The mask is being lifted from the face of Israel’s apartheid state, exposing a grinning death’s head that portends the obliteration of the few restraints against killing Palestinians.
That most of us are silent in front of this travesty of justice, puts the lie to any illusions we may have concerning our progressive beliefs and actions. Israel is the template for what the United States imperial empire really stands for. They stand for this.
I have remarked elsewhere, in the written article, my thoughts on this conflict between Judaism and theocratic Zionism.
But as I reflect more on the matter I am reminded of Hegel's Master-Slave Dialectic.
I am not an Hegelian, preferring historical materialism, but Hegel had some important insights into this concept and the human consciousness that accompanies it.
In 1992 a a young, student writer by the name of J.D. Feilmeier summed up nicely the central core of the Master-Slave Dialectic, using a Socratic method, as put forth by Hegel.
I think the importance of the concept and how it applies in the Age of Dominance is relevant to the subject matter at hand and it is my hope it will be appreciated.
You can find it here but it is a central theme of Hegelian thought.
The colonizers, through their colonization (in this case Zionism but for imperialism everywhere) might wish to take note of history.
"How does an individual human being become conscious of his place in the universe?
How can I become fully aware of what I am, and thereby validate my existence as a dignified human being?
Is it possible to discover the true significance of my existence independent of other human beings?
In his “Master-Slave dialectic” G.W.F. Hegel answers these questions of self-consciousness by introducing the idea that true self-consciousness is a product of society and culture which cannot be achieved merely through individual existence.
Robert C. Solomon explains Hegel’s idea as such: “Human existence is primordially a matter of mutual recognition, and it is only through mutual recognition that we are self-aware and strive for the social meanings in our lives.” (Solomon, p. 68)
Only by seeing ourselves in relation to other humans in society can we determine our sense of dignity and establish our place in the world which we live in."
Zionism of course cannot accomplish this. We are familiar with the Master-Slave dialectic:
"The two roles ineluctably get switched.
Whoever has colonized should not be surprised to find himself colonized in turn.
Whoever destroys the identity of another does not strengthen his own but makes it more vulnerable, more threatened still, in a world which has lost a little more of its diversity."
----- Hegel
"After the struggle has ended and the master-slave relationship Is established, an ironic twist of fate takes place. The significance of its existence which each individual fought so fiercely to establish is fully realized by the slave rather than the master.
In winning the struggle, the master has affirmed his power over the slave, yet the master has failed to recognize that he is not god. The slave, however, recognizes his limitedness, slavery to the master:
“Is his chain, from which he could not, in the struggle, get away, and for that reason he proves himself dependent, shows that his independence consists in his being a thing.” (Hegel, p.405)
Only in being subdued and forced to see himself as merely an object, is it possible for the slave to become fully aware of his place in the universe.
This basic Hegelian insight more critically examined by Karl Marx in his gift-of-a-book, the 1844 Philosophical Manuscipts, where he noted:
“A people which oppresses another cannot be free.”
This is true for all those who dominate and are dominated.
The Master-Slave dialectic is all part of the Age of Dominance and the rise of theocratic fascism.
,
Israeli fascism and Zionism should remember Hegel's remarks, as summed up by the young student some 32 years ago:
"The slave realizes just how fragile life is and he understands that he is dependent upon the master for his life.
Furthermore, the slave sees that the master depends upon him for affirmation of his position as master.
The slave shapes the master’s world by working for him and acknowledging him as master.
Essentially, the slave recognizes that there is no fundamental difference between himself and the master – they both are finite individuals. The master-slave relationship is now the exact opposite of what the master intended – although the master controls the slave physically, he cannot control the slave’s spirit or sense of dignity."
That most of us are silent in front of this travesty of justice, puts the lie to any illusions we may have concerning our progressive beliefs and actions. Israel is the template for what the United States imperial empire really stands for. They stand for this.
And everyone's silence is complicity.
“It is easier to imagine the end of the world than imagine the end of capitalism.”
---- Mark Fisher
https://files.libcom.org/files/Capitalist%20Realism_%20Is%20There%20No%20Alternat%20-%20Mark%20Fisher.pdf
Spot on!
I have remarked elsewhere, in the written article, my thoughts on this conflict between Judaism and theocratic Zionism.
But as I reflect more on the matter I am reminded of Hegel's Master-Slave Dialectic.
I am not an Hegelian, preferring historical materialism, but Hegel had some important insights into this concept and the human consciousness that accompanies it.
In 1992 a a young, student writer by the name of J.D. Feilmeier summed up nicely the central core of the Master-Slave Dialectic, using a Socratic method, as put forth by Hegel.
I think the importance of the concept and how it applies in the Age of Dominance is relevant to the subject matter at hand and it is my hope it will be appreciated.
You can find it here but it is a central theme of Hegelian thought.
https://central.edu/writing-anthology/2019/07/08/hegels-master-slave-dialectic-the-search-for-self-consciousness/
The colonizers, through their colonization (in this case Zionism but for imperialism everywhere) might wish to take note of history.
"How does an individual human being become conscious of his place in the universe?
How can I become fully aware of what I am, and thereby validate my existence as a dignified human being?
Is it possible to discover the true significance of my existence independent of other human beings?
In his “Master-Slave dialectic” G.W.F. Hegel answers these questions of self-consciousness by introducing the idea that true self-consciousness is a product of society and culture which cannot be achieved merely through individual existence.
Robert C. Solomon explains Hegel’s idea as such: “Human existence is primordially a matter of mutual recognition, and it is only through mutual recognition that we are self-aware and strive for the social meanings in our lives.” (Solomon, p. 68)
Only by seeing ourselves in relation to other humans in society can we determine our sense of dignity and establish our place in the world which we live in."
Zionism of course cannot accomplish this. We are familiar with the Master-Slave dialectic:
"The two roles ineluctably get switched.
Whoever has colonized should not be surprised to find himself colonized in turn.
Whoever destroys the identity of another does not strengthen his own but makes it more vulnerable, more threatened still, in a world which has lost a little more of its diversity."
----- Hegel
"After the struggle has ended and the master-slave relationship Is established, an ironic twist of fate takes place. The significance of its existence which each individual fought so fiercely to establish is fully realized by the slave rather than the master.
In winning the struggle, the master has affirmed his power over the slave, yet the master has failed to recognize that he is not god. The slave, however, recognizes his limitedness, slavery to the master:
“Is his chain, from which he could not, in the struggle, get away, and for that reason he proves himself dependent, shows that his independence consists in his being a thing.” (Hegel, p.405)
Only in being subdued and forced to see himself as merely an object, is it possible for the slave to become fully aware of his place in the universe.
This basic Hegelian insight more critically examined by Karl Marx in his gift-of-a-book, the 1844 Philosophical Manuscipts, where he noted:
“A people which oppresses another cannot be free.”
https://libcom.org/article/economic-and-philosophic-manuscripts-1844-karl-marx
This is true for all those who dominate and are dominated.
The Master-Slave dialectic is all part of the Age of Dominance and the rise of theocratic fascism.
,
Israeli fascism and Zionism should remember Hegel's remarks, as summed up by the young student some 32 years ago:
"The slave realizes just how fragile life is and he understands that he is dependent upon the master for his life.
Furthermore, the slave sees that the master depends upon him for affirmation of his position as master.
The slave shapes the master’s world by working for him and acknowledging him as master.
Essentially, the slave recognizes that there is no fundamental difference between himself and the master – they both are finite individuals. The master-slave relationship is now the exact opposite of what the master intended – although the master controls the slave physically, he cannot control the slave’s spirit or sense of dignity."
FYI -- Here's what a source said about the CIA and JFK's assassination -- Dec 15, 2022
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-heres-source-cia-jfks-assassination