Two recent cases that have sparked public attention in the media, online, and with politicians are that of the untimely demise of Jordan Neely in a New York subway, and the vicious attack on the outlet mall in Allen, Texas, by Mauricio Martinez Garcia. While entirely dissimilar, they are case studies on the principles of association, disassociation, the ownership of the English language, and the profoundly inaccurate and wholly useless entrenchment of the left/right political spectrum in modern society. Examining these in reverse order, and juxtaposing the two incidents against the narrative use of language in the legacy media, online pundits, and politicians can help us better understand how these situations are used to further an agenda that paints the situations with opaque and dishonest coloring that perpetuates the ignorance of the voting public.
The Left/Right Political Spectrum –
This spectrum was initially based on the perception that Conservatives (on the right) and Liberals (on the left) were diametrically opposed in their ideologies. However, the context in which these terms were founded and used is vital to understanding how little they apply to the modern political kaleidoscope of ideologies, and the dangerously ignorant grouping of one group with another based purely on their perceived closeness on this outmoded scale.
What does it all mean? Conservatives in the Age of Enlightenment wanted to “conserve” the status quo – that was, the monarchical hierarchy of power that flowed from the crowns of Europe. They wanted to maintain the paradigm that kept royalty, nobility, and their supporters in power, with no recourse for the “common” man. This had nothing to do with modern “Conservative” goals, or political thoughts. Indeed, at least in the United States, one would be hard-pressed to find a “Conservative” who is a monarchist.
Liberals were, as the name should imply, concerned with the trappings of liberty for all, especially personal liberty. This could only be manifested through the establishment of fair representation of the common man in the halls of government, whether through legislative change or revolutionary restructuring. While the term “classical liberal” is sometimes adopted to differentiate someone from what has become an association of the term liberal with Marxist ideology, the majority of Western hoi palloi have no real grasp of the difference that is more than subtlety.
The association of the “right,” conservatives, and modern Republican values is a train wreck borne of the politics of the turn of the last century, as applied to the wholly simplistic and largely irrelevant Left/Right spectrum. The conflation of Socialism with Communism, Fascism with racism (specifically White Supremacy), the association of modern “leftist” ideologies with liberal thought, and the association of “Right Wing” with Fascists, Nazis, and White Supremacy is disingenuous, dangerous, misleading, and wrong in fact. Remember that the Republican party in the United States was founded on the abolition of slavery – the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War were associated with Communism and supported by the Soviet Union – in language, context matters.
Socialism is an economic system wherein private ownership of the means of production and resources are publicly controlled. While Communism is often (and fairly) associated with Socialism, the concepts are not exclusive to Communist ideology. Indeed, the Fascist governments of both Italy and Spain were also proponents of Socialist economics, and were far from Conservative, as they also ousted (or subdued and co-opted for their own power base) the status quo of monarchical rule. The National SOCIALIST German Workers’ Party (Nazis), also supported a fair amount of Socialist ideology in their restructuring of the Weimar Republic. Of note here is the fact that the Nazis were allied with Mussolini, Franco, Imperial Japanese, the Mufti of Jerusalem, and until allying with Japan – Chiang Kai-shek, and until Operation Barbarossa – Stalin. These alliances give lie to the idea that all Fascists were, or are, also “White Supremacists.”
Signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
When one sees these relationships against the simplistic Left/Right spectrum, it becomes apparent how outmoded that device is. This also explains some of the refusal of many parties, especially those with a significant public voice to differentiate these differences, and associations. Indeed, they are often shoehorned or pounded together to fit a narrative. The refrain of the likes of ANTIFA and BLM as well as their supporters in seats of power, that everyone to their political right is a Fascist or a Nazi is purposeful, as the post-war mindset and whitewashing of the equally horrific crimes of Stalin and Mao have been all but erased from the common understanding or even awareness of Western populations because they were to one degree or another – they were allied with the fights against Germany and Japan.
The Soviet massacre of Poles at Katyn
The differences between Fascist/Nazi ideology and that of Communists in Spain, Italy, and Russia were largely academic, and down to which despot would be in total control of each country. Both sides wanted the removal of monarchical power structures, and both blamed and carried out pogroms against those that had been “othered” – from political opponents to entire racial, ethnic, and religious groups – not to mention those they considered to be perverts. Indeed, in many cases, they were allied against the conservative political classes because of their ideological similarities – until infighting and betrayal led to schisms that led to each being portrayed as being on opposite ends of the Left/Right spectrum – which has remained the de facto flawed paradigm in modern political discourse.
Modern Spanish Fascists
An examination of the Fascist governments, movements, and acceptance of Nazis fleeing Europe to Latin America at the end of WWII, as well as Confederates who fled the US in the aftermath of the Civil War, is often forgotten by all except conspiracy theorists that want to find Adolph and Eva holed up in a tropical chateau. The fact is that many of the countries of Central and South America have been (or are currently) represented by Fascists. This also demonstrates that the relationship between Fascist ideology is not always wed to that of White Supremacy. However, in fairness, there almost always exists an element of racism or bigotry against “others” in these regimes – not dissimilar from their Communist cousins in Russia, China, Cuba, etc.
Modern Mexican Nazis
The modern Western media – both the legacy media and social media have become entrenched in this perverted amalgam of Left/Right sentiment, and have owned the language that misleads the majority of readers. The ownership of the language, and the positing of narratives that push blame on one side or the other based on an oversimplification of associations and alliances is, at the least, an unhappy accidental disservice to the masses – or, at worst, a willful and devious propagandizing of incidents designed to foment hatred and division while demonizing anyone that can be associated with the evils of anyone that can be labeled as “right-wing” – in this case equating to Fascists, Nazis, and White Supremacy.
The Association of Garcia and the Disassociation of Neely
How does this apply to the two recent events mentioned above? It is all about control of the narrative, via the use of language to associate or disassociate perpetrators to or from a specific group. In the case of Neely, the word “lynching” in the description of how he died has been hammered by partisans wishing to foment violence, discord, and dissatisfaction with the perceived balance of power in the United States. A lynching is an unlawful execution of a person accused of committing a crime. These were often perpetrated in the Western territories of the United States, wherein there was little coverage by duly elected or appointed law enforcement or criminal courts, and crowds took it upon themselves to meter out “street” justice. One could be lynched for stealing a horse. These types of actions were also perpetrated in the Reconstruction era, again largely due to the lack of law enforcement and judicial oversight in a war-torn, defeated, and overtly racist South. All these cases were tragic and shameful.
But the use of the word to describe the lawful and defensive restraint of Neely, that was on a physical rampage in a subway car, is pure incitement, playing on the feelings of the ignorant and reactionary, and done with the sole purpose that it has had – to foment insurrection and force a political reaction. Instead of a footnote in the news about the sad demise of a mentally ill man that had a history of violent assaults, who, on that day, forced citizens to restrain him from harming others, the story became one of a racist lynching of a completely innocent black man by an evil white supremacist – with no evidence of facts that support that narrative.
In the case of Garcia – an allegation from an “undisclosed source,” (UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS BLOG!) that this Hispanic man was, in fact, a white supremacist. The allegation that he had a patch on his vest that bore the acronym RWDS (Right Wing Death Squad) was transformed into an assertion of racist ideology by the legacy media. The many problems with this include the fact that there is another language disconnect with most people. “Hispanic” is not a race. Garcia is listed as “white” on a released mugshot. Hispanic is an ethnic identifier that ties the person to relating to Spain, or to Spanish-speaking countries. One can be black, white, brown, or a Benneton Rainbow of mixed melanin content, and still be Hispanic. Remember that Spain is part of “white” Europe, was invaded by the Moors (Arabs and Africans), and subsequently invaded and mixed with natives in the Americas. As discussed before, the ignorant use of “Right Wing” by all and sundry and its conflation with racism and white supremacy has led to the legacy media being dragged for its stupid pronouncements – and rightly so.
The facts that we are presented with instead point to a Hispanic man with possible associations with what the Texas Department of Public Safety rates as one of only four Tier 1 groups in the latest Gang Threat Assessment report – Tango Blast. This is still speculation, but the presence of a City of Dallas logo tattooed on the hand of Garcia has been noted as a possible indicator.
However – IF Garcia was sporting an RWDS patch, it would not be completely unbelievable. As mentioned above, many groups in central and South America are proponents of Fascist ideology – and the modern conflation of “Right Wing,” Fascism, and Racism could very well lead a Hispanic male to support such an ideology that may be mislabeled as “White Supremacy.” The nuance is there – but we are often so busy attempting to dunk on each other politically that we fail to take into account the unhelpful and forcible use of the Left/Right spectrum and the ownership of the language that is used to keep us from rational and thoughtful discourse, instead separating us into camps based on superficial labels based on the predominant politics of 17th and 18th Century Europe.
UPDATE – The following images are allegedly screen captures from Garcia’s social media account.
The disassociation of Neely from his mental illness, actions, and the situation of his own creation, along with the association of Garcia with “White Supremacy,” capitalized on with the ownership of the language in use by nearly everyone that has anything to say on the subject, has again bogged down any thoughtful discourse in a Left/Right argument that is not just outmoded – but harmful and willfully misleading. The nonsense below needs to be disavowed by everyone – especially those with voices that are heard worldwide.
Mikhail Moriarti 