My grandpa had a smashed thumb. As I remember the story, his parents were going to town, and the final thing they said was, “…and don’t mess with the gearbox!” Well, what do you suppose happened? That gearbox, likely ignored if unmentioned, became “forbidden fruit’. Like Eve’s apple, the gearbox couldn’t be resisted. He carried the split nail and scar the rest of his days.
The reaction of many to the white supremacists/kkk/nazis is, “We must not allow these vile people a chance to speak!” That is really not a practical solution. It’s like the warning about the gearbox.
Why?
Their message was ruled protected free speech during the Skokie march years ago. Who wants to turn their tenets into irresistible “forbidden fruit?
I’d say, “Let’s hear what you have to say boys.” Again, why?
Because their message is stupid. The idea of an innate racial superiority in today’s interconnected world is ridiculous. I could easily make mincemeat out of any argument they could put forth. Even most dim-witted lib could win a debate with the sharpest of those dolts. Denying them the opportunity to speak, keeps their message mysterious. It gives them the power to say, “They know we’re right, that’s why they silence us!”. By doing that, you take their rotten carcass of an ideology and turn it into a succulent “forbidden fruit”.
Think about the idea of a “master race”. It’s a buggy whip idea in a SUV world. It’s a product no one wants. Does anyone think there’s a chance society at large will buy in? Are pro sports going to re-segregate? The armed forces? Colleges? You could sell it in a pre-television world. Today? No chance.
Unless… you forbid it.
What’s my recommendation? Invite them to speak. Give them a stage. Let them rant. Repeat what they say, ridiculing and pointing out their absurdities all the while. Hold a dueling rally well away from them. Invite the press and media to both. Accurately report what all say. Compare crowd sizes. Compare ideas. Meet them in the arena of public discussion. They cant win.
Will there always be a small number of misfits who embrace that type of message? Sure. In actuality, they have a right to their thoughts. They have no right to act on those thoughts. Conversely, there is that same small percentage of savages on the alt-left. It’s not really about race or hate, it’s about anarchy, violence and the lust for power. There aren’t enough of them to take that power. It can only be given to them. By us, the vast majority of Americans who agree on very little, except: We don’t like violent extremists. Of any stripe.
Ponder this: If those in Charlottesville had followed my idea, you’d have had a hundred morons in that park, jacking each other off while shouting moronic slogans to each other. The rest of us would be watching from afar, shaking our heads at their ignorance. No violence. No “forbidden fruit.” Only our ridicule and disdain. They’d have blissfully gone home like Charlie Sheen, saying “Winning!” And 3 people would still be alive.
Could it work? Think about those morons from the Westboro baptist church who protested at military funerals. We didn’t beat them up. We didn’t shut them up. We gave them an area and let them spew their venom. Know anybody, right or left, who don’t hate those guys? Me neither.
Eugene Mattecheck Jr.
