Massacres work

People want in on the social currency raining down from the humiliated

The most important and difficult truth we must grasp about 10/7 is that the massacre itself — not Israel’s reaction to it — created a mass hysteria avalanche of new devotees to anti-Semitism and radical Islam justification.

Genocidal carnage on a community unambiguously demonstrates both that community’s weakness and the attacker’s strength.

Decades of reputation-staking arguments — political trash talk — got “called,” and Hamas’ hand that day was much stronger, a conspicuous humiliation for proud and supposedly militarily superior Israel.

All that staked reputation got distributed to the haughty Hamas winners that day,

And when there are conspicuous winners and losers, there are always crowds rushing in to be part of the social capital raining down.

“Israel deserved it!” signals you’re on the winning team, and should get some of that tidal wave of reputation currency flowing hither and thither.

In short, conspicuous massacres work. People glom onto the strong horse, and want to rise with the rising tide of the winning community.

(This is a common behavior for human groups. A small example: Some anti-masker dies of (really, with) Covid, and there’s ridicule, and people usually silent join in, wanting to be seen on the side able to ridicule the other (and gain reputation from it).)

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