Popping the Hyphen
It only hurts for a minute
In my memory, which has always been selective at best, the whole hyphenated-American fad began in earnest around the late 1960s and early 1970s. In my view, however, anyone born between Kaffeklubben Island and Cape Horn are, by strict definition, Americans.
At some point in the 1980s—certainly by the 1990 census—I began ticking the “Other” box on various forms and writing in the designation “Irish-Texian”. “American” seemed like a rather overbroad label, and if folks were hell-bent on hyphenating their racial and ethnic identities, then Irish-Texian was my best choice.
I am a seventh-generation Texian, and just two generations away from actual Irish immigrants on the maternal branch of the clan.
I’ve actually lived in Ireland, which is more than I can say about the vast majority of hyphenated Americans. Having lived in my ancestral culture and travelled my ancestral lands—not to mention growing up with strong ethnic identity—I feel justified in claiming such a designation.
I suppose if I really wanted to push the issue, I could go with Irish-German-Texian, since my paternal grandmother was a German immigrant and I’ve actually lived in Germany, as well.
I wonder how many “African-Americans” have ever set foot on that continent, much less know their ancestral origins and/or speak an African language? I am fluent in German and speak a bit of Irish Gaelic, so I win on that account, as well.
Natives of the United States should, by all rights, be known as Unitedstaters, not Americans. There are 1.062 billion Americans, according to the UN Worldometer, so having 300 million folks abscond with that title seems a bit uppity.
I subscribe to the original concept of individual nations that shared certain functions in a federation as a means of survival in a larger world. In this view, there is no such thing as a citizen of the “United States,” and Washington D.C. is a conquering force, not a capitol of a country, but clearly I am in the minority on this point. Certainly, much of the world views Washington this way, though.
In any case, what set all this off was the Karmelo Anthony case in Texas. From all the evidence, a black kid murdered a white kid in cold blood at a school sporting event. A jury clearly found him guilty of murder before they even retired to deliberate. Basically, the jury just filled out paperwork when they got to the back room.
The usual grifters are out in force in the aftermath of the trial. They are demanding that Karmelo be released and that black folks have the right to murder white folks at will, since they’ve been so oppressed.
Let’s recall that Karmelo’s family raised around a million bucks after he was charged, and immediately went out and bought a house and a Cadillac Escalade instead of an O.J.-style legal dream team. This doesn’t come across to my mind as oppression.
We used to have a term for this behavior that I won’t repeat here, but it has to do with being instantly rich and blowing it all on junk.
Anyway, since the 1960s in the US, there has been a concerted effort on the part of the self-appointed ruling class to curry favor and loyalty on the part of various demographics to balance the power of the middle and upper classes, who might want to clean house in the halls of power. Set the two groups at odds so that neither can unite against the system, and make the system appear to be the hero.
In The Prince, Machiavelli advised rulers to exploit and manage the natural conflict between elites and common people, to prevent either group—especially the ambitious nobles—from becoming a unified threat. But he did not recommend making the general population hate itself indiscriminately. He repeatedly warns that being hated by the people is fatal.
Aristotle, Plato, Livy, Julius Caesar, Kautilya, and Han Feizi all discussed using political/class/wealth divisions as a means of deflecting anger away from the system, and giving the system the ability to play the hero and engender favor.
Probably one of the best treatises on topic is Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War. He wrote what is likely the single best classical account of political faction turning a population feral. He describes how party loyalty, class resentment, foreign alignment, and revenge politics dissolve ordinary moral language. In the Corcyra episode, faction becomes a tool of power: words change meaning, moderation becomes cowardice, recklessness becomes courage, and society eats itself.
If that doesn’t describe the US today, nothing does. Everything Thucydides mentions is a primary factor in US civil unrest and class warfare. To my mind, it’s clearly a deliberate effort to keep folks in a state of chaos, unable to unite against the system, at least until the new system is fully installed and functioning. Of course, by then it will be too late to change it, or so the designers think.
Black folks are being manipulated to create a chaotic element in society. White folks are being manipulated to the point of explosive anger. Language is being manipulated so that no one can talk to each other. Morality is being manipulated to blur the line between right and wrong. In all cases, “tolerance” is being pushed to the point of violent backlash.
It’s like getting your younger brother to poke your sister, then sitting back to enjoy the show. The young’uns are so embroiled in their dispute that they fail to realize you are the guilty party.
Pick any contentious issue in the modern US, and I’ll show you how the system is playing all sides against each other, so that they forget that the system started it. As the old saying goes, when you’re up to your ass in alligators, it’s hard to remember your first thought was to drain the swamp.
Si mundus vult dicipi, ergo dicipitatur.
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Today’s cinematic companion piece is The Battle for Algiers (1966). Not only is it very well done, it also allows the viewer a certain amount of objectivity over Hollywood offerings. It dramatizes the systemic manipulation of demographic differences to protect the rulers, and it scores points on both sides of the argument, making it fairly well balanced. Enjoy!
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your mention of the 1980 census reminded me that was when I expanded the family by adding in the "D goat" family that shared our little place. -William (Billy) D Goat his wife April D. Goat and several D. Goat kids. Guess I was somewhat of a contrarian back then. For many years now when asked the "race" question on any form or application I select the "other" box and write in Human. Just as one cannot tell the difference between a black Angus and a red Angus once they are skinned and hanging in the cold room, race is just a construct to keep certain groups down and elevating others. Under the skin color, accent, country of origin, we are all the same, and until the powers that be accept this we are going to remain kicked out of the garden. Anyone who thinks they are superior to me because of the religious heritage of their mother deserves all the bad karma they get.
We're in a revolution, much like the post War Between the States Era 1867-76 but driven by communists. We need to use the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1867 to destroy it. The problem is we are not just fighting Southern white Democrats. Chinese, Cuban, Islamic, white gentile/Jewish anarchists, and large numbers of common criminals , backed by billions of dollars from elites who wish to destroy Western Civilization and set up a new feudal system, have taken over large parts of most institutions and the Democrat Party.