{"id":9477,"date":"2023-01-16T22:11:25","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T03:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/?page_id=9477"},"modified":"2023-01-24T17:42:01","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T22:42:01","slug":"rhetfearjanuary17","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/rhetfearspring2023\/rhetfearjanuary17\/","title":{"rendered":"January 17th: Scapegoats &amp; Conspiracies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Plan for the Day<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;re going to continue the semester preview and get into our readings and other fun stuff. I know we have a few things to cover from last week, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/rhetfearspring2023\/rhetfearjanuary10\/\">so let&#8217;s start there<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Slovic, Paul. \u201cPerception of Risk\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Withey, Michael. <em>Mastering Logical Fallacies<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Red Hot Chili Peppers. \u201cOtherside\u201d {<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rn_YodiJO6k\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Video<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/genius.com\/Red-hot-chili-peppers-otherside-lyrics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lyrics<\/a><\/strong>}<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Antonello da Messina. <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.analisidellopera.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Antonello_da_Messina_Vergine_Annunciata_Palermo.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Vergine Annunciata<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, we&#8217;ll get into tonight&#8217;s scapegoating readings and try to figure out how to deal with nihilism&#8230;we&#8217;ll see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Scapegoating, Ideology, Video Games<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In this chapter, the author explains that scapegoating video games not only follows a pattern of blaming children&#8217;s materials for being bad but also follows a not uniquely American practice of fearing the Other. Some big takeaways from the reading specific to this class are below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Need to Blame<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>p. 57: &#8220;&#8230;the rhetoric against certain children&#8217;s entertainment has often been for <strong>protecting children<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>p. 57: &#8220;American culture has a history of conjuring false reasons for apparent social problems (both real and imagined).&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>p. 58: &#8220;Related to human desire to have problems solved is that humans have a difficult time with meaninglessness; <strong>things have to happen for a reason<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>p. 58: &#8220;Focusing on an evil-regardless of whether or not there is any truth to the situation-puts a face or a name to something causing problems.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>p. 65: &#8220;&#8230;<strong>we find ourselves thinking in binaries<\/strong> we just defend as pure instead of thinking of spectrums, gradients, or circles that lend themselves better to dialectical exchange.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>p. 68: &#8220;<strong>Doubt<\/strong> and <strong>uncertainty<\/strong> are not anxieties Americans want to feel.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Limits of Empiricism<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>p. 59: &#8220;Using a cultural studies lens means looking at texts as products influenced by prevailing cultural ideology.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>p. 59: Surveys aren&#8217;t enough&#8211;&#8220;Rarely will people claim they indulge in misogynist media because they identify as mis\u00adogynists.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>p. 60: &#8220;Members of a culture do not always locate or acknowledge the relativism of cultural myth because cultural values are absolute to them.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>p. 61: polysemic: words have multiple meanings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Manufactured Evil<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>p. 61: [From Barker &amp; Jane]&#8211;&#8220;&#8230;&#8217;language is a tool for doing things in the world and not a mirror that reflects objects.'&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>p. 63: &#8220;Getting rid of that evil rallies members, allowing them a chance to fellowship with others as they mutually condemn <strong>manufactured evil<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>p. 66: &#8220;Sometimes even a fantasy text is enough to scare established authorities who fear the text threatens their version of reality.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>p. 66: &#8220;&#8230;show[ing] constituents they are working to find the solution.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Scapegoating<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>p. 64: &#8220;Rhetorically, people use scapegoats to reify evil, blaming an easy target that is innocent or, perhaps, not fully to blame for a social ill.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>p. 68: &#8220;Politicians and cultural crusaders need to rally supporters, so they play on hopes and fears to prove they are doing something. The need to place blame is a way to subconsciously take control over a problem that is too difficult for quick, easy solutions.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>p. 69: &#8220;The scapegoat is easy to point to and chase, directing attention to a concrete, yet innocent, group.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cafeteriarization<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>p. 64: &#8220;In postmodern life, the lasting ideologies allow cafeteriarization.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>p. 64: &#8220;&#8230;maintain[ing] Orwellian doublethink, which is holding two contradictory ideas at the same time.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Anti-Semitism of Henry Ford, the United States, and the World<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides learning that Henry Ford inspired Hitler, what connections can you draw between the anti-immigration sentiment of the 1920s and Nazi propaganda against Jews. We will be covering some of this when we read Passmore&#8217;s <em>Fascism: A Very Short Introduction<\/em>, so this will be a start into the pervasiveness of anti-Semitism in Western ideology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/americanexperience\/features\/henryford-antisemitism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">PBS. \u201cFord&#8217;s Anti-Semitism.\u201d American Experience.<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>At this point, I&#8217;m more interested in us noticing the difference between this article and the next one. Consider the rhetorical strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>para 1: &#8220;Henry Ford&#8217;s anti-Semitic views echoed the fears and assumptions of many Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>para 3: &#8220;&#8230;distributed half a million copies to his vast network of dealerships and subscribers.&#8221;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;As one of the most famous men in America, Henry Ford legitimized ideas that otherwise may have been given little authority.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>para 7: &#8220;There were many places&#8230;in which &#8216;the Jew&#8217; serves as, at that point of time, almost both a theological and a kind of racialized symbol of forces that people considered to be nefarious.&#8221;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rhetorically, the author uses quotation marks to identify that she refers to the stereotypes associated with the group.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>para 10: &#8220;[<em>The Dearborn Independent<\/em>] was Henry Ford&#8217;s newspaper, and pretty much anything Henry Ford did was news.&#8221;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Think about the power of celebrity entrepreneurs of today.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>para 11: &#8220;Henry Ford&#8217;s ability to gain a national audience with his words made him a very dangerous person.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>para 20: &#8220;Hitler was very aware of Henry Ford, of Henry Ford&#8217;s writings, and praised them.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehenryford.org\/collections-and-research\/digital-resources\/popular-topics\/henry-ford-and-anti-semitism-a-complex-story\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Henry Ford. \u201cHenry Ford and Anti-Semitism: A Complex Story.\u201d<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>para 1: &#8220;As with most famous people, Henry Ford was complex and had traits and took actions that were laudatory as well as troublesome.&#8221;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Offering balance makes one seem <strong><em>fair minded<\/em><\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>para 1: &#8220;Between 1920 and 1922 a series of articles denounced all things Jewish. While officially apologizing for the articles in 1927, Ford\u2019s anti-Jewish sentiments ran deep. Seen within the context of the times, they demonstrate the sharp realities and tensions that emerge in societies undergoing profound cultural, economic and political change.&#8221;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Let&#8217;s break this passage down:<br>1) Statements and phrases that apologize.<br>2) &#8230;that deflect.<br>3) &#8230;that hold Ford to account.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>para 3: &#8220;to counter the attacks that had been launched against him for the five-dollar day, his pacifist activities, and his 1918 run for the U. S. Senate, which <strong>he believed his opponent, Senator Truman H. Newberry, had stolen from him<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>para 5: Who else could be to blame&#8230;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;Ford\u2019s personal secretary&#8230;[Ernest] Liebold\u2019s anti-Semitic views are well documented.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;William Cameron&#8230;editor of the&nbsp;<em>Independent<\/em>, was an enthusiastic supporter of the publication of the anti-Semitic diatribes.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>para 6: But Ford is to blame&#8211;they do own it, and I&#8217;m not the arbiter of whether or not this is an appropriate apology, but, as a rhetorician, I have a goal to identify the mode(s) of persuasion, or what appears to be motivating the passage&#8217;s meaning.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;However, <strong>Ford\u2019s own attitudes towards Jews were the major reason for the publication<\/strong> of \u201cThe International Jew.\u201d <strong>His anti-Semitic beliefs<\/strong> formed along several strands from his upbringing, attitudes, and personal beliefs.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>But then it&#8217;s back to he&#8217;s a product of his time&#8230;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;A common stereotype&#8230;&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;the stereotype noted above may have convinced him&#8230;&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Appeal to tradition<\/strong> (See also Withey, p. 80)&#8211;&#8220;Lastly, Ford\u2019s growing cultural conservatism, anti-urbanism, and nostalgia for the rural past&#8230;&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>para 9: Although forced to apologize&#8230;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Conclusion<\/strong>: &#8220;Although this seemingly ended a sad chapter in Henry Ford\u2019s life, the episode tarnished his reputation and it has never been completely forgotten.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>While I am impressed <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thehenryford.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Henry Ford<\/a><\/strong> discusses Ford&#8217;s anti-Semitism, the lesson here is on communication and how to mitigate the impact of a person&#8217;s less-than-desirable traits. Who&#8217;s not mentioned in this article? Don&#8217;t forget to check the article&#8217;s sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/encyclopedia.ushmm.org\/content\/en\/article\/protocols-of-the-elders-of-zion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. \u201cProtocols of the Elders of Zion.\u201d<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>This article isn&#8217;t about Henry Ford, but it makes clear he &#8220;published a series of articles based in part on the Protocols&#8221; and compiled them into &#8220;<em>The International Jew<\/em>&#8230;[which] was translated into at least 16 languages.&#8221; Both Hitler and Goebbels &#8220;praised Ford and <em>The International Jew<\/em>&#8221; (<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/encyclopedia.ushmm.org\/content\/en\/article\/protocols-of-the-elders-of-zion#the-origin-of-a-lie-0\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Origin of the Lie,&#8221; para. 4<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This isn&#8217;t the only instance of ideology (and associated texts) from the United States being imported to the Nazi regime. The Scientific Racism of the 19th century, most notably the pseudo-science of <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/realarchaeology\/2017\/03\/05\/phrenology-and-scientific-racism-in-the-19th-century\/\" target=\"_blank\">phrenology<\/a><\/strong>, eventually led to the <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/radionational\/programs\/archived\/bodysphere\/long-shadow-of-eugenics\/7329050\" target=\"_blank\">eugenics<\/a><\/strong> movement. Steven A. Farber claims, &#8220;What is often not appreciated is that Nazi efforts were bolstered by the published works of the American eugenics movement as the intellectual underpinnings for its social policies&#8221; (para. 13). Edwin Black&#8217;s <em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC1299061\/\" target=\"_blank\">War against the Weak<\/a><\/em> makes a similar claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Next Class<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;ll catch up on whatever we didn&#8217;t get to today, but make sure you do your Weekly Discussion Post #2 before Thursday, 1\/19 at 11:00 pm. Michael J. Wreen&#8217;s \u201cA Bolt of Fear\u201d (10 pages) and Richard Conniff&#8217;s \u201cIn the Name of the Law&#8221; (1 page) are on Canvas. You&#8217;ll also have the first third of the easy-to-read <em>Mastering Logical Fallacies<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p>Works Cited<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Farber, Stephen A. &#8220;U.S. Scientists&#8217; Role in the Eugenics Movement (1907\u20131939): : A Contemporary Biologist&#8217;s Perspective. <em>Zebrafish<\/em>, vol. 5, no. 4, 2008, pp. 243\u2013245. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC2757926\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">doi: 10.1089\/zeb.2008.0576<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Plan for the Day We&#8217;re going to continue the semester preview and get into our readings and other fun stuff. I know we have a few things to cover from last week, so let&#8217;s start there. Then, we&#8217;ll get into tonight&#8217;s scapegoating readings and try to figure out how to deal with nihilism&#8230;we&#8217;ll see. Scapegoating, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":598,"featured_media":0,"parent":9410,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9477","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P2HAOx-2sR","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/598"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9477"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9550,"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9477\/revisions\/9550"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}