Distraction Reaction (update)

I took a break from my usual habit of painting the stars and stripes on my face and waving two giant foam #1USA! fingers while singing “Proud to be an American” at the top of my lungs yesterday and wrote a less than complimentary post about the U.S. of A.

A curious thing happened in the comments.

Several people took time out of their busy day to note that every human society in the history of human societies has had the problems I identified. (I’m summarizing.)

It was very strange, and I had to stop and think about why anyone felt it necessary to point this out. Here are the four explanations I came up with, the fifth – assholes, the lot of them – seemed too harsh:

1. The commenters thought this was new information and were bursting to share. Merci beaucoup, Capitaine Évident. But not only is it irrelevant, it is impossible to confirm. And a huge assumption besides. Plenty of societies have come and gone and we don’t know enough about them to determine whether they were all hierarchical, oppressive shit stacks, if we know that they existed at all. And then there are societies like the Sentinelese, whose opinion of other societies may have something to do with their stay the fuck away policy and that opinion may in turn be based on their society being radically different.
2. The commenters have a compulsion to exhibit their très blase “It’s all bullshit, anyway,” attitude at every opportunity. This is of course perfectly acceptable from people between the ages of 16 and 24. However it is increasingly pathetic each month after the year before the quarter century mark.
3. The commenters have been stuffing evopsych brainworms in their ears and think societies must be hierarchical, oppressive shitstacks, because that’s just human nature. First of all: Fuck those guys with Donald Trump’s stubby little digits. But more importantly I don’t think that’s the case. If I were going make a list of this blog’s characteristics “evopsych friendly” would not be on the list.
4. The commenters were pulling a reverse #notallmen. (Many women have explained the original meme/hashtag, including right here and here and here). A direct #notallmen occurs in part because the #notallmener is uncomfortable with a topic and lacks whatever quality that would help them work through their discomfort. Result: They must change the subject right now. The same motivations drive a reverse #notallmener, but they attempt to derail a conversation by insisting that people acknowledge that a criticism, such as “The U.S.A. is so devoted to the conjoined cults of wealth and fame and still so addicted to racism that it created conditions that put a gibbering humand doggy doodie bag in charge of the nation,” could apply to any society.
5. Some combination of the above.

Anyway, those are my guesses. Perhaps there are others.

Talk about whatever.

Update: An open thread with more than 100 comments, the majority of which are on topic. I must think on this.