White supremacy

No ideology can get anywhere unless it presents itself as a solution to some genuine problems. Marxism only gets off the ground because there usually are a lot of injustices in a capitalist society. Rothbardianism only gets off the ground because governments usually do become self-serving. And so on. 

And so it is with the current ideology focused on the problem of “white supremacy.” The two main defects in this ideological movement are:

1. It treats white supremacy as though it were almost the only social problem. (Yes, despite the talk of “intersectionality.”)
2. Its recommended solutions are both pathetically  inadequate to address the actual problems it highlights and unjust in new ways. Like other ideological movements, it is really an attempt to seize power, not to eliminate it. (For, of course, power cannot be eliminated. Becoming a “grown-up“ politically speaking involves recognizing that someone or other will always have power, and that the best we can hope for is that they will be decent in their use of it. And there is absolutely no evidence suggesting that those now applying for positions as our new elite will be decent if we accept their application.)

But it could not get anywhere unless it were pointing at some genuine problems. And if you want to understand why it gains traction, just contemplate the TV show Death in Paradise.

The show ran for at least 10 seasons. Except for the commissioner of police and a local bar owner, the cast has undergone regular changes, so that there have been at least four different lead detectives, at least four different sergeants, and similar numbers of changes in the two posts underneath them. Yet absolutely constant has been:

1. The lead detective is always a white dude who had to be brought over from Europe so that someone competent is in charge.
2. His assistant is always an attractive young woman… of course, that part requires a different explanation… who is of mixed race, with what we might call coffee-colored skin.
3. The other two people working at the police station, in the lowest positions, are always quite dark-skinned black people.
4. While everyone contributes to each episode’s investigation, only the white guy ever hits upon the actual solution to the mystery.

Now, if we saw this racial lineup once, we might reasonably say “just coincidence.” But if the whole cast at the police station turns over at least four times, while the racial lineup stays exactly the same… well, coincidence isn’t going to cut it anymore, is it?

Man, if I was Tie Na-he-she Coats or some such person, I would be using this program as my Exhibit No. 1.