White Men & White Boys: The Weakest Link

The weakest link in any society has, without fail, been white men and white adolescent boys. They are the weakest members. History attests to this.

It is always these members of society who fall for propaganda the easiest. Always them who turn to the tactics of the weak first: violence, bullying, hatred, greed.

If you want to sell a lie, you sell it to white men and white boys, and to their enablers and supporters. They fall for the xenophobia garbage first. They buy into the war mongering first. They are the first to become radicalised in the wrong direction. The first to pick up weapons. The first to oppress women, girls, animals, foreigners, the land, each other.

Hitler's lies sold easiest to white men and boys. The American military-industrial complex, Jim Crowe, Zionism, Nationalism, religious extremism, the cult of Capitalism, misogyny, red pill culture; it's always white men and white boys.

This is the group where, on average, critical thinking is lowest, and empathy even more so. And yet, arrogance and entitlement rank the highest.

And now - here is the truly chilling part - it is white men who have been allowed to (or who have forcibly) dominated the platforms of modern Western academia, philosophical thought, education, politics, Western Christian theology, and leadership positions in hierarchal structures. This least qualified group have monopolised the microphones in these sectors only through their power, force, and privilege - obtained always through violence and white supremacy. That means that the agenda, resources, and direction of society are dictated by the least capable, the least insightful, and the most susceptible to corruption.

If you ever want to know the shortcut to manipulating or controlling a population or group, all you need to do is get in with white men and white adolescent boys. In fact, if you get in with the white men, the boys usually follow, since they are influenced (or bullied into following suit) by their male elders. Controlling white men and boys is so very, very easy. It's almost laughable how easy it is.

Many of them like to think of themselves are independent, free, visionary, cutting edge, rebellious even. The narratives spun in white Hollywood movies and collective stories place, more often than not, white, male characters as the faces of righteous rebellions and resistance fights. They are made the face of innovation, out-of-the-box thinking, and creative problem-solving. Meanwhile, the reality is that nobody follows orders quicker than white men and white boys. Nobody is more desperate for approval and attention from other males than white men and white boys. Nobody has the same deep hunger for military structure, being given orders, told what to do, dictated to, submitting to oppressive, vertical, hierarchal structures more than white men and white boys. Right-wing and religious voices will claim that women are the naturally subordinate, submissive ones, but if that were true, men wouldn't have to force them to be so, or spend so much time indoctrinating and violently pressing women into "fitting into" this so-called "natural" role.

No one asks fewer questions or challenges empathy-bankrupt ideology less than white men. And generation after generation are manipulated into harming themselves, this planet, and their fellow humans by the wealthy, powerful, and sinister minority who know exactly what buttons to push to get this demographic to be their obedient, eager little foot soldiers. Lauded singer-songwriter, Paris Paloma, so sharply illustrates this point in her new song, "Good Boy". The lyrics go:

I have never seen submission embodied half so well

As in the feeble competition between men with souls to sell

And I've never seen a guard dog with less fearsome of a bite

Than with its tail between its legs found at the rich man's side

Look at him! He's sweating, he's sweating from the climb

Office worker, soldier, CEO, he's bleeding and he's blind

And I have never seen a creature more pitiful than him

He drinks power likе saltwater all because hе cannot swim

Mouths open, servants of a higher power

They told him, "It's a staircase! It's a tower!"

Full circle, wagging tails, wearing a collar

Poor madman, that's what happens when you drink saltwater

—Even the dogs know not to drink saltwater

Good boy! You're working exactly as intended

Has the penny dropped? You're never gonna get it

Unrewarded for all of your defending from your loneliness epidemic

Good boy! Has any of the money trickled down yet?

You say one day you'll be rich? Well, tell me how then

Unpaid marketing department for the power

Good boy! Good boy!

Paloma, also author of the poignant international hit "Labor", sings of how even dogs know not to drink salt water - something which will harm them and only make them thirst more. But boys and men just keep lapping it up, and playing the game. They are so very good at being good, trained "dogs", doing what their masters demand, while claiming to be independent and "natural leaders".

We live in days when we're seeing a resurgence of neo-Nazism and far-right extremism take hold of a new generation of adolescent boys. It goes hand-in-hand with all the other connected evils: neo-colonialism, nationalism, misogyny, red pill culture, American evangelical cultism, anti-immigration, anti-refugees. The rise of the incels, the 'rebirth' of the trad-wife movement... the list goes on and on.

White men and white boys are the weakest link in the chain of society and community. They are the first to break. The first to fall. The weakest in will, vision, and moral character. The first to destroy.

Isn't it interesting, then, how they typically claim the opposite narrative?

If you're a white man or adolescent who's reading this, and a glimmer of this truth has managed to shine through to you, and you're wondering what to do, here is the answer: Start to be honest and humble. Now is a time for white men and boys to ask themselves who they intend to be for the rest of their lives. To decide whether or not they want to keep marching to this beat, that will eventually lead to their destruction, or whether they wish to seek liberation.

And if you are need of following someone's orders or being lead, then choose to be lead by women: particularly, by women of colour - by Black women - by the oppressed, the foreigners, by girls, by the disabled, by the poor, the marginalised, the indigenous. These are your examples. These are the good, natural leaders. They are right. They are just. Seek out the voices who call for liberation - liberation from white supremacy, liberation from neo-colonialism, from white-centredness, from capitalism, from misogyny. These voices have always been right about the world.

If you're look for the strongest link in society and community, you need look no further than these remarkable examples.

Their liberation is your liberation. I promise. I promise!