Groupthink and Unfashionable Facts

The current atmosphere surrounding the shooting of a Florida teenager by a neighborhood watch volunteer is one of frightening groupthink and near hysterical self-serving bloodlust.

If you haven’t seen it plastered all over the news, on Feb. 26, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by 28-year-old neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. Zimmerman claimed self defense and the police did not charge him with any crime. News of this incident has sparked a nationwide outcry among black racial activists and their political allies. The Department of Justice has begun investigating the case and the chief of police of the town of Sanford, Florida has temporarily stepped down.

The narrative that popular sentiment promotes is that this is a case of racial profiling turning murderous. That a white (though later identified as a mixed-race Hispanic) man thought a black teenager was a criminal simply because he was black and murdered him after provoking an altercation.

Even assuming the worst of the case, that the shooter harbors racial prejudice and was acting completely irresponsibly when he followed Trayvon Martin, there is still not enough evidence to charge him with murder. Furthermore, there is yet to be convincing evidence that the authorities erred in the decision not to charge him with a crime in the first place.

“Hey, we’ve had a lot of break-ins in my neighborhood and there’s a real suspicious guy…” So begins George Zimmerman’s 911 call to police. Even if you believe that the call contains a muttered racial slur on the part of Zimmerman, the call is not a racist rant but a call from a concern citizen who sees activity he finds suspicious and then grows frustrated when the suspicious person moves to avoid detection.

Zimmerman describes Martin’s behavior before he’s fully aware of Martin’s race. During the call, he tells the 911 operator that the suspect is possibly under the influence of drugs and is holding something in his waistband. He reports that the subject is now staring at him and then confirms that the suspect is black.

It is true that Trayvon Martin did not have a gun and that Zimmerman followed him and was suspicious of him. It’s also true that Zimmerman, and not Martin, has a criminal record including a charge of assaulting an officer and at least one complaint of domestic violence.

But one critical aspect of the case is often overlooked and is essential to determining whether the shooter acted lawfully. That is: it has been reported that Zimmerman was on the ground screaming for help and being punched by Martin when the shooting occurred. So far nothing has shaken that assertion. It’s backed up by witnesses and appears to be corroborated by later 911 tapes of people who called after hearing the two men fighting outside.

That’s a tough pill to swallow for the keyboard commandos publishing Zimmerman’s home address and calling for his blood. But if Zimmerman was being beaten by Martin and was screaming for help, as witnesses appear to confirm, then there’s no case against Zimmerman at all, no matter what kind of jerk he might be.

Zimmerman was indeed advised not to pursue Martin by the police and it appears he ignored this advice since the two met up later. Zimmerman complains on his 911 call about Martin possibly getting away. It is after this remark that the alleged racial slur occurs. For some reason, this has been seized upon as reason to declare the shooting unlawful, but the point, while it certainly is a damaging display of poor character is true, wouldn’t change facts if he was indeed on the defensive when he shot Martin. At least one report indicates that after exchanging words, Zimmerman was heading back to his vehicle and was struck from behind.

But as is often the case, the mainstream media falls in line relatively quickly and sticks to a predictable narrative. In doing so, many facts get tossed quickly out the window. In the Sanford, Florida shooting, the media is in the mode of portraying Martin as nothing but an innocent victim and Zimmerman as a villainous, racist ogre. But the shooting has to be judged by the evidence of the shooting itself. The calls for Zimmerman’s arrest fly in the face of the basic facts of the case.

And sadly, so far, the Trayvon Martin case is just that: racial hysteria that is inflated into front-page news by an echo-chamber media too scared to look at facts and tell the hard truth.

Goldman Showers of Ego

Worse than changing the passwords on your boss’ computer or performing an all upper decker in the executive washroom, former Goldman Sachs derivatives executive Greg Smith became big news when he very publicly quit his job with an op-ed piece in the New York Times.

Titled “Why I am Leaving Goldman Sachs,” the editorial declared that the environment at the firm was “toxic and destructive.” Smith, while admitting he saw nothing illegal, said that the firm is focused more on funneling clients towards business that will earn Goldman fees and not make clients money. He witnessed five managing directors refer to their clients as “muppets.”

To an extent, all specialized workers have an insular culture that views anyone outside of their realm as some kind of inferior rube. This applies to auto mechanics, fire fighters, soldiers, stock brokers and even journalists.

But what every professional is ultimately judged on is how well they do their job. When you’re trapped in a burning car, do you care if the fire fighter there to save you is an insufferable prick who cheats on his wife? Firefighters and police are often contemptuous of the people they serve—cops in New York reportedly refer to hipsters as “marshmallows” because they are “white and soft.” But when my building is on fire, I could care less what names the first responders call me behind my back so long as they do their job and I stay alive.

Likewise, if you have money invested with Goldman Sachs, you are probably OK with their culture being one of contemptuous disregard for “unsophisticated investors” so long as they get you a good return on your money.

High stakes jobs attract egomaniacs, whether it be brain surgeons, fighter pilots or investment bankers. When you can make millions of dollars disappear in a matter of seconds or scramble someone’s mind with a tremor in your hand, a giant ego will help stop the mind from drowning in a miasma of worry and panic. You want people in these positions to be full of confidence. It doesn’t mean they have to act like giant dicks about everything, but don’t be surprised when they do.

Financial people take pride in their professional greed. If they don’t make money for their clients, they don’t stay in business (at least not without enormous government bailouts).

That Goldman Sachs is full of avaricious douchebags is about as surprising as a bar being filled with drunks. Smith may be right about the decline of the moral fiber of the firm over the time he’s been there. But he’s bluffing if he thinks the kind of behavior he witnessed is new for Goldman Sachs.

And the op-ed piece, while it excoriates Goldman Sachs for its lack of humility also reveals how much its author is still steeped in the self-congratulating culture of high finance. He boasts about his accomplishments at the firm, even going back to remind everyone how hard it was just to be an intern there. He mentions how he was one of the few employees selected to be in the firm’s recruitment video, that he was a Rhodes Scholar finalist, getting full scholarships from Stamford to study in South Africa. He even brags about being a bronze medalist in the Maccabiah Games, a.k.a. the “Jewish Olympics” (which sounds like something that should be on the Howard Stern show beside Black Jeopardy or Homeless Howiewood Squares). It has the effect of taking one aback at the whole scenario: If this braggart is offended by what he’s seen at Goldman Sachs, how bad must it be over there?

The one actionable bit of information in the Smith piece, that large investment banking face appalling conflicts of interests in both selling and buying securities, would be big news if he had published his piece in 2006. Smith was in the middle of his tenure at the firm then, and went another six years making lots and lots of money before his conscience forced him to resign in the most self-serving and flamboyant way possible.

Goldman Sachs has a prestige to it that other major investment banks don’t have. They have been able to still make money even during times when everyone else was going broke around them. Would an employee’s sour grapes earn prime space in the New York Times’ opinion pages if the firm were any other than Goldman Sachs?

But we need to ask: What is the goal behind Smith’s speaking out against the firm that treated him so well? Did he attempt to tell its senior management about these problems before making his very public rebuke? Why is he doing this now and not years ago? Goldman Sachs’ culture disgusted Greg Smith enough to write a scathing public critique, did it offend him enough to give back any of the money he earned managing assets for the much-maligned “muppets?”

What Would St. Patrick Do?

If St. Patrick were walking among us today, he would most certainly not read heretical articles criticizing his feast day. Yet there is nothing more Irish you can do today than read my article about a recent St. Patrick’s Day controversy on Taki’s Magazine.

Here are some paragraphs that were cut from the article by the editors. They were considered too serious for the piece.

The case against St. Patrick’s Day goes beyond it being commonly celebrated as a moronic swill fest. For a people who are still trying to unite their island and the two sectarian communities that make up the majorities in those two parts, having a national holiday that is the feast day of a Catholic saint runs counter to the cause. Also, the Catholic Church has abused its influence in Ireland; anything that knocks that institution’s grip on the Emerald Isle would be welcome.

To be fair, there are opportunities to experience real Irish culture and language if you want it. But beyond the drinking, the other common St. Patrick’s Day celebrations and customs are all pretty useless as well. Corned beef and cabbage is one hell of a depressing meal, especially if you’re in a city where delicious pastrami is so easily accessible (St. Patrick probably ate potatoes and gruel). There isn’t much you could do with a baked potato that hasn’t been done already, unless you want to fire a potato cannon guns at the British Consulate. You could go to church if that’s your bag, but that could drive someone back to drink.

A better Irish holiday would be June 16, which is Bloomsday, the day chronicled in James Joyce’s “Ulysses”. Never mind that “Ulysses” is overrated and difficult to read. It was a landmark novel that amassed literary influence despite being censored. It features fireworks, masturbation, and sex.

Tragically, there are real issues to worry about in Ireland. The Irish economy is in bad shape and the country has faced fiscal crises similar to those that have gripped other countries in the European Union. Like many other parts of Europe, Ireland has seen an inflow of Islamic fundamentalist immigration. While it’s been steadily pushed out of the news since the peace agreement was forged in 1998, the dream of a united Ireland is still unrealized.

Stop Apologizing

Too much of our public discourse today is focused on taking offense and forcing apology, and it’s time for people to quit apologizing.

The latest public figures to beat their breast and beg forgiveness are the executives of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, which put pieces of fortune cookies into its Taste the Lin-Sanity frozen yogurt. Lin-Sanity refers to New York Knicks player Jeremy Lin, who came off the bench to become a basketball sensation. He’s a much-needed piece of good news for the often-suffering New York Knicks and a punishing pun prompt for tabloid headline writers.

That Jeremy Lin is an Asian American in the N.B.A. is part of what makes him unique. I can count the number of Asian-American Harvard graduates in the N.B.A. on one finger. Being Chinese is what made former Houston Rockets center Yao Ming an advertising commodity when he was playing in the U.S. That the fortune cookie pieces reference his being Asian isn’t an insult to Asians. He’s Chinese-American, so are fortune cookies. You can argue that it’s hokey, common and simplistic, but offensive? Maybe in Harvard Square, but not by New York standards.

And did anyone really think that the ice cream company was trying to make an ethnic insult? If there’s a corporation with more progressive bona fides than Ben & Jerry’s, I haven’t heard of it.

If they named an ice cream after me, they’d have to put chunks of Irish cheddar cheese in it; and while that would be an insult to ice cream lovers, it would not be an ethnic insult to me or Irish Americans. And even if Ben & Jerry’s came out with an Irish writers’ ice cream that played to ethnic stereotypes and was filled with whiskey swirls and Guinness-infused chocolate chips, we really shouldn’t get offended. Whiskey and beer are what we Irish are known for (even if some of us don’t drink) and the ice cream would be delicious. It would also sell out in about five minutes.

I’d like for once to see someone under attack for being offensive to refuse to apologize. Ben & Jerry’s was clearly not trying to insult Jeremy Lin, Chinese people, or even New York Knicks fans. It would be great for a tie-dye wearing hippie from Vermont to be the first to come out and say, “I don’t apologize. Fuck you if you don’t like it.” I won’t hold my breath.

Multiculturalism As 21st Century McCarthyism

After ten years of being a regular commentator on MSNBC, Pat Buchanan was officially given the boot on Feb. 16. It marks a new low in the witch hunt against “racists” that marks “anti-racism” and multiculturalism as the resurgent McCarthyism in today’s political climate. The mass hysteria that once had the Wisconsin Senator looking under every rock for communists is now looking under every rock for racists.

I once liked MSNBC. While they have a definitely slanted point of view, they used to encourage dissenting opinion. Years ago liberal Ron Kuby and conservative Curtis Sliwa hosted a show together on the network and it was interesting to see two people with so diametrically opposing viewpoints discuss the news of the day. Buchanan was a once regular on the liberal Rachel Maddow show, where he and Maddow would debate the issues at hand with vigor but mutual respect. She even referred to Buchanan as “Uncle Pat.”

I don’t agree with many of Pat Buchanan’s views, but he’s always presented them in a logical way with an insightful knowledge of international affairs and the workings of the U.S. political system.

Thinking people of all political persuasions should make it a point to read and listen to people they strongly disagree with; you’re cheating yourself if you don’t do so. If you refuse to listen to opposing points of view, you risk turning your head into a useless echo chamber.

The mélange of groups that called for Buchanan’s head didn’t do so because he is a hatemonger, they did so because he isn’t. If he was a hateful blowhard, he would be easily discredited and his views would have no chance of catching on. (Observe the same smear tactics recently used on Presidential candidate Ron Paul).

And when MSNBC fired Pat Buchanan, they didn’t do so because they were offended by his views. His views have been public for more than 30 years. MSNBC fired Buchanan out of fear. They were afraid of being branded as racist or as giving harbor to racists. Many times in our political discourse, particularly in our discussions of race and multiculturalism, people are acting out of fear. Criticizing anything not in line with left-leaning policies risks being branded as a racist in today’s world, and people do not want to see their careers destroyed by being branded with the scarlet ‘R.’

When you have large groups of people acting or failing to act out of fear, our political discourse suffers and our democracy is diminished.

Joseph McCarthy started with a premise that most people could agree with: totalitarian Communism was bad and if there were agents of the Soviet Union infiltrating the U.S. government, they should be found out. But Joseph McCarthy’s name is on the same ash heap of history as Soviet Communism because he became a tyrant. His quest to destroy Communism blinded him to the very reason Americans ought to oppose Communism.

So it is today with issues of race and multiculturalism. Efforts to fight racism have blinded people to the very reasons they should oppose it. It has brought us mind-numbing fanatical nonsense such as the slogan “Hate speech is not free speech,” the branding of conservative critics as “white supremacists” or “white nationalists” and even physical assaults on critics of illegal immigration and affirmative action.

Self-appointed anti-racists have become every bit as dogmatic and intolerant as the “racists” they claim to be fighting. They have lost sight of the reasoning behind their cause and reason has left them, and it shows.

Super Bowl Sunday: A Celebration of Sloth and Decay

There are much, much better investments of your time than watching the Super Bowl if your favorite team isn’t in it. Nonetheless, millions with no civic pride at stake will watch hours of generally boring sports and just as many hours of commercials and nonsensical blather. That it has managed to make itself a cultural event that has a large chunk of its viewers more interested in the commercials than the game is a testament both to the business acumen of the National Football League but also the endlessly hyped and televised state of America.

I’m no exception. For me, the Super Bowl is nothing more than an excuse to sit on the couch and eat and watch television. These are things Americans excel at. I’ll also feel culturally out in the cold if I’m not tuned in. This is the big news of the day today. It is the epicenter of our country’s consciousness for better or worse.

As a New York Jets fan, I hate both teams but hate the Patriots more. They are documented cheaters led by an underhanded coach and a Prima Donna quarterback. They managed to screw two cities in different states when they blackmailed their way into a new taxpayer-funded stadium years ago. If those aren’t enough reasons to root against them, they recently released veteran player Tiquan Underwood on the eve of the Super Bowl.

And as a measure of our culture and the state of the U.S.A., it’s a sad commentary that the program will show us as a people who would rather do something safe and routine than new and interesting. Madonna would be a good halftime show choice if this was the 1985 Super Bowl. There was a time when Madonna was considered risqué and adventurous, but those days were already over when Eli Manning was still in grade school. As a general policy the Super Bowl halftime show should be performed by artist’s who’ve had a record in the Billboard top 10 within the past year. Certainly you can find someone in that group that’s not going to take off their clothes.

I’ll be impressed if the Super Bowl actually produces a good football game. It’s usually a lopsided snooze fest in between commercials. Either way, here’s hoping there will be some quality television to keep me company while eating.