| Society

Weapon Wielding White Males and Imperial Warmongers

Homegrown terrorists perpetrate rampage after rampage. And yet again: Mainstream pundits ask why

[dropcap style=”font-size:100px; color:#992211;”]W[/dropcap]
eapon-wielding, homegrown terrorists perpetrate rampage after rampage.

And yet again: Mainstream pundits ask why. But the fact is, all too many of us are incapable or unwilling to ponder the reason why the horrific symmetry of the carnage unfolds time and time again.

An internalized sense of terror crouches within the psyches of the citizens of U.S. empire. Deep and hidden within, the White overclass An illustration by Dan Boothknows the empire was built on slavery, repression, exploitation, perpetual war, and genocide. Yet: Mountains of corpses serve as a wall of denial. Withal, the nettling dread within threatens to breach the surface in a pandemic of panic.

Jung, in a general sense, provides a clue as to why this particular form of U.S. style violence is made manifest:

“When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate.”
– Carl Jung

Thus we have the reason U.S. xenophobes and imperial warmongers hate and fear dark-skinned outsiders and the imagined dangerous otherness of foreigners: They are terrified that the other embodies all the sins they hide about themselves.

To state the obvious: The phenomenon of mass shootings, in the U.S., has become routine. To point in the direction of the hidden in plain sight: A microcosm of the murderous routines of colonial expansion and military/police imperium is being played out.

Again the obvious: White males are in the throes of a murderous snit-fit involving lost privilege and its attendant sense of entitlement. Again the hidden in plain site: Privilege that was created and maintained by European/U.S. racism.

The difference, in the present predicament, is the domestic, racist murderers have gone freelance.

Until the time comes, on a culture-wide basis, that a sense of introspection is gained and an honest reckoning comes to pass – then the carnage will not only continue apace – but will worsen.

Illustration by Dan Booth. Not to be reproduced without express prior permission.

Sponsor

Comments are closed.

Our weekly newsletter

Sign up to get updates on articles, interviews and events.