1d ago

Anon's grandpa does his own research

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(Psst. This is a metaphor.)
- For what?
  
  For every time a person has an intensely strong opinion about something they don't know much about and which doesn't actually affect them.
  The first thing that came to my mind is the genocide in Gaza. Jews and fundamentalist Christians have a vested interest (sort of...), as do Israeli citizens (more obviously) in denying the genocide, but way more people than those small demographics do so. Those others are the grandpa.
  But it occurred to me as I was writing that this could equally apply to things like gay marriage, or trans rights.
  
  I think this is a bit different: western Zionists may not have personal connections to the Gaza genocide, but they have strong cultural and ideological ones. And given how much western governments are all in on Zionism, it does affect them indirectly.
  A Welsh Rwandan genocide denier is more out of left field
  
  I don't think it having "ideological connections" makes this metaphor weaker. In fact, I think it highlights exactly why using a comparison out of left field makes the metaphor stronger. The only reason non-fundamentalist-Christians and Jews in the west have for denying the genocide in Gaza is that it has become normalised to do so. If you take a step back and think about why a white moderate "Christmas-and-Easter Christian" (or even an atheist) American, Australian, or European might have a connection to what's going on in the Middle East...like, really think about it, there is no rational explanation. Only because others have decided to politicise it and make it a talking point and a part of political identity, do westerners end up having disproportionally strong opinions about it. It's self-reinforcing in that way, but it's no more rational than the Welsh Rwandan genocide denier, at its core.
  
  Ah I see, I was reading too deep into it and trying to map a 1:1 metaphor - I think you're probably right, that last sentence feels like either the punchline or an obvious flag that this is not a literal situation. Thanks! 🙏
  
  Can you think of a single genocide? Just ein will do.

64 comments