When I mentioned probity in my last post I didn't expect to find a reason to follow up a mere hour or so after I mentioned it. Courtesy Ace of Spades.
What is Probity? The word means nothing more than having strong principles, but the concept is somewhat deeper than that. Probity implies a strong sense of self, of empowerment. Someone who has 'probity' is in control of themselves, is a moral, principled actor.
So what does this have to do with the post I put up, and my reference in the earlier post?
Well, several years ago I stumbled across a description of how communist meetings tended to go. People were accused of 'Thought Crimes' and had to stand up and denounce themselves, then others were invited to stand up and denounce their own thought crimes to the group. Failure to denounce oneself, even to the point of having to lie and make up things to denounce, was cause for the entire group to turn on the offending party (who, ironically, was the only person NOT claiming to have offended...), putting huge amounts of peer pressure on them to force the offender to conform.
The actual description was tying this behavior to various progressive groups, including Feminism and so forth, which in and of itself was fascinating and insightful. So much so that I regret that I didn't bother to keep the link to share with you all.
However, the real insight for me wasn't the way modern progressive groups were acting almost exactly like their communist fore bearers did, but WHY communists and progressives did this.
And the word they used was Probity.
See: When you are forced to lie about yourself, even in small ways, you lose your sense of Probity, your sense of being a principled actor. By forcing you to lie, constantly, you lose your sense of morality. You conform to the group ideals, loosing your own in the process. It is, essentially, a form of brainwashing.
Now look at that story again. The young man's sin, such as it was, is not that he was a racist asshole but that he was insensitive to his own potential racism.
Which is, of course, a lie.
His true sin was that he...
No. He didn't sin. He made a joke about midterms. We can even argue that his own act was sort of the opposite of racist. He didn't even THINK about the color of a man's skin, just the content of his character and the actions that demonstrated the same. Martin Luther King should be proud of this young man, and what he says about the youth of today.
For this he was forced to denounce himself. The actual 'sin' he committed is irrelevant, even to those who persecuted him. He is an object lesson, he is Winston. His own sense of Probity has been irreparably damaged by his forced confession, and everyone who witnessed his public shaming has likewise seen the consequences of being a white man in today's society, of insufficient piety for the platitudes of the era and the dignity of the powerful.
Think on that. By simply showing an image of a very public act he is accused of shaming the actor, he is accused of promoting a false idea of black males (young black males at that, despite the fact that Obama is, what, fifty?).
It is a fact, a matter of public record, that Obama kicked a door. Any harm to Obama's reputation, any shame to 'young' black males as a result is Obama's fault. HE acted.*
But merely repeating that image, in a humorous context that had nothing to do with shaming or mocking Obama is still viewed as an act of disrespect that must be punished.
And since this young man was in their power, a student at a school, pursuing a degree, they have the power to punish him, to shame him, to make an example of him.
Now that puts me in an awkward position. I am, in fact, going to school. I am, purportedly, in their power as well. Do I duck my head and pretend to conform? Do I harm my own Probity by avoiding actions that might lead me to being made an example of?
Well, I suppose I do. On the other hand, I have made it this far in life without a degree, and god only knows I could use a little publicity at this point, so I can say that were I in his shoes I would defend myself rigorously, no matter the cost.
What, exactly, have I to lose?
But I am old and tired and sick of it all. Its not my future I concern myself with, but the failures of my past. Were I a young man I might have done as he did, and never regretted the denouncement, but the original, harmless, innocent act.
*Obama did not kick the door.
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