There is a hierarchy to racist ideology. The lower tiers are things like unconscious bias and the tacit acceptance of (or indifference towards) systemically-racist laws and policies. The higher tiers progress through stereotypes and tropes, active enforcement of (or support for) systemic racism, belief in physiological pseudoscience, and, ultimately, the overt promotion of cultural or genetic supremacy.
Every tier is obviously harmful, and the higher tiers are obviously built on the foundations of the lower tiers… there is a well-documented recruitment pipeline for disaffected youth from goofy edgelord memes to extremist ideology. But much of the “justification” for the lower tiers can be tied to an immediacy of material conditions… people are made to believe that their own poverty or lack of opportunity is caused by minorities on welfare, or “affirmative action” or DEI, or the buzzword du jour. These people will generally argue that “they’re not racist, buuuuut” they are against any group getting an unfair advantage, while remaining ignorant to the countless advantages afforded to them by their own . The argument that racism is a tool of the capitalist to keep the lower classes fighting amongst ourselves is as true as ever.
Again, this is obviously wrong and harmful, but it is at least understandable. However , the impulse to provide for and to protect yourself and your immediate community against some invading “other” is a coherent and logical stance. If you believe immigrants are or are , or that , it makes sense that you’d harbor resentment or even hate against those groups.
Similarly, if you benefit from the institutional racism that provides you with less fear of law enforcement and more chances of getting a bank loan, it’s not surprising that you don’t feel passionately about these grave injustices or feel compelled to act against your own interests in our ruthless, competitive society.
But as you move up this pyramid of hate, the motivation becomes increasingly absurd. To be actively racist at an ideological level is a pitiful way to live your life. To think that there actually even is some coherent lineage of race or culture is pure fantasy. Even if there is such a thing (and I will reiterate: there isn’t), to devote your life to feeling hatred and anger towards people with slightly different cosmetic morphology is such a waste of energy, especially when their existence doesn’t materially impact you. If you’re some middle-class dipshit throwing sig heils on social media as some form of “virtue” signaling or “pick me” pandering… what are you trying to accomplish? I’ve honestly tried but I just cannot imagine how miserable your existence must be, to be so filled with hate and anger that you try to celebrate it and make it your identity and your tribe.
You fancy yourself a warrior, but you’re fighting a war of your own creation. There is no culture to be preserved, no genetic purity that is meaningfully superior in any measurable way. You can logically choose to concern yourself with the future fate of your nuclear family– your children and grandchildren– as some biological imperitive to propagate your genes, or with humanity as a whole– the health and prosperity of the human race– as a gesture of love and connectedness; anything in between makes absolutely zero sense. You’re picking an arbitrary side in a meaningless war and fighting for something that has no measurable consequence to you.
What does it matter to you what the dominant culture or “ethnicity” is in two hundred years? You’ll be long dead, and your descendants will be subject to so many unforeseeable variables that you’re doing nothing to ensure their success; if anything, you’re perpetuating a war that they will have to continue to fight. Wouldn’t you be serving them better if you fought to stop the war completely? Wouldn’t you be ensuring greater long-term genetic success if you left them a habitable and healthy planet, rather than worrying about *checks notes* what skin color the ruling class has?
We live in a world of endless possibilities, and as far as we know we only get this single, brief period of time on this planet. How tragic it is that some of us choose to spend this time in a state of constant anger and manufactured hate.
