#550 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Friday January 6)
Good morning,
SOCIAL MEDIA AFLAME
Elon Musk has turned the Twitter world upside down with his unique management style. What I have learned in the Musk moment is how important Twitter and other platforms are to our nation’s communications and delivery of news. I’ve also come to realize that we have a vested interest in regulating behaviors in the management and use of these important—and sometimes dangerous—spheres. Finally, I’ve come to appreciate the dangers of vesting too much power in a few wealthy people, whose personal peccadillos and predilections can wreak havoc on our lives. Just because they have exhibited moments of brilliance or have achieved business success through the popularization of new technologies or products does not vest them with omniscience.
In the latest example of Musks’ unhinged and amoral behaviors, he has “let loose the Kracken,” reinstating the Twitter accounts of Neo-Nazis, QAnon conspiracists, racists, Oath Keepers and the lot. They have been welcomed back and they have returned with a vengeance. They now are lighting up the “Twitter-verse” with racism, election denial, antisemitism and all other type of hatred. Many of them expressly thank Musk for his support.
TO BE HATEFUL THERE MUST BE MOTIVE— OR HOW NOT TO VIEW THE MEANINGLESS AS MEANINGFUL…
In an example of “from the sublime to the ridiculous,” there has been something of a firestorm in recent weeks regarding the design of a crossword puzzle in The New York Times. These puzzles typically are rotationally symmetrical from top to bottom and right to left. As such, they often have designs that resemble whirlpools. I’ve been doing these puzzles religiously for a good two decades and have never perceived their design to be a Rorschach test for some hidden message (unless, of course, the designer intended for there to be a picture evoked by a non-symmetrical puzzle).
Recently, a puzzle published on the first day of Hanukkah was determined by some to embody the shape of a swastika. Reactions range from it being in bad taste or poor editing to somehow a publishing conspiracy to convey a subliminal message to fellow travelers. If so, these people certainly were subtle, as it is a stretch to recognize the shape, and they were ineffective, in that they drew no supporters from the neo-Nazi right. The only people upset seemed to be those itching for a fight. As the conspiracists line up, they have yet to articulate what the conspiracy might have been. After all, something as elaborate and sophisticated a plan as they posit must have had a purpose in mind. Beyond the harping and the yelling across cyberspace, no rational basis for believing there was intent has been leveled.
Now I don’t mean to diminish the negative impact of a swastika being displayed in any circumstance. Certainly, it is the symbol of the most heinous racism and genocide. It has been evoked by neo-Nazis and ultra-right-wing extremists. Coupled with the rise in hate crimes and the normalization of dehumanizing words and images—against Jews, Blacks, Asians, Gays, and immigrants, we need to be particularly vigilant. When these events occur or when these words and images climb out from behind rocks and into public view, they must be repudiated—publicly, repeatedly, and in no uncertain terms.
But a crossword puzzle, whose “message” has been interpreted by some as an open and offensive attack on Jews due to its appearance as the Sunday puzzle on the first night of Hanukkah? Really? Perhaps there is no design. Perhaps it’s just stupidity or oversight. Shouldn’t there be some measure of degree or intent before the indignation?
The creator of the puzzle described his work as “Thrilled to have my first Sunday puzzle in The Times!...[I] decided to expand the grid out to a Sunday-size puzzle with a fun whirlpool shape. Hope you’ll enjoy.” Can’t we just accept him at his word?
Then, of course, Donald Trump, Jr. weighed in, transforming this unfortunate incident to a political statement and performative indignation, in his own semi-literate way:
“Disgusting! Only the New York Times would get Chanukah going with this is the crossword puzzle [sic]. Imagine what they would do to someone who did this and was not ideologically aligned with them? I’ll give them the same benefit of the doubt they would give those people…EXACTLY ZERO.”
As I’ve written before, there are truly hateful acts of antisemitism and racism in the world that should be called out. And we should all stand in defiance of those who engage in such acts. But we trivialize the importance of standing against these true crimes by engaging in games looking for bad acts when they weren’t intended, or by using them as a means of making a political statement when the original statement was any but a political statement. Not everything is political. Not everything is intentional. And most things are forgivable.
Have a great day,
Glenn
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