"The lesser of two evils"
The Hamas-initiated war in Gaza has gotten many people pulling out that old chestnut, "the lesser of two evils".
I have always hated that phrase.
That phrase is indicative of privilege. The person utilizing that phrase is pure of heart and intent, and is aghast and tormented that they must sully their immaculate souls and minds by reluctantly, with sighs and tantrums, vote for someone who does not match their strength of character because they are slightly better than the alternative. They are too clean for this dirty world, and are angered that they must make compromises with it. Throw in a few words about the "failed duopoly", and you have the leftist voter of 2023.
Of course, this is all bullshit.
What they call "evil" is a politician like Joe Biden deciding that support of Israel is not only in the country's geopolitical interest, but in its moral interest. A man like President Biden is not an historical illiterate who has forgotten the lessons of not-so-long-ago. These people don't see Israel as worthy of existence because they don't remember that eighty years ago European Jewry was exterminated almost to the last person. Because, whether they want to admit it or not, Jews are part of that "evil" they see themselves as valiantly struggling against. Jews are "white" and "European", thus are "settlers", "colonialists", and genocidaires. Jews are functionaries and perpetrators of an "apartheid state", and must be treated with the opprobrium they merit. "We hate Zionism, not Jews," is a lie, a lie laid bare by the past month-plus of discourse. The 1,400 dead Jews of 7 October were noticed for only a few days; then the narrative shifted back to "evil Jews" exacting "collective punishment" on "helpless" Palestinians.
By siding with Israel, Pres. Biden is no longer the "lesser of two evils"; he is in league with the greatest fomenter of evil in our postmodern world, the State of Israel. Peace would obtain the world over if only the Jews of Israel would sacrifice themselves, remove themselves from their ancestral land, and hand themselves over for just judgment. Hamas is not a terrorist organization—a reactionary Islamist movement which would gladly decapitate its Western queer, feminist, and leftist allies—but a noble resistance against vile colonial oppression. The fact that Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, leaving behind an infrastructure which Hamas then destroyed in its quest to eradicate the Jewish state, is either glossed over or ignored. Or, worse, not known at all. Pres. Biden is not just an accomplice to Israel's "crimes", but directs them and shields them from just retribution. So, one may as well allow Donald Trump back into office, as he won't be any worse.
Few of us have seen the true face of evil up-close. I know I haven't. Which is why I never use that phrase. It's a nonsense sentence crafted to make the one who utters it morally upright. They, also, have never seen real evil personally. They only think they know what evil is by the media they consume and what their social circle reinforces. Their moral certitude allows them to dispense with thought. It allows them to not delve too deeply into the meat of the matter. "Well, this TikTok influencer whom I admire told me that Jews are to blame for everything in the Middle East, so they must be right."
God help them if they ever do meet true evil. If they, for example, wake up in a fascist dictatorship, their rights taken away. Or if they ever visit the ghostly ruins of a place where millions died, their spirits still haunting the landscape, their dead voices calling dimly for justice and remembrance. "All cops are bastards, the justice system has no justice," until someone you love is murdered, and you suddenly find yourself reliant on all the instrumentalities you so abhorred. Privilege comes in many forms. Being able to speak glibly about having to vote for the lesser of two evils is one such aspect of it.
***
Like what you're reading? Never miss another post! Get notified via email here.
Donate at the link below to keep us going.