Member-only story

On Monkeys Taking Over The Zoo

Steven Barnes
3 min readJan 14, 2021

--

There are certain thoughts that one rarely hears aloud, although we know they are commonly held. Two days ago, one reader presented me with a delightful surprise: truth.

He actually said: “logically people should want white men running the country. After all they are the race and gender that has contributed more to mankind than all others combined.”

And then went on to explain why he thinks this. Now, such a person, watching the “browning” of America, could easily feel it all slipping away, from a “the monkeys are taking over the zoo” perspective.

I actually appreciate his honesty (although he loses his right to comment on race on my threads). It is CRITICAL to understand the thinking of your adversaries. What we have here is a perfect example of one thought pattern that could easily lead to violence:

1) White people created America and all that is good.

2) The demographic shift is working to the disadvantage of white people

3) We have a leader who sees this reality, and was out-voted and/or cheated

4) We must take violent action because voting isn’t helping us maintain hegemony.

Follow that logic, and you get: “Our tribal survival is threatened. This is war.” In which the notion of honesty or kindness make no sense at all. None. “War to the knife.” And of course politics makes strange bedfellows, so you create alliances with anyone who is willing to support you. And there are a…

--

--

Steven Barnes
Steven Barnes

Written by Steven Barnes

Steven Barnes is a NY Times bestselling author, ecstatic husband and father, and holder of black belts in three martial arts. www.lifewritingpodcast.com.

No responses yet