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Understanding the Doppelganger Gang

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David Swanson
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Well, back to where? Who had them and how? Certainly we shouldn't want either of the catastrophic political parties in the United States or their equivalents elsewhere to capture anyone as a believer or follower. We shouldn't be winning anyone over for Genocide Joe or Generalissimo Don. Loyalty to groupthink is the problem, not the solution.

The place we need to bring people back from madness to is a place that doesn't yet exist in sufficient strength: a global movement for peace and justice and prosperity that is open and welcoming to all, that blames not mysterious "globalists" but billionaire robber barons, rightwing hucksters, liberal hucksters, the snake oil of redirection into hatred and bigotry, and the sleight of hand by which dumping everything into wars on distant peoples is supposed to be something other than hatred and bigotry.

One way we get there could be through honesty, through clearly pointing out the important difference between small and large problems while acknowledging both, and through humility, acknowledging past mistakes and failures, and through a commitment to questioning everything but answering only that for which we actually have reliable answers. This may require a lot more than mainstreaming the idea that good journalism is an important value, or that it is aligned with a leftist agenda. It may require questioning the foundational nationalist notion of "freedom of religion" and everything that grew out of it in terms of the personal right to "believe" nonsense -- and the impoliteness or bigotry of anyone with the temerity to ask for said nonsense to be explained and justified.

Of course, everyone has passionately held beliefs they don't want questioned. But perhaps we can imagine how we would explain those beliefs to someone just exactly like each of us who lacked only those beliefs. We could think of such a person as a belief-free doppelganger.

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David Swanson is the author of "When the World Outlawed War," "War Is A Lie" and "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union." He blogs at http://davidswanson.org and http://warisacrime.org and works for the online (more...)
 
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