Imagine thinking about other people (who even collectively are likely never once to actually cause you any direct harm in your entire life) so much that it consumes your mind. It seems so pointless and wasteful.
My theory (with no evidence) is that their own mind is in the throes of some kind of urgent self-preservation battle.
A battle about what is irrelevant, I think, and might not even be related to the social issue (trans, orientation, skin color, religion, etc.). To avoid thinking about whatever self-disturbing problem is plaguing their mind, they externalize their "threat" anxiety to whatever seems plausible. Right-wing systems are always ready to provide other groups as threats to help solidify their own powers, so it's a convenient ready-made self-serving solution. If I knew how to find someone's internal self-preservation battle topic, then I'd challenge them with it directly, to test if they could solve it then the anti-other behavior would also magically cease as no longer necessary.
My own pet theory is that (like nationalism, racism, sexism and caste/class/feudal systems) it's based in an emotional need to have some innate quality that humans are born with, can't be changed, and can't be taken away.(With a side of believing that some options are superior to others, of course).
I agree it's fear, just like you say. Fear that if people can change one of these "fundamentals" then it's not all fixed and therefore they could lose whatever "fixed" quality that they believe makes them "special" or "superior"... So, like you say, self-preservation.
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andrewducker) wrote2024-10-13 12:00 pm
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A battle about what is irrelevant, I think, and might not even be related to the social issue (trans, orientation, skin color, religion, etc.). To avoid thinking about whatever self-disturbing problem is plaguing their mind, they externalize their "threat" anxiety to whatever seems plausible. Right-wing systems are always ready to provide other groups as threats to help solidify their own powers, so it's a convenient ready-made self-serving solution. If I knew how to find someone's internal self-preservation battle topic, then I'd challenge them with it directly, to test if they could solve it then the anti-other behavior would also magically cease as no longer necessary.
Just a theory. Zero evidence. :(
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I agree it's fear, just like you say. Fear that if people can change one of these "fundamentals" then it's not all fixed and therefore they could lose whatever "fixed" quality that they believe makes them "special" or "superior"... So, like you say, self-preservation.
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