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I Wonder What He Thinks of Me?
Everybody needs an identity. Something we can identify with, and be comfortable with. In small towns, it’s often what town you live in, which family you belong to, which church you attend, what sport you play, what you do for a living, or things like that. If you were to hang around the local Walmart or something, a lot of people would look the same to you – they dress similarly, and they don’t seem to feel the need to intentionally separate themselves from others with the way they dress or something. Perhaps because they’re sufficiently comfortable with who they are that they make little effort to change it or hide it from others.
My daughter is a scholarship athlete at Georgetown, so I’m going to DC a lot to watch her play these days. I thought it would be fun, to see the complex mix of cultures and backgrounds that make up the diverse population of such a cosmopolitan city. And in a way, it is interesting, but not the way I expected. You’ve got the rich white men in Priuses, and the rich white men on bicycles wearing silly outfits (Spandex should be illegal for anyone over 25 years old), and the rich white gay men wearing rainbow patches on their backpacks, and the rich white men driving Bentleys, and the rich white men wearing old brown T-shirts and worn-out cargo shorts, and the rich white men with laptop backpacks and electric scooters, and the rich white men with beards and flannel shirts, and the rich white men wearing Hawaiian shirts and pork pie hats, and so on and so forth. The vast majority of these people would look incredibly out of place in nearly any small town in America.
You might think that such a lily-white, insanely wealthy place like Georgetown was disturbed by their lack of diversity, so they tried to invent their own, as best they could. Safe diversity. Without any, you know, actual diversity. But I don’t think that’s it. I think that many Americans have been taught to be ashamed of their true identity. Ashamed of their skin color, their beliefs, and their country. Leftists work hard at accomplishing this. They suffer from it themselves (Barack Obama, Prince Harry, and my liberal nephew all called their grandmothers racist), but they also work at ensuring that everyone suffers from it as well. So in Georgetown, Brett is not a wealthy lobbyist from a suburb of Boston – no, he’s a socially conscious Prius driver who drinks organic coffee. He likes himself better that way…
Those of us sufficiently comfortable with who we are may find such silliness to be, well, silly. I mean, c’mon Brett – if you don’t like being a lobbyist, why don’t you go do something else? You could drop the charade. Geez – this is silly.
But firstly, there’s nothing silly about self-hate. That’s an awful place to be.
And we should also remember that those who are capable of hating themselves are also capable of hating others. It comes naturally to them, as a matter of fact. Once you hate yourself, hating others is easy.
The right focuses on what we have in common as Americans. The left focuses on that which divides us.
The unity which can be gained from what we have in common serves to make America stronger and more stable.
The hatred which results from that which divides us serves to weaken American and strengthen the left. Which is the whole point. And now, the left not only tries to divide various groups from one another, they encourage self-hate in just about everybody. If you were trying to create chaos and violence in society, this is what you would do.
Teaching people to hate themselves and hide their true identity is a terrible idea. It’s not good for anybody. Well, nobody except leftists who want power, and need social chaos and violence to get it.
Plus, if the only identity considered to be virtuous is the identity of a far-leftist, then you can get people to abandon their own hated identity for one that is more socially acceptable. If all you have to do is wear a Che T-shirt and drive a Prius to go from a hated white person to a loved leftist, why would you not do that? Harmless enough, right?
Well, maybe, except that the self-hate needed to abandon one’s identity will tend to make some of these converts hate everyone else with the passion of the newly converted. Such people can be dangerous. It doesn’t take many of them to create chaos and violence.
The people in Georgetown seem harmless enough. The men often start their sentences with ‘So…’ and end their sentences with a non-threatening upward lilt. And I’m sure they mean well. At least, they go to a lot of effort to publicly signal that they mean well.
But as I was watching people walk by in Georgetown, I was a little creeped out. I wanted to grab some random guy as ask him “You manage a $250 million hedge fund. You’re from Greenwich, Connecticut, and now you live in a $5 million townhouse in Georgetown. Why are you dressed like a beach bum? Ditch the Prius. Buy some new flip-flops, for Pete’s sake. What are you trying to prove? Who are you trying to impress? Who are you trying to be?”
I’m not sure who exactly he’s trying to be, and he’s probably not sure, either. But it’s certainly not him.
And if he doesn’t like who he is, I wonder what he thinks of me?
Postscript:
Ok, before you all start, yes, there are significant weaknesses to the way I’m trying to illustrate my point. Those who admire centralized power structures, and are willing to give up something of themselves to be part of something bigger than them, tend to be drawn to cities, and to leftism. And a bunch of bored wealthy white people playing dress-up for one another is not necessarily proof of some underlying conspiracy. And yes, I’ve long struggled with leftism’s odd combination of arrogance and self-loathing, which is not necessarily demonstrated by a rich white lady in a multi-million dollar condo wearing a floppy bohemian hippie dress and turquoise jewelry which appears to have been designed by preschoolers.
But still.
I do think that leftists understand that one way to get everyone to identify as a leftist, is to make their own real identity to be loathsome and embarrassing. And I maintain that encouraging self-hatred is vicious and dangerous. And I think that people who have been trained to hate themselves are more likely to hate others. And before you know it, we move from a united society to a tribal one. And tribal societies are inherently unstable.
Which is ok with leftists, as long as leftists are in power. Despite how things look, I really don’t think that leftists are really trying to burn down American society. I just think they’re using techniques to gain power that lead to social instability, and if American society burns down in the process, leftists don’t care. They’re trying to save the world, here. Omelets and broken eggs and all that.
So maybe I’m making too much of a rich white guy in cargo shorts. I probably should redo this essay, and try a different approach. But I’m too lazy. Perhaps I should have followed the advice of Lawst, and thought about what I was typing before I typed it.
Nahhhh…
But I think my basic point is still valid. Despite my difficulties in illustrating it.
Encouraging self-hatred leads to hatred of others, which creates social instability. So when I see a bunch of people pretending to be something other than what they are, it gives me the creeps.
What do you think?
Published in General
I think you are correct. I refuse to bow to their tyranny. You should too. Great essay, as always, Doc.
I’d give them til 30.
Doctor, you have a gift for making one think.
These people are silly. I understand that they can affect my life, but there’s not much I can do about that. I’ll ignore them as much as I can.
“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
“In the realm of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.”
This.
Great post, doc.
I wonder what he thinks of me?
Do you care?
If he hates me and my beliefs, and if he thinks cancel culture & street violence are a reasonable form of political expression, then yes, I care.
That this is one of the best commentaries on contemporary America that I have ever read on Ricochet. One of the best I’ve read anywhere in the last year or two.
NB:
I kept reading and thinking every sentence or two, “Self, you should save this, for a list of great quotes”. And then thinking, “when is this going to stop…is this a compilation of the greatest Dr. Bastiat quotes?”
Or greatest Ricochet quotes?
Or greatest quotes?
NB, The Sequel:
Hope this doesn’t go to Doc’s head. He just wrote a crummy article the other day, if that helps. He gives lousy directions. He is actually kind of short if you don’t rely on photos. Bad legs. That should do it.
Spent a weekend at Georgetown back when I was in college (in the 80’s). The only Black guys I saw on campus were basketball players I recognized from TV. Would have thought that would be different today.
It’s the poseur syndrome. And yes, they don’t like themselves.
He’s not the kind to be involved in street violence. He has too much to lose. And you’re probably as immune to cancellation as I am.
Biting!
Oh, I think they do!
Doc, the folks that you describe seem to be signaling a rebellion against, or disdain of, something. At least, that’s the way that it looks to me.
Does this seem correct to you? If so, what are the characteristics of the way of life that they are rejecting?
Right – but he might be the kind to support those who do get involved in street violence. By contributing bail money, by voting for prosecutors who won’t prosecute them, by supporting politicians who publicly proclaim that street violence isn’t violence. The attitude can be dangerous even if you don’t burn places down and beat people up yourself. . .
Well, then, what is the answer to the attraction of self-hate? The attraction of acceptance and contentment, if not outright happiness?
Yes.
I can’t help but think of Karlyn Borysenko and her experiences. We’re at a weird place because there’s a divide on the right where a small percentage are vehemently at odds with the rest. That same small percentage makes up a good chunk of the longstanding right-leaning media, many of whom (I believe) are actively engaged in the self-hate trap. And, wouldn’t you know it, they seem to have easily extended that hate/contempt to us.
But, as Dr. Borysenko learned, the rank and file don’t think this way. We don’t think we deserve to lose elections. We don’t think America is done and the best we can do is manage the decline (sounds like some hate there to me).
The problem becomes “how do you persuade” and when it comes to matters like this, you don’t. The best you can do is aim to be happy, because anger and hate are exhausting. That’s why this movement is burning itself out.
I look at the bearded shop-glasses guy and think, “A denim shirt?” That sews it up for me. I have no doubt he hates himself. Yet, look what he’s trying so hard to do: express masculinity in a world that won’t accept it. When he’s ready, and everyone else, we need to roll out the carpet. That’s how he’ll know he’s home.
I’m going against the flow here, but I think they love themselves, seek to exalt themselves and want to preserve and pamper themselves. And part of how they do this is to condemn and destroy others.
There is I think a spectrum:
believing that the new culture is right, and keeping it to themselves;
believing it’s right and questioning friends and family to see if they stand with you;
getting angry and telling off friends and family, and even ending relationships;
protesting, and intimidating and cancelling strangers with whom they disagree;
and then taunting, beating, and shooting strangers.
The farther they go along this scale of egotism, and the more destructive they get, the greater degree they both exalt themselves and prove to themselves that they are greater, more powerful, righter, and worth more than others.
You’re right – they seem to be signaling a rebellion against something.
The point I’m struggling to make is that they are signaling a rebellion against themselves. And I find that self-loathing to be concerning.
Partially because those who respect themselves and others are not leftists, nearly by definition. So the more people we teach to dislike themselves, the stronger the left becomes.
But also because those who hate themselves find it easier to hate others. And that is dangerous.
I don’t have any Spandex and never have, but was thinking of adding some to my repertoire. But I’ve found other solutions that seem to be working OK.
Thanks Mark!
It’s not easy to make a doctor more arrogant, so I wouldn’t worry about it…
Hey!
Well, yeah, it was pretty crummy…
Well, yeah, sometimes, I guess…
I am actually kind of short. In my family, at least. My daughters are quite a bit taller than me.
I should start working out.
Over the last few weeks I have said that the culture of the left is not fear but confusion. Having rejected God and Christian morality or values, or never having been exposed to it or understanding if it they had, they accept the new spirit of the age.
Having no clothes, they put on what is being sold; they wear attractive and personalized idiosyncratically-styled clothes and make-up, they dye their hair brilliant colors, they pierce themselves, tattoo themselves, and adopt the prevailing cultural spirit: Do what feels good.
And if their so-called id is given permission and preeminence, they slide further and further into embracing egotism and self-exaltation in themselves, and destruction, chaos and evil toward others.
Hey, lay off the Prius jokes! Marie and I bought one new and owned it for fourteen years (it had 213,000 miles on it when I traded it in), and we loved it. It was our only car for all that time. Cheap to drive and reliable as the dickens.
Your essay started me thinking, Doc. I’ve been pretty dry lately, but I think I’m going to spin off a post from your post. So thanks.
I never realized that wearing a denim shirt reflected on my masculinity. I’ll be more circumspect in the future.
Why do you assume that they are self-loathing? I’m with Flicker on this one. I don’t think that they loathe themselves, but maybe you’re right and we’re wrong.
However, go with the assumption for a moment. If they’re not self-loathing, then it appears that they loathe someone else. Try to picture, in your mind, the type of person or people that they would loathe. What do you see?
I am very out of touch, but I have it on good authority that there are secret cabals who meet in unannounced locations where the men wear Brooks brothers Oxford Cloth button downs, LL Bean khakis, argyle socks, and either weejuns or topsiders. It’s sort of today’s Skull and Bones. All is not lost.
Americans.
I love argyle socks. But people keep coming up to me and wanting to shake my hand funny.
Well, they are Americans, aren’t they? So maybe it’s some type of American that they loathe. Does that make sense? If so, what type of American do they loathe?