official victim class. No wonder everybody wants to claim that status.
SAC brat here
“If you kill enough of them, they stop fighting.”
“There are no innocent civilians, so it doesn’t bother me so much to be killing innocent bystanders.”
Curtis LeMay
Geoffrey Britain, from your pen to IDF’s ears! One can only hope. 🙂
The plan to use pig fat and parts to render Muslims unclean would be difficult, considering that Jews also don’t eat pork, and so the supply is probably rather thin in the area. Even in Cairo, in recent years, Muslim authorities used the excuse of the swine flu scare to eliminate the pigs being raised in Coptic areas of town.
I offer this in an effort to add to the conversation about repetitive writing. One day when I was in second grade I was required to stay after school. My task was to write on the blackboard from top (stool) to bottom: “I will avoid needless talking. My cursive was to be neat and no slanting of the sentence line!
My cursive is still lovely. However, I still have trouble restraining a spontaneous response !
sdferr, in your link, Caroline Glick makes the point several of us have already made, that this is a religious war.
The first wave of boomers/hippies to complete law school happened in about 1972 in California. It is interesting to note that the first time nearly an entire class failed a section of the CA bar exam was in 1972. What section did they fail you might ask? How about–the ethics section.
It is right to note the enormity of Hillary’s contribution to the decline of this country. Did it ever bother anyone here that there is so little known about her childhood, her father, or her mother? Very, very little has been written–coming from Chicago one can only wonder if she was the first child of organized crime to sleep in the WH?
her father was in textiles, among her formative influences were carl Oglesby, co founder of the SDS, she was panther philic, proto BLM at Yale Law, those are the highlights
Some time in the future when the events of these days are put in the history books, it might be interesting to discuss human savagery vis a vis the phenomenon of women’s abuse of other women.
Tablet mag, “Feminists Are Consenting to Hamas’ Rape Culture”, Gil Troy:
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/feminists-are-consenting-to-hamas-rape-culture
Anne, my Mom always maintained that the worst enemy of women was other women.
sdferr:
Feminism has been revealed long ago as a leftist operation, plain and simple. Yes, a great many women who are not leftists went along initially because of actual discrimination in some professions long ago, but that battle was won many decades ago and now it is clear that was never the point or the goal as far as the leaders are concerned. Like all leftists, they operate on leftist principles and not the principles they profess to uphold. They are worse than worthless; they are destructive.
Just a reminder….
“THE ISSUE IS NOT THE ISSUE”—
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/10/the-issue-is-not-the-issue.php
Opening graf;
“Ever since David Horowitz broke from the radical left back in the 1980s, he has been trying to warn conservatives that they don’t really understand the core principle of the left, and the depths of the left’s power-mad depravity. Conservatives too often think that the Israel-Palestine conflict, or civil rights, crime, income inequality, transgender ideology, climate change, etc, etc., are discrete issues to be argued against the left with reason and facts. To which Horowitz replies: The issue is not the issue—the issue is revolution! (And a key corollary is: the more violent, the better. Hence the approval and celebration of Hamas on October 7.)….”
To which it MUST be added: The Democratic Party, dripping utter, wall-to-wall dishonesty, has embraced this worldview of DESTRUCTION—this LEFTIST GOTTERDAMERUNG—including, bizarrely(?) many of those Jewish Democrats now decrying all those pro-Hamas protesters.
What goes around…
“…worse than worthless…”
Further evidence is, of course, perfect silence in the face of the destruction of women’s sports by the Trans Gang(TM)—which MUST BE SUPPORTED, quite clearly, for humane—and “human rights”(!!!!)—reasons….
…Not to mention—and ye’ want CRAZY, I’LL GIVE YE’ CRAZY—the profound need they appear to have to wreck the lives of girls and young women (emotionally AND physically) by ENCOURAGING them to swap gender….
(Yes, of course…)
I read the Koran in 1985 as a course in college.
The Koran is very clear that the Jews are to be eradicated. According to the Imams, the Jews are evil while the Christians are merely confused.
ISIS, Al-Queda, and their brethren are following Islamic theology to the letter. They are not misunderstanding the teachings of Islam, which is why you will never hear an Imam complain about these murderous bastards.
Go read Jihad Watch once a week for a month. That Robert Spencer fellow will make it all clear.
Erronius
I see something similar in the mass shooting plague that we’ve suffered over the past decades. Random mass shootings used to be quite rare. (And actually remain much rarer that the media would have us believe.) What changed? I’d say that its the media’s reaction that spreads the contagion. Everytime we have a shooting, we have to spend a week listening to logic-free rants from the left about gun control, which just has the effect of keeping the whole matter in the news longer and glorifying the shooter further.
YAY, not_a_lawyer! My take exactly!
It seems the veneer of civilization is paper thin. I think some percentage of humans are incapable or highly resistant to devolving to savagery (hopefully it’s a sizeable percentage), but we see situations quickly collapse into violence and savagery again and again.
Governor DeSantis has worked to put mandatory civics coursework in the Florida school curriculum. I know the state of Texas used to also be very good at this. Hopefully that hasn’t changed. When I grew up the state of Illinois did a very good job of mandating that all elementary and High School aged children were educated in civics. Those requirements and standards have long since been abandoned in Illinois.
Your local school teacher, mid level professional female, female university professor, post office employee, etc. are always available to be used as a weapon on behalf of feminist ideals! They will steal mail, pound their way into your home, push you down stairs, disrupt your bank accounts, deprive you of employment, etc.etc. Every single woman you know that has a reasonably sustainable income is available to be used as a “soldier as needed”. Each INDIVIDUAL female you know can/will be used to harass and punish any woman not going along with their agenda. Ask me how I know!
You could do worse that check out this article and video as your introduction to Robert Spencer and his valiant efforts over the last many (20+) years to bring awareness of Islamic ideas and the real history to the Western audience.
https://www.meforum.org/62063/robert-spencer-did-muhammad-exist