by James Jos Kroeger
Both Zionism & Nazism are nationalist political movements which draw energy from their members’ shared belief that they belong to a special breed of superior humans
And wouldn’t you know it? Both of these sects of superior beings just happened to find themselves surrounded by groups of lesser beings whom they felt they were entitled–almost obligated–to exploit
Just branding these groups as evil is not enough. We need to take a long look at the motivations which inspire people to participate in these groups if we ever want to try to arrest their development in the future
Let us start from the most basic fact we know–from experience–about human social relations & that is that all humans are born with a fundamental [emotional] need for approval
Experience teaches us that the most fulfilling & moral way to get this need satisfied is by investing yourself in acts of kindness & generosity, which you know will instill feelings of gratitude [= approval] within the hearts of the recipients of your good will
The result: all involved are winners!
Unfortunately, most people are always trying to pretend that they don’t have any need for the approval of others. Nevertheless, they still want to experience it, only without anyone taking notice of their own personal emotional vulnerability
They discover they can do this–achieve both goals simultaneously–if they invest themselves in group-identities and group-comparisons. Consider…
Whenever you hear a member of your group favorably compare your group to another group, you will perceive–because you identify with your group–that you just heard yourself being described in an approving way. Emotional need satisfied!
So if your group’s leaders are pointing their fingers at some Lessers & are assailing them for their alleged sins, every enthusiastic member of your group understands that what they are hearing [indirectly expressed] is implicit approval of them
This perception generates emotional pleasure, a pleasure that can become truly addictive. Indeed, addiction is your fate unless your moral sensibilities kick in & you notice just how fundamentally immoral this kind of pleasure-seeking is
It is, in fact, a demonic approach to approval-seeking because it always relies on the victimization of others
This is key to understanding the ultimately malignant motivations which spawn supremacist groups like Nazis & Zionists
Their members’ primary motivation is not a desire to be evil, but rather a desire to keep experiencing that pleasure they are able to give themselves whenever they denigrate others
Giving themselves permission to wallow in self-praise at a time of war can easily draw them into group participation atrocities, where they mock & fully de-humanize their declared enemy, simply to enjoy more moments of group-expressed implicit approval
They discover that the more brutally & sadistically they treat captured prisoners the more fortunate they feel to be members of The Superior Group that possesses all the power & ‘cleverness’ at that very moment. They’ll smile at each other while they’re treating their enemies like non-human Threat Things
Both KKK lynchings & the scenes we saw from Abu Ghraib were generated by supremacist groups who felt unrestrained while indulging in the most despicable form of approval-seeking that there is
If we want to save our world from the influence of these sadistic pleasure-seekers, we need to answer their words of [indirect] praise for “us” with terse criticism of their supremely wicked habits
Even while they are encouraging us with welcoming smiles to join their orgies of self-praise they need to hear from Moral Voices words of censure & outrage over their heartless & divisive methods of pursuing approval
They need to hear us demand that they rely only on moral methods of seeking approval, most especially the proven methods of generosity & kindness
Will there ever be a better way for the World Community to deal with the Supremacist Brand of social wickedness other than by completely ostracizing them?
