It look me longer to find a title than to write this piece. I'll come back to that. I'll start with the piece:

My parents grew up in Nazi Austria. My father was nine in 1939, when the Nazis came to power in Austria (part invasion, but local support as well). After the war, he found out what had happened to the Jews – including to the lone Jewish family in his village. Death.

In 1955, he emigrated to Canada. By then he had a wife and two small daughters. To show he wasn't anti-Semitic, my father chose an apartment in the middle of an Orthodox Jewish community.

As you may well imagine, my sister and I were not welcomed with open arms. My father could not hear that at all – it was out of his range of understanding. According to him, people who have been the victims of prejudice know all too well how much prejudice hurts, and so could never do unto others what has been done to them.

My sister and I survived.

****

My unusual experience has had a lifelong impact, however – an acute sensitivity to how wrong and hurtful prejudice is, for one thing. Anti-racist movements, feminism, gay and lesbian rights movements – the importance of these movements was so very obvious to me.

But there was more I took with me, though this further impact took far longer for me to acknowledge and express. 

I grew up just as the separatist movement was gaining momentum in Quebec – a time when many French Canadians were against anyone not French Canadian. It didn't matter that I spoke French (with an accent), or that my ancestors were thousands of miles away when the British conquered the French, or that I had no English background at all. It mattered that I wasn't one of "them." Counter-prejudice, counter-hositility, once again.

Now, looking back, I am amazed that it took me decades to recognize counter-prejudice as a powerful and damaging force. As a child I identified with the Jewish perspective. I felt, deep inside myself, that Jews had the right to be prejudiced against all Germans and Austrians. I knew I had not been born during the Holocaust. I knew even more deeply that six million Jews had been murdered. In high school, I completely understood the Jewish classmate who told me that he could not possibly take me home to his parents. It had nothing to do with religion. I was one of "them."

****

Quebec has changed over the past several decades. It's a mellower place. I no longer feel (very rarely, anyway) hostility coming at me from French Canadians because I am not French Canadian.

But I have become more and more aware of what I call the rage of the so-called righteous. Muslims in rage against anyone who dares do or say what they don't done or said. Blacks contemptuous of whites as "crackers". And so on.

I taught Women's Studies for years. It's relatively easy in our society to support the rights of the oppressed. True, many people don't want discrimination to change, and even more people deny it exists. But by and large, when one talks about prejudice and discrimination, one is talking about something where one gets a lot more support than if one also pays attention to counter-hostility.

There are, of course, those ready to find counter-hostility anywhere and everywhere, whether it exists or not. "Watch out. They just want to put the shoe on the other foot." A common charge leveled at anyone who works against discrimination. People on the hunt for slightest hint of counter-prejudice aren't people I want to align myself with. In my experience, they don't want equality. Instead, they're hunting for anything that could be a weapon to use against people who want a fair deal.

On the other hand, the people against discrimination are often ready to attack if one alludes to anything like counter-prejudice.

So one is tredding into a tangled messy patch of thorns and brambles if one brings it up.

Those least eager to hear about counter-prejudice, in my experience, have been black students caught in the grip of it against whites. And those most eager to pounce on any suggestion of it, again in my experience, have been male students with their antennae out for any hint of female anger at males.

Recently I've been thinking and writing about the rage of the righteous – meaning the rage of people very sure that their anger is justified, that they have been hurt and have every right to strike back. Over the past half year, Muslim rage has most caught my attention. Everyone has wronged them; everyone deserves whatever they can dish out.

****

Why does it matter to pay attention to this dangerous temptation?

My biggest reason. I know what it feels, not only to be hurt by it, but to be caught by it.

No one made any effort to protect me from Jewish or French-Canadian counter-hostility. No one hinted it was not okay.

Then when I became interested in women's issues, once again no one warned me: watch out, there's an unusual danger in these parts. Blanket hostility at men.

I don't know if I would have listened. I'd always been far closer to my father - with his interest in ideas, and with his creativity, he was so much more like me than my mother. I also had a supportive boyfriend. So I might have just laughed off anyone trying to warn me.

But no one even tried - or anyway, I don't remember anyone trying.

And zap! I got caught. I felt at men the same thing I'd had come at me from Jews and French-Canadians - something I both knew was not right (I'd done nothing to deserve it) and yet fully accepted as justified (on an emotional, visceral level, it made sense to me).

The spell broke, eventually. But I remember its grip. Now it seems incomprehensibe to me. Then it held me. And that brings me to wonder about the shell I had around me at that time.

****

More generally, I've long been intriqued by the shell against perception around so many people.

The shell. In my mind's eye I see an egg. A very hard shell. Necessary to shelter a chick, so it can develop until it's strong enough to peck its own way out.

One needs shells, filters – or one would be overwhelmed by all the information coming in. But the shells I'm referring to aren't protection from an overdose of information. They're a defense against reality, against something that would disturb beliefs, feelings, a learned way of being. This shell wards off with anger, hatred, fear, warped thinking patterns. It gets thicker and thicker.

It isn't like an eggshell, with a smooth surface. Nasty barbs, poisonous darts, and so on are often all to ready to defend the shell – whether it's the shell of prejudice or counter-prejudice. It rarely just melts away like ice cream in the sun. And rarely is a heatlhy chick pecking its way out.

****

An egg shell can shatter with the right kind of blow.

I'm still trying to figure out the best strategies for dealing with the Shell-Spell of Righteousness, whether it's the shell of self-righteous prejudice or self-righteous counter-prejudice.

****

I started by saying I had a hard time figuring out what to call this piece. What was I describing, I ended up asking myself.

The Feel-Good Part of Hating Back and Hurting Back -
because that's something else I've noticed, how good it seems to make people feel,
having this legitimized, socially sanctioned right to anger;

Crazy Justifications for Counter-Hostility -
particularly the self-rghteous anger at a whole group, whether or not an individual
has done anything, when the same people would be outraged at the thought
of putting  a child in jail for the crimes of a parent;

The Pain of Being Hurt for the Wrongs Done by Others;

The Lure of Self-Righteous Anger.

In the end I went with, A Dangerous Temptation. This anger is tempting and dangerous, both tempting and dangerous for those caught in it, and just plain dangerous for those who are the target. I remember it from childhood. I still carry within me vestiges - I am much more tolerant of Jewish anti-German sentiments than of any German or Austrian prejudices. I have my own antennae out when I meet Germans and Austrians.

Weird, the legacies we carry from childhood.

On the plus side, I may be extra ready to notice counter-prejudice because deep inside me I know how much it can hurt - and how much it can hold us. So when the Western media in general made it seem that Muslims were justified to rage against a Danish cartoon when Muslims were not outraged by Muslim murders in the name of their religion (new car bombs in Baghdad almost daily, it seems - thirty dead here, fifty dead there), everything in me said, this makes no sense, this is wrong, totally wrong.

In no way was I tempted to go along. The spell of the raging righteous had no hold on me.

Maybe soon ever fewer people will go along.

signed,

Elsa
September 18, 2006

copyright © Elsa Schieder 2006
publishing house - FlufferDuff Impressions 2006

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Click here for Give Peace a Chance,
another idea piece.

For a "favorite" stupid opinion, click here for Stupid Opinion #One.

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The Idea Emporium - why and what

One of my lifelong concerns has been trying to make sense of reality. What is happening? Why is this happening? And with that I come to ideas - ideas about reality, ideas that need to be checked against reality, not just believed in like the tooth fairy is accepted by a child. But how does one check them? What qualifies as proof, as evidence?

And why, so often, is evidence of no interest to people? We have masses of evidence of how good many people are at denying evidence when it goes against what they believe. Millions have denied, and continue to deny the equality of women and men, of Jews and nonJews, of atheists and Muslims, gays and heterosexuals. People are incredible experts at denying reality - what is seen, experienced. Of course we need to interpret reality - we do not know it "pure" but through our limited senses, our limited memory, our limited ability to perceive and make sense of the amazing array of information that does gets perceived.

Still, it boggles the even slightly rational mind - how can so many people be so utterly blind to, let's say, findings about nutrition? It amazed me to find out, when I was growing up, that there was evidence for the health benefits of whole grains over refined products - because masses of people stuck with white flour, white rice, white sugar. How could they be so closed to evidence? Somehow they had a wall against the evidence.

The ideas I want to explore are those that go with, not against, the evidence, that try to make sense of evidence.

So, the Idea Emporium - a place for ideas.
The Idea Emporium - a place where ideas are explored.
The Idea Emporium - a place where ideas are entertained , played with,
looked at from many angles.
The Idea Emporium, a place where ideas are evaluated.

What is an idea, by the way. I hadn't thought of that when I chose the name of The Idea Emporium. It just seemed the obviously right name. It was months before I realized I had a hard time putting into words what I meant by idea. I began to think about the word. Sentences with the word, idea, floated into my mind. Like, "I have an idea. Why don't we order pizza?" That was an eye-opener for me.

My guess is that most of us use the word without knowing exactly what it means. "I have an idea of what we might do. Maybe we could go out for Chinese food. But It's just an idea" - meaning this need not come to pass, but we think it might be fun. That is obviously not what I meant by idea.

"I have an idea. Maybe you left your hat in the car." Again, no

""My idea is that we go in together and talk to her." No.

These are all legitimate uses of the term, idea, but it's not what I meant when I came to name The Idea Emporium. And I'm sure it's not what people might expect if they click on The Idea Emporium - because it's not what most people mean by the word "idea."

Word has a built-in dictionary. This is what it says:

Idea -
a personal opinion or belief;
a thought to be presented as a suggestion;
an impression or knowledge of something;
a realization of a possible way of doing something or of something to be done;
the aim or purpose of a plan or project;
the gist or précis of something such as a book, report, project or plan;
a thought about or mental picture of something such as a future or possible event;
a concept that exists in the mind only;
a mental image that reflects reality.

The last is what I'm most interested in - ideas that reflect reality as well as possible. But I've decided that I like it that idea is such a wide term.

Here I am taking idea to mean (and I think this is what most of us think of when we think of the meaning of the word, idea) some thought one has about something. "I have an idea" - meaning, I am not sure this concept fits reality, but it is a hypothesis I have formed.

I also think that, when I named The Idea Emporium, I was blurring words together in my mind - idea, concept, conception, understanding, hypothesis.

The Idea Emporium - a place for all these things.

This is not the same as people having "an idee fixe" - meaning, a fixed idea, a rigid belief that something is one way or another.
The sooner people get rid of such ideas, the better. The Idea Emporium is not a place to set out rock-hard beliefs and stone people with them, hurling them like missiles at all and any that come within striking range.

That is not The Idea Emporium.

The Idea Emporium - a place to present and explore ideas - for now my ideas.

That does not mean the idea need to be timidly set forth, all hemming and hawing, tentative even when the evidence is strong.

The Idea Emporium – the goal is smart opinions, critical thought, perception, good analysis.

The Idea Emporium. Smart opinions - meaning, drawing on every resource possible, rather than "it's my opinion, that's why I believe it, and it's as good as yours any day. Who are you to say blacks can do math, women can learn to read, Jews deserve to live. I have every right to my opinion." Personally, I'd rather do my best to think well, but many others are clearly proud of their avowed right to be thoughtless.

That's not The Idea Emporium.

The Idea Emporium. Critical thought - that means we do our best to think well, to apply logic, information, all our capacities.

The Idea Emporium. Good analysis. Again, that means we try to ensure that we use valid arguments - not, "because it's my opinion," "because I say so" "because I know that's right" "because my god says so" "because everyone knows that's right" . We both draw conclusions from evidence (so there may be evidence showing patterns and tendencies in certain groups (for instance, I've done lots of research on the impact of rights movements on those who get involved, and have found lots of evidence for patterns of response) - and at the same time we are careful not to generalize, to draw conclusions beyond what we have evidence for, and even contradicting the evidence ("Women are ..." "Muslims believe ..." "everyone this happens to ..." "Jews are..." "Gays are ..."

The Idea Emporium. Perception. Not easy to perceive. We each do it through a filter of experience, memory, assumptions, and so on. We have all learned not to perceive many things - denial - and to magnify other things. The goal at The Idea Emporium (and this should be the goal everywhere) is to be as perceptive - taking in as much information - as possible.

The Idea Emporium. i could go on and on. But this is enough for a start. More important now to put it into action - because it's ideas came first, surging inside me, wanting to find a place to be heard.

I'm (among other things) a college teacher, so my teaching gives me one outlet for my ideas, to express them, modify them, listen to other ideas, test the evidence, the power (or lack thereof) of different arguments.

But that hasn't been enough for me. One small class at a time.

I have a sense that I have some ideas that could be valuable to many people - ideas many people don't have (many have very different ideas), ideas where my ideas may help other people struggling with some of the same concerns, and so on. I think these ideas could help make some kind of positive difference in the world, reach people who are reachable, maybe even break through some shells many people live inside, shells that stop them from perceiving things.

There will be space for the ideas of others as well. Right now I am starting with a few ideas of mine. But I envisage that The Idea Emporium is a place that will grow, enriching both others and also myself - that I and my ideas will grow from some of what comes back.

Elsa
July 30, 2006

copyright © Elsa Schieder 2006
publishing house - FlufferDuff Impressions 2006

Questions - on rage, hatred, narcissism, empathy, caring, peace.
Good thinking and analysis. Logic plus emotion.
The Idea Emporium - facts, ideas, conclusions.
Plus stupid opinions exposed.

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THE IDEA EMPORIUM
IDEA * EVALUATION * CONCLUSION * INSIGHT * COMMENTARY * CONTROVERSY * INTELLECTUAL CONFLICTS * CONFLICTING VERSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS * DIFFICULT AREAS * OPINION * WELL-REASONED OPINION * UNFOUNDED OPINION * STUPID OPINION * THEORY * THEORIZING * FEMINIST THEORIES * PERCEPTION * PERCEPTIONS * PERSPECTIVES * PSYCHOANALYTICAL THEORIES *
THE IDEA EMPORIUM + THE IDEA EMPORIUM + THE IDEA EMPORIUM * THE IDEA EMPORIUM
ENVORINMENTAL CONCERNS * ANALYSIS * DISCOVERING UNDERLYING CAUSES * AMBIVALENCES * AMBIGUITIES * FEAR OF AND RAGE AGAINST IDEAS * FEAR OF EXPRESSING IDEAS *
ANTI-THINKING TORRORISM * ANTI-INTELLECTUAL TERRORISM * FALLACIES * FLAWED REASONING *
THE RAGE AGAINST UNWANTED IDEAS * THE RAGE AGAINST UNWANTED VISONS OF REALITY *
THE IDEA EMPORIUM
BLINKERS AGAINST PERCEPTION * BARRIERS TO THINKING * BARRIERS TO REASONING *
INTELLECTUAL STIMULATION * STIMULATING IDEAS * FERTILE THOUGHT * VIEWPOINTS * UNDERSTANDINGS * COMPLEXITIES * UNCERTAINTIES * GUESSES * HUNCHES *
FACTS * GUT FEELINGS ABOUT THINGS * EXPLORING IDEAS * EXPLORATIONS OF IDEAS *
THE IDEA EMPORIUM + THE IDEA EMPORIUM + THE IDEA EMPORIUM * THE IDEA EMPORIUM
EXPERIMENTS TO VERIFY IDEAS * REALITIES * REASONING * IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS *
THOUGHT OF THE DAY * PERCEPTION * PERSPECTIVE * DATA * INFORMATION *
OPINION PIECES * LOGICAL THINKING * CRITICAL THOUGHT * INTELLECTUAL LAZINESS * IDEA
THE IDEA EMPORIUM

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comments, responses, further thinking, more ideas
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THE IDEA EMPORIUM
A CELEBRATION OF GOOD THINKING

THE IDEA EMPORIUM
NO HOLDS BARRED THINKING

THE IDEA EMPORIUM
LOOK AT ANYTHING, ASK ANYTHING

LOOK ANYWHERE

PLUS, LOOK AT THE JOURNEY

 

 

"It is a fact readily acknowledged,
that for humans,
an idea is much more powerful
than a fact."

 

WHEN I HEARD THAT,
I HAD A EUREKA MOMENT.
YES, I HAD SEEN THAT SO OFTEN.

 

SOME OF US ALREADY LOVE GOOD THINKING.

BUT GOOD THINKING IS POSSIBLE
FOR ALMOST ALL OF US,
JUST LIKE EVEN A COUCH POTATO
CAN GET INTO SHAPE!

SO, FOR THE THINKERS
AND THE POTENTIAL THINKERS

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