{"id":8907,"date":"2021-01-23T22:27:07","date_gmt":"2021-01-24T02:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/?p=8907"},"modified":"2021-01-24T09:42:49","modified_gmt":"2021-01-24T13:42:49","slug":"isnt-it-sad-when-young-new-brunswickers-seem-to-be-radicalized-to-that-extent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/2021\/01\/23\/isnt-it-sad-when-young-new-brunswickers-seem-to-be-radicalized-to-that-extent\/","title":{"rendered":"Isn\u2019t it sad when young New Brunswickers seem to be radicalized to that extent?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/NoneSense-10.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8908\" width=\"214\" height=\"214\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/NoneSense-10.jpg 225w, https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/NoneSense-10-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 214px) 85vw, 214px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Bambi hesitated before writing this post. She wondered\nif it is worth spending time and energy on this topic, as sadly she believes we\nwill see more and more of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In her mind, one cannot argue with a member of a\ncertain cult. You may lose him\/her, if you try to do so. One must wait for the\nright window of time to try to intervene. The chat or offer of assistance can perhaps\none day succeed only when the ideological cult member is in a moment of self-doubt,\nquestioning the non-sense of the excess (of brainwashing). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, after much thought, Bambi decided to go ahead and indulge in sharing her opinion about an article published today in <em>NB Media Coop,<\/em> an online newspaper she regularly reads and enjoys. She particularly appreciates when media, like this one, address critical issues in a thoughtful way. They can challenge us into learning something new or seeing things from a different angle. They can help us in building an opinion about a topic. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, the article she read is far from being thoughtful,\nat least not for her. With all due respect, this text is a turn off. For her,\nit is beyond propaganda to the point of delusion. Yes, the latter word may seem\nvery extreme, but she has a reason for choosing it, as you can see below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To be fair, perhaps the merit of this article is to clearly provide an excellent example of the devastating effects of fundamentalism (fanatic, black-and-white, thinking) on one\u2019s brain\u2026 all this in the name of justice or anti-fascism or anti \u201c<em>colonialism\u201d<\/em>, etc. (yes, this is an intellectual tragedy\u2026):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-wordpress wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-nb-media-co-op\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"jyV187Nz8F\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nbmediacoop.org\/2021\/01\/23\/new-brunswicks-alt-right-history-is-anything-but-new\/\">New Brunswick\u2019s \u201calt-right\u201d history is anything but new<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;New Brunswick\u2019s \u201calt-right\u201d history is anything but new&#8221; &#8212; NB Media Co-op\" src=\"https:\/\/nbmediacoop.org\/2021\/01\/23\/new-brunswicks-alt-right-history-is-anything-but-new\/embed\/#?secret=jyV187Nz8F\" data-secret=\"jyV187Nz8F\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Although Bambi has never heard of this author before, she\nsuspects he is sadly the product of our own educational system. If that is the\ncase, is there any hope for members of such cultic ideological thinking to see\nthe light or the beauty of free (balanced\/critical\/independent) thinking one\nday? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Bambi\u2019s mind, when educators push activism in students\nfrom a young age to exponential levels, over many years, at the expense of deep\nthinking or critical analysis, this is what we may get: Youth may lose their memory\nof their past, they may perhaps obsess with a single event or episode, condemning\nit, using the criteria or knowledge of today. They do so whilst forgetting that\ntheir present occurs in a different era or historico-sociocultural context. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether consciously or not, they begin to generalize, amalgamate,\nand to see the world and others in white and black\u2026 and, of course, their own view\nwould be the virtuous one. In other terms, it would be \u201c<em>supremacist<\/em>\u201d or \u201c<em>alt-righteous<\/em>\u201d\nAND anything else is \u201c<em>alt-right<\/em> (whatever that means, it is yak!) or \u201c<em>white\nsupremacist<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indeed, the author of this article, called Mr. Luke\nBeirne, seems to insinuate that all our contemporary New Brunswickers\u2019 politicians\nare members of the <em>Ku Klux Klan<\/em> (because our province may have had some\nmembers of the KKK in 1920 or 1930). He even extrapolates and generalizes,\nstating that \u201c<em>New Brunswick has a long and sustained history of white\nsupremacy<\/em>\u201d. Should we laugh or cry to this statement that is far from both (comprehensive)\nhistory and common sense? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following this, he continues as follows: \u201c<em>It\u2019s the\nbasis of the settler colonial state. The existence and dominance of the settler\ncolonial state is the manifestation of white nationalism<\/em>\u201d. For him, the <em>Canadian\nCharter of Rights and Freedoms<\/em> and the <em>Canadian Human Rights Act<\/em> seem\nto be evil, as they are genocidal; yes, in this very moment of 2021. He does\nnot even seem to temper his ideas by talking about residual pockets from this so-called\ngenocidal past, that was truly filled with wars, combats, and\u2026 more than one genocide\n(even if we forget about the other one, which was against Acadians). On the contrary,\nthe idea of amalgamating all so-called \u201cwhites\u201d together hurts the French (hi)story,\nwhether in Qu\u00e9bec or here in NB. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, the author does not stop there. He continues by informing us that \u201c<em>alt right<\/em>\u201d is all about \u201c<em>white supremacy<\/em>\u201d. He seems to think that we are all following him still when he seems to put everyone to the right of his leftism, from the centre and more to the right side of a normal populational curve in the same basket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sorry, but even a so-called deer of colour like Bambi does\nnot buy his logic (even when he talks about his so-called group of \u201c<em>racialized\nNew Bruswickers<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How would the author feel if anyone tells him that\nthose from the left centre (where Bambi has historically found herself) through\nthe more extreme left where he seems to be stuck at are Pol Pot in person? Will\nhe accept that? Would it be fair to him? Or to his friends or fellow citizens\nor editors, etc. Of course NOT! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, why does he seem to be considering half, if not\nmore, of his fellow citizens as \u201c<em>alt-right<\/em>\u201d? And his beautiful province\nand country as contemporary genocidal entities? Needless to say that Bambi is\nsaying this despite ALL what needs to be improved to fairly treat our Dear fellow\nIndigenous citizens and their children. Imagine that they still live in such bad\nconditions in some reserves, to the point of being comparable to what we observe\nin Gaza or places like that, and in Canada! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He even concludes his article with the following: \u201c<em>White\nsupremacy and the alt-right cannot be treated as a fringe movement or a new\nemergence. Its roots are well established and widely cast. It stems from the\nsame foundation as New Brunswick and Canada. Until this is reckoned with, it\nwill persist indefinitely<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Can this author tell us if it would be fair to say that\nIslamism (or political Islam and its unfair treatment of women, gay people, etc.)\nrepresents all Muslims, whether observant or not? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Would it be fair to amalgamate the tiny yet harmful terrorism\nof Islamism (ISIS or Hezbollah, etc.) with the beautiful and peaceful religion\nof Islam?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do the crusades of the past represent the love and forgiveness\ninherent in the Christian religion?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to him, are the millions of the electorate\nof Mr. Trump in this last campaign represented by the small group of freaks who\ncriminally stormed the Capitol? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Does the radical left movement (of wokeism or racial socialism) within the American Democratic party represent the whole party (that gave us inspiring peace lovers like Mr. Jimmy Carter. Thanks to him for all the values he stood up for!)?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Are the Germans of today (and even yesterday) guilty of\nall the crimes of the Nazis?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Are Canadians of Jewish culture or faith responsible for the Israeli military operations during any of the wars in Lebanon?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All the above were just a few examples of the slippery\nslope of amalgamation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do the average Indigenous, older\/recent immigrants to\nNew Brunswick, other French- or English-speaking citizens of our beautiful\nprovince see themselves or their country in his radical blahblahblah?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No\u2026 thank God. There is still a silent majority, even\nif it may be afraid to resist to the non-sense out of fear of being silenced. Indeed,\nthey may be paralyzed by fear or by the guilt-fostering narrative. To continue\nto live in peace, they may pretend to agree\u2026 or to repeat the non-sense or the\nexcess, like a mantra, without even believing it. Is this progress or progressivism\nin life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To conclude this post, if we keep pushing such ideologies further and further, Canada will end up looking like the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) where silly ideologies used to flourish, and no one took them seriously in the end. If you do not believe Bambi, just have a chat with Canadians of such origins. You may notice that most of them have zero tolerance for that. Who knows? They may have stories for you\u2026 if they will not be too afraid to share them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bambi hesitated before writing this post. She wondered if it is worth spending time and energy on this topic, as sadly she believes we will see more and more of it. In her mind, one [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8907"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8907"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8918,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8907\/revisions\/8918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}