The point is that dehumanizing men will have a disproportionate impact on working class men of color and immigrants. Which are groups that are already seen as animalistic and inherently dangerous. Hence the drastically elevated rates of state sanctioned murder of black men, for instance.
When we dehumanize men, the impact on wealthy white men in gated suburban communities is minimal. However the impact on working class men of color from vulnerable populations is significant. The impact on national minority groups is significant.
Which means this "meme" is a dogwhistle. It is barely disguised hate speech that amplifies violence against already persecuted groups by perpetuating the notion that these "animalistic" peoples are more dangerous than wild animals.
This is the same thing Trump does when he calls immigrants rapists and murderers who are poisoning the blood of America. Except this meme isn't dumb enough to specifically talk about Mexican men - instead, it is making the same point implicitly.
This attitude will perpetuate the culture of violence that targets national minority groups who are already othered. It isn't funny or cute. It's a rightwing dogwhistle and it's dangerous
So you think dehumanizing men will not have an adverse effect on men of color. But are unable to state why.
And you realize that only a racist or a bigot would prefer to encounter a bear instead of a black person, or Muslim, or immigrant. You would have to be a bigot to think any of those groups are "worse" than a bear. Which means a person would be similarly bigoted to prefer a bear over a man. It's the same principle - discrimination on the basis of immutable traits. Which is universally recognized as a civil rights issue
I wouldn't call it "planned", average people do stupid things all the time
If I was running a conservative PR firm, or was running a foreign intelligence agency, this is exactly the type of discourse I would want to create within the Unites State/The West
By making the working class/the population at large attack one another, I am increasing internal conflict and decreasing awareness of class concerns. Which is useful if I am opposed to working class/national solidarity
Well, all Muslims are being accused of this. Rightfully so. From my point of view, the scenario illustrates that a Jewish person has to consider a Muslim that she doesn't know to be at least as dangerous to her own personal safety as a bear and act accordingly. Even Muslims she knows well may still attack her.
See the issue? Dehumanization and prejudice on the basis of immutable traits is wrong - both factually and morally
How would you feel if the hypothetical was asking if you'd rather encounter a bear or a Muslim?
What about a bear or a person who is black?
Or a bear vs an immigrant?
See the issue?
Also, when we dehumanize or other an entire sex (which is what we're doing here) who do you think suffers the most irl from that dehumanization?
Because it isn't rich white men in gated suburban communities. It's the black and brown men who are already viewed as inherently harmful and are disproportionately violently victimized by police and the state.
If we want more George Floyds then we should keep spreading memes like this. Because this contributes to the mindset that allows us to view men of color as inherently dangerous superpredators
The only thing that will kill the GOP in its current state is lack of power. That would require people to band together and consistently vote Democrat, whether they like the candidate or not. That would force Republicans to adopt more liberal/libertarian policies in order to capture more of the vote.
If power is the only thing that influences the GOP (which is true) then why would they acquiesce to election results?
They don't care about the rule of law, except when they can use it as a sword to advance their agenda. So why would outvoting them change anything?
Putin cannot be removed from power in Russia by an election, even if he were to somehow lose an election. This is because Putin has a monopoly on power and will not give that up merely because of election results. Why would we expect the GOP to behave any differently?
Muslims need to sack up and realize there's a lot of Muslims out there that are creepy. It's up to you as a stand up Muslim to call these creepy Muslims out when they act up. Normal people don't owe you anything, you stand up for them because it's the right thing to do, and not because you want acceptance.
The superstructure of society encourages dehumanization of black and brown and "foreign" men because they are seen as dangerous violent animals. This is a centuries old rhetorical ploy by the ruling class to subordinate the masses through fear. This meme contributes to and furthers such ideology
Did a single individual anti Semitic poster in 1934 Germany cause Dachau? Of course not. But that single individual poster was one of millions of contributing factors that caused the conditions that allowed for the Holocaust
We should recognize and denounce such hatred when we see it
No one can prove who created this meme - at least as far as I'm aware.
However, after it was created, it certainly has been boosted and magnified by right wing organizations and intelligence operations to cause the working class to turn on itself and dehumanize one another. Which is always what fascism does to distract from oligarchic wealth and societal decay.
This meme is evil. It isn't funny or cute. It's intentionally cancerous and we need to stop spreading such hate.
Because it isn't white men in wealthy suburban communities who will suffer from this. Rather, it will be the black, brown, and migrant men who are already dehumanized and seen as superpredators.
After all, why was it so wrong for the police to murder George Floyd - he was more dangerous than a bear and (white) women were afraid of him. Given that, it seems that those hero cops acted in accordance with our society's values, doesn't it? Or, if we reject that notion, then we must also reject "memes" like this that further the dehumanization that leads to his murder
The point is that dehumanizing men will have a disproportionate impact on working class men of color and immigrants. Which are groups that are already seen as animalistic and inherently dangerous. Hence the drastically elevated rates of state sanctioned murder of black men, for instance.
When we dehumanize men, the impact on wealthy white men in gated suburban communities is minimal. However the impact on working class men of color from vulnerable populations is significant. The impact on national minority groups is significant.
Which means this "meme" is a dogwhistle. It is barely disguised hate speech that amplifies violence against already persecuted groups by perpetuating the notion that these "animalistic" peoples are more dangerous than wild animals.
This is the same thing Trump does when he calls immigrants rapists and murderers who are poisoning the blood of America. Except this meme isn't dumb enough to specifically talk about Mexican men - instead, it is making the same point implicitly.
This attitude will perpetuate the culture of violence that targets national minority groups who are already othered. It isn't funny or cute. It's a rightwing dogwhistle and it's dangerous