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Culture War Roundup for the week of November 6, 2023

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First there is the "Cease Fire People". It's understandable that people are upset seeing what is going on in Gaza with women and children, but what do they think a cease fire will accomplish? It is literally just kicking the can down the road again. Do they think Hamas will be more reasonable and someone people can negotiate with?

There are two kinds of "ceasefire people." The first are what are sometimes referred to as "useful idiots." These are people like, as it happens, my high school girlfriend, who has been posting on Instagram incessantly about a ceasefire. Does she have any idea what comes after a ceasefire? No, lol, of course not. She is simply upset that there are Things on TV that are not the Bachelor and she would like it if those Things stopped being on TV because they make her feel like Bad Things happen in the world. If Bad Things happen in the world then it's wrong of her to watch the Bachelor instead of trying to stop those Bad Things, so if those Bad Things could get off her TV that would be great thanks. Westerners (she is an American citizen but she is neither culturally American nor living in America) are made incredibly uncomfortable by violence by and large. Of course there are those who are not made uncomfortable by violence, what I term the Professionally Violent Class (cops, soldiers, bouncers, violent criminals, and graduates of these professions), but by and large Westerners are completely insulated from violence. Even in the "oh-so-violent" America, your odds of actually dealing with real physical violence on any given day are incredibly low if you're not a member of the Professionally Violent Class. So they see Bad Things happening on their television set or on twitter or instagram or whatever, and they say "oh my god that's horrible we have to stop it." There is no analysis beyond 'Bad Thing is happening -> we must stop Bad Thing.' It is an instinctual, gut-level reaction that speaks incredibly well of Western Civilization's ability to create a peaceful stable environment. Of course these are the same people who are trying to tear down Western Civilization but that's neither here nor there. Western Civilization has created a group of people who's relationship with violence is so incredibly abstract that just seeing it, not being subject to it, not participating in it, just seeing it makes them instinctively want to stop it. That is a shocking accomplishment.

Then there's the other type of "cease fire" person. They are the ideologue. They know that a ceasefire means Hamas gets to rebuild, recruit new members, and sing their victory from the rooftops. They are completely aware that a "ceasefire" is the best possible outcome for Hamas, and they are explicitly in favor of that, because for one reason or another they support Hamas. Maybe they're Palestinian and just really hate Jews/Israelis. Maybe they're Arab and just really hate Jews/Israelis. Maybe they're a member of Hamas, or one of a multitude of other Islamist organizations operating in the West under the guise of research or Islamic Brotherhood or what-have-you. These people are a small but not inconsiderable percentage of the "ceasefire" group.

So, to answer your questions, yesn't.