The Republican Death Cult Marches On
We are no longer fighting a disease, but a bizarre, apocalyptic civil war.
We are no longer fighting a disease, but a bizarre, apocalyptic civil war.
For many influential Southerners, the spread of COVID is less worrying than the spread of democracy.
It is easier to destroy a myth than to replace it.
As we try to escape the distorting influence of a founding mythology built on racism, it might be helpful to review how these subconscious biases operate.
You can lie, cheat and steal and still win a reputation as a bold truth-teller by lying in ways that reinforce a cherished mythological value.
White supremacy, as a mythology, defines the “us” on which sacrifice, collaboration and trust can be built.
Under an emerging mythology of white supremacy, there was no price to be paid for using the imprimatur of science to promote unfounded, sometimes downright batty assertions, with terrifying implications for real, living people.
Myths follow power, but in the years after the Civil War many powers vied to dominate the American future. Artists like Whitman made choices that tipped the scales in this battle toward terrible ends.