Do Not Feed The Narcissists
Some people are just really hard to please:
When they showed up carrying racial protest signs to the university’s annual DePauw Dialogue on Wednesday, the audience started applauding. “Stop fucking clapping!” some protesters yelled, a student who was near the commotion told The College Fix. They later complained about the applause on social media. The protesters’ irritation with the spotlight didn’t end there. At the end of their campus march, they “asked a photographer to stop taking pictures and confronted him when he refused,” The DePauw student newspaper reported.
So, to recap. Forty or so “social justice” protestors disrupt a keynote address at DePauw University, holding signs that scold the audience for being insufficiently deferential to the protestors’ racial fixations and delusions of being oppressed. Being schooled in “privilege and identity,” and therefore suitably cowed and pretentious, the audience starts applauding the disruption, and applauding the scolding being aimed at them. And then those applauding are promptly scolded for doing so.
After the event, protestor Justin Collado announced via Facebook:
It was very shocking and upsetting when the student body and faculty… decided to clap at our struggle, our voices. It felt as if we were not taken seriously. We are here, as a community, to make a change and see difference on this campus. We will not be looked as a joke [sic].
Approval is oppressive. Also grammar. But for God’s sake, don’t laugh.
Another protestor, resident assistant Amata Giramata, denounced the applause as a display of “white sympathy,” which is apparently the wrong kind of sympathy, and is therefore offensive:
Dear DePauw, why is your first reaction to my protests, clapping? My activism is not a show.
Oh madam, I beg to differ.
Update, via the comments:
As to what type of show is being staged, let’s look at the dynamics. Forty or so middle-class students, including beneficiaries of DePauw’s policy of racial favouritism in hiring and admissions, decry the “burden” of being brown-skinned at said university, while holding up signs that read, “DePauw = unsafe,” “Don’t kill me,” and “Our situation is intolerable.” If you dare to disagree with the protestors, denunciation seems inevitable, most likely involving accusations of “white privilege,” and possibly racism. If you sit quietly and try to ignore the protest, then, it turns out, you’re on “the side of the oppressor.” And if you signal your approval of the protest – say, by applauding it – then this too is offensive, an insult to the protestors’ heroic struggle.
Taken at face value, the “social justice” howler monkeys seem difficult to console. Even if you agree with them, they will complain about it. Apparently, those whose event was selfishly interrupted are expected to welcome the protestors’ disdain for everyone present. Specifically, by pretending to feel bad for an absurd made-up reason – i.e., by agreeing that the university is a dangerous and oppressive environment for brown-skinned devotees of “social justice.” Expressions of compliance are demanded, but may only take the form approved by the protestors. (No clapping is allowed, only standing “in solidarity,” for however long is necessary, while remaining mute.) Any other response – from applause to indifference – will be deemed a hostile act and mark you as an enemy. It therefore seems unlikely that such people could be kept happy for any length of time, even assuming one were sufficiently credulous to attempt it.
However, if you think of the above as a kind of bad-faith theatre, an exercise in in-group positioning, it becomes a little more comprehensible. The object, it seems, is to whine and scold, and to indulge in emotional browbeating, thereby asserting dominance over others. The more improbable the grievance, and the more numerous the hoops through which one has to jump, the sweeter the game is, for a certain kind of person. And as this theatre of victimhood is the basis of the protestors’ status and self-importance, and the thing that excuses all that lovely scolding, it must continue indefinitely. It is, therefore, pointless to engage with such people on their own terms, as if you could ever find some mutual accommodation short of perpetual deference and self-abasement, or as if you could change their minds, or make them less obnoxious.
The only question is which party is the more wretched and degenerate. The vain little scolds who claim to be oppressed at a university where tuition fees are a mere $50,000 a year, or the cowed and pretentious dupes who applaud their own scolding.
Is there a correct reaction, or is it simply that the opportunity for righteous indignation is part of the performance?
It’s like sex. One must ask permission every thirty seconds, or twice overall, whichever comes first.
I wonder how they would respond if they were booed?
Is there a correct reaction, or is it simply that the opportunity for righteous indignation is part of the performance?
Taken at face value, it doesn’t make much sense and the incoherent criteria seem impossible to meet. Even if you agree with them, they will complain about it. You could never please such people for any length of time, even if you were tempted. But if you think of it as a kind of bad-faith theatre and in-group positioning, it becomes comprehensible. The object, it seems, is to whine and scold, and go on scolding, while asserting dominance over others. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but for a certain kind of wanker, it’s a major buzz.
Though I’m not quite sure who’s the more wretched and degenerate. The vain little scolds who claim to be oppressed at a university where tuition fees are a mere $50,000 a year, or the cowed dupes who applaud their own scolding.
One must ask permission every thirty seconds,
The tactic is for the goal posts to shift, and shift continually, erratically, keeping the victim wrong-footed, so that one can never actually satisfy the protestors’ ill-temper. They want to be unhappy, or pretend to be unhappy – it’s the premise of their status, their self-importance, the thing that excuses all that lovely scolding. There’s no point trying to engage with such people on their own terms, as if you could find some mutual accommodation short of perpetual deference and self-abasement, or change their minds, or make them less obnoxious. The dishonesty goes too deep. All you can hope to do is highlight what they do, and why, so that others might notice.
I think that’s spot on, David. It’s righteous fury as an end in itself, with nothing permitted to detract from the froth they’ve whipped themselves up into.
The out-group may not have doubts, cynicism, an opinion or even a reflexive response. The out-group is Other.
It’s like a toddler screaming and having a tantrum over something denied. They really want the candy but after a certain point it’s just anger and they’re not really sure what the original point was. They wind up angry with everything and wanting it all to stop.
Good luck with that toddlers.
I have tried, with the deepest introspection I can muster, to imagine what it must feel like to be perpetually offended and the best I can come up with is “insecure”.
Very dangerous people though.
The problem is, they wanted some sort of indignant response in opposition to their behavior. Undoubtedly, they’d spent days engaging in onanistic fantasies about their glorious struggle, only to have their internal narrative disrupted by agreement. I’m reminded of occasional interactions with my teenagers:
“Dad, I need $20.00 for X.”
“Ok. Here’s the cash.”
“But you just don’t understand. This is important. I need X.”
“Right. The money’s on the kitchen counter.”
“Why don’t you ever consider my needs?”
This continues until one of us leaves in a huff and the other re-pockets the twenty bucks.
the best I can come up with is “insecure”.
There’s rarely any evidence of self-possession or quiet confidence. It’s typically a kind of brittle arrogance, which isn’t the same thing at all.
David: “Even if you agree with them, they will complain about it.”
Bullies and spoiled toddlers don’t give up you when you give them what they want. They keep doing it as long as it keeps working. Hence, the more we pander to SJWs, the more obnoxious they get.
Much better to offer the Zen way of clapping in situations like this. Using only one hand, but for best effect do it with the flat of one hand starting about a foot away from the SJW face cheek.
The tactic is for the goal posts to shift, and shift continually, erratically, keeping the victim wrong-footed
Hmmm, this reminds me of a strange game.
It was very shocking and upsetting when the student body and faculty… decided to clap at our struggle, our voices
So no controlling personalities there then. No one addicted to getting their way by contrived indignation. None of that stuff..
The applauding white liberals reminded me of Spalding Gray’s professor of Black History in “How High.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKDlE5yqa3g
So no controlling personalities there then. No one addicted to getting their way by contrived indignation. None of that stuff.
It does rather reveal the root motivation. And not just of this particular set of clowns.
“only to have their internal narrative disrupted by agreement.”
Or (coughs, looks around nervously), like having a discussion with the wife. You agreed, early on, because it seemed like a good idea. 20 minutes later, she’s still giving you reasons why you should agree. The cash value is normally higher, mind. Much higher. And you don’t get to take it back …
It was very shocking and upsetting when the student body and faculty… decided to clap at our struggle, our voices
Once again, it seems there were no grown-ups present. No-one to have security drag away the attention-seeking clowns. No-one to explain to said clowns that their disrespect for the invited speakers and other students was self-indulgent, embarrassing and reflecting badly on the university. No-one to warn said clowns that any similar self-indulgence would result in immediate expulsion. Instead, the staff actually encourage the disruption, even applaud it, and the speaker willingly surrenders his microphone.
What’s Amata with that resident assistant? Can’t she take a joke?
Seriously, I would hope the applauding dimwits learned a valuable lesson, but I doubt it. Next time they’ll lower their heads in respectful silence. After that, they’ll kneel in obsequious submission. It still won’t matter.
Our very own Red Guard is getting drunk on its power, which just means their behavior will only grow increasingly worse and inevitably violent.
Do none of these universities have firehoses?
University life is so much more complicated than in my day. Much more complicated and utterly mental, apparently: http://bit.ly/28JffHd
One:
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So, just to be clear.
If you dare to disagree with the protestors – at all, even politely – then you’re a racist, a white supremacist, a kitten-eating monster, etc. If you sit quietly and try to ignore the protest, then you’re on “the side of the oppressor.” And if you signal your approval of the protest – say, by applauding it – then this is offensive too, an insult to the protestors’ heroic struggle.
Blimey, never thought that Jeb Bush’s feeble “please clap” during the primaries was a display of white priviledge.
Hmmm. Mebbe it was the tone of the clapping, and the attitude while handing over the microphone?
I should also remark that carrying protest signs with babbling enema-releases of codewords is a more stereotypically “white” thing even than clapping.
Mebbe it was the tone of the clapping, and the attitude while handing over the microphone?
There’s no mention of sarcastic clapping in either the College Fix piece or the original student paper report. Also, the disrupted event was an excruciatingly PC do, with the interrupted speaker, the chap volunteering his microphone, described as a fellow activist and the founder of the Social Justice Training Institute. So I’d imagine the crowd was pretty credulous and sympathetic. Likewise, the protestors quoted make no mention of sarcasm or irony either, and describe the applause as implying “sympathy,” albeit of the wrong colour.
Not a day goes by that I am not grateful that my college days are long past and that i don’t have to deal with this sort of aggressive nonsense firsthand. Ah, those innocent, amber-hued days of the early 2000’s.
The tactic is for the goal posts to shift, and shift continually, erratically, keeping the victim wrong-footed, so that one can never actually satisfy the protestors’ ill-temper.
I think that’s about right. If we view it as an obedience exercise, it makes perfect sense. The problem wasn’t that the audience applauded; the problem was that they didn’t have permission to do so. They acted independently, and that must never be allowed.
This is also, in its own way, representative of why their beliefs are so outlandish to begin with (up is down, men are women, numbers are oppressive, etc): The more outlandish the insistence, the stronger the confirmation of obedience through submission, the better the obedience exercise.
The outlandishness also makes it self-reinforcing over time; i.e. one must first admit to ever greater levels of humiliation in order to leave the cult. They weren’t just wrong, they were humiliatingly wrong. Getting cult members to insult the opposing realists in the worst possible terms only adds to this, making it even more difficult. Add in the direct opprobrium that the narcissistic weaklings will also receive, should they stray, and it’s more than they can handle. Let the psychological defenses begin.
A commenter above mentioned “insecurity.” Yes! Weakness -> insecurity -> narcissism. Narcissists do not love themselves. Like they original Narcissus, they love their image, and will do whatever they can to maintain it. Their weakness not only makes them submissive, it also means they rationalize and salve their frustration via a narcissistic image, however unreal, cuz that’s all they’ve got left.
The only cure for this – for the conditioned narcissist (which is what our educational systems are creating) as opposed to the born one – is complete, undeniable defeat. Germany and Japan each saw their populations go through this process in the last century, and it worked. Compare their before and after. It’s instructive.
Yo,resident assistant Amata Giramata, your protest is explicitly a show, and rather than applaud you, I’d be the one seeking your expulsion. Being spoiled and having no sense of context in a real world manner gains you crapola in my book or the real worldd. Gow up up, little girlie.
So, they have a “Social Justice Training Institute.” Here and I thought that acting like a spoiled brat just came naturally…
So, they have a “Social Justice Training Institute.”
Well, specifically,
Gee, David, mebbe you should look into something more than a couple of Amazon links . . .
The correct response is a hearty belch.
… actually, come to think of it, that is the correct response to most things in the modern world.
“It was very shocking and upsetting when the student body and faculty… decided to clap at our struggle, our voices. It felt as if we were not taken seriously.”
In addition to the various Red Guard psychologies mentioned above, there’s another aspect. It’s possible that this event was one of La Giramata’s first protests, in which case she (she?) may have got herself very worked up about the risks she was taking. There might have been a thrilling flood of adrenaline as she entered and began to wave her banner. When the audience reaction was approval and acceptance, she may have suffered a physiological counter-reaction, which could have been very physically upsetting.
Hence a possible interior justification for lashing out at the audience.
(Now, a healthily raised person of that age will have already suffered and recovered from such reactions enough times to take it in stride. But I’d be quite surprised if she was healthily raised, by my kind of standards.)
You are 100% coreect, Steve. Never give them any attention, good or bad, as serious people. They feed on that. A hearty belch, a raspberry, an eye roll, these are subtle joys of life.
The tactic is for the goal posts to shift, and shift continually, erratically, keeping the victim wrong-footed
Calvinball
ccs: Can’t be. The masks, you will recall, are mandatory.
If we view it as an obedience exercise, it makes perfect sense.
Well, yes. First, you must welcome our blatant disregard for you and everyone else at the lecture we’ve needlessly and selfishly disrupted; then you must feel bad, or pretend to feel bad, for an absurd made-up reason; then you must express your compliance with our delusion, but only in the way we say you’re allowed to. (No clapping is permitted, only standing, “in solidarity,” for as long as we say, and remaining mute.) Any other response – from applause to indifference – will be deemed a hostile act and mark you as an enemy.
It felt as if we were not taken seriously.
Said the middle-class students who denounced the “burden” of being brown-skinned and the coddled beneficiaries of racial favouritism at a £50,000-a-year university, while holding up signs that read, “Hands up, don’t kill me” and “Our situation is intolerable.”
“Stop fucking clapping!” some protesters yelled
Jazz hands are still ok though, right?
Heh. Blimey.
Perhaps the soundtrack at this point should be a jaunty rendition of the March of the clowns…
Any other response – from applause to indifference – will be deemed a hostile act and mark you as an enemy.
Except, if applause are permitted, don’t be first one to stop.
Ugh, those awful White people with their applauding! Fear not, help is at hand: how to make your college less repulsively White
Fred the Forth, are you saying that those weren’t masks they were wearing?
. . . March of the clowns
Um, do you mean Entry Of The Gladiators?
Yes, that is actually the name . . . .
White people . . . less repulsively White
A moment of project avoidance has reminded me of someone’s hiccuped radio ad several years back . . . I and a bunch of others were attending a weekend long convention in Nashville, and deciding to take advantage of the location, went to see an evening showing of the Grand Ole Opry.
That being an actual radio show done in front of a live audience, what one did indeed see is a full concert auditorium with audience, a stage full of musicians performing a concert, and also a small army of stage crew and technicians quite matter of factly wandering about on stage among the musicians as part of the engineering of the radio broadcast.
At one point during the show, a song came to an end and some fellow with a handful of paperwork wandered out on stage and over to one of the free standing microphone stands. When he got his signal, he quite matter of factly proclaimed into the microphone that Christmas is a wonderful time for baking children, and White’s Flour is just what you need.. . . . .
. . . and several of us up in the balcony looked at each other and commented They bake children here?!?!?!!? Oh, my we are in a totally different land this weekend!!!!!
“This is my freedom of speech . . .”
http://www.yaf.org/news/watch-csula-feminists-tear-yaf-fliers-sommers-lecture/
ccs: Well, assuming you are referring to what I suppose you are referring to, it’s just more evidence that maybe I should look at the video before commenting.
But after the “Trigglypuff” trauma video, I don’t do that anymore.
O/T I know, but this made me laugh:
Ccs: pardon my snark. It’s really just a combination of a video-incompatible Kindle and sheer laziness.
O/T, but related to a post above:
Q. What does Bill say to Hillary after sex?
A. I’ll be home in an hour, dear.
Apologies to US readers who’ve probably heard it before.
Well, in that case, if enemy it is to be, then it is best to put some thought into just exactly what the right response should be:
On second thought, why choose?
The reason why the protestors didn’t like the applause comes from David Stove: “The cruellest fate which can overtake enfants-terribles is to awake and find that their avowed opinions have swept the suburbs.”
Jonathan, are you unaware that Bill Clinton has also had 40 years of sex, booze, drugs and rock’n’roll? Just not with Hillary.
“The cruellest fate which can overtake enfants-terribles is to awake and find that their avowed opinions have swept the suburbs.”
There’s definitely some truth to that. These people see themselves as “radicals”, as morally superior to and more righteous than the rest of us. Being a radical requires the disapproval of society. After all, if most people agree with you, then how are you radical? If anything, that would make you normal. Their self-image depends on disapproval, which seems awfully unhealthy psychologically speaking, but it explains why they would actually be upset by people agreeing with them.
No offense taken Fred, no need to apologize. I was sort of alluding to the fact that everything the left does is behind a ‘mask’. They don’t want anyone to see what they’re really up to.
Disapproval!
If everyone agrees with them, they are, by definition, average.
Being a radical requires the disapproval of society.
Just as being aggrieved requires some sort of “oppression.” Thus do see the concept of “micro-aggressions” which are unseen and unintended by the alleged perpetrator because such acts have heretofore been deemed completely innocent. Rest assured, once the “micro-aggressions” have been purged, there will be “nano-aggessions” to keep us occupied.
Where do homeopathic-aggressions fit in? Are they bigger or smaller than nano-aggressions?
The object, it seems, is to whine and scold, and to indulge in emotional browbeating, thereby asserting dominance over others. The more improbable the grievance, and the more numerous the hoops through which one has to jump, the sweeter the game is, for a certain kind of person.
That.
You are 100% correct, Steve
Yes Steve and Hopp Singg.
At most, farting in their general direction, but even that is probably an accolade too far.
Mel Brooks had the right idea, just take the piss out of them.
Trying to reason with them makes them think that their platform has merit, whereas laughing at them reduces them to making frantic attempts to convince others of their argument.
“You can’t get on a soapbox with these orators, because they’re very good at convincing the masses they’re right,” Mel Brooks said in an interview. [About The Producers] “But if you can make them look ridiculous, then you can win over the people.”
Mel also said that Adolf Hitler’s middle name was “Elizabeth”.
Re nano-aggressions, now S.I. approved! Further on the decreasing scale: Pico-aggressions. Smaller and smaller we go, easily triggered by femto-aggressions? OR ARE YOU A REAL SJW? TRIGGER WITH ATTO-AGGRESSIONS!!! Disclaimer these S.I.unit aggressions may be extended to include zepto and yocto-aggressions but beware, at this sensitivity levels the laws of physics may break down…