“Game” explanation of Breivik proved!

You may think that the blogger Whiskey’s dogmatic theory of the Norway event—that Anders Breivik’s carefully planned act of mass murder and the 1,500 page manifesto that accompanied it had “nothing” to do with politics and everything to do with the sexual frustration and desire for revenge of a “beta” man unable to find a girlfriend—is an example of reductive theorizing gone berserk. I must confess that I, in my ignorance and pigheadedness, initially had the same reaction. However, when we consider the sorts of “punishments” awaiting Breivik in one of Norway’s country-club like “prisons,” we may have to re-think our position.

From Foreign Policy:

Prisoners spend a lot of time out of their cells; exercise is encouraged.
And in Halden, not only is there clean air but personal trainers. Here, a
comely woman coach jogs alongside an inmate in the prison yard.

See? Breivik systematically murdered 76 people and traumatized an entire country, all in order to get access to a cute coach like this, his own personal trainer. It all makes sense. All those complicated, abstract explanations, having to with the Islamization of Europe and the ruling “Multicultural / Cultural Marxist” left, both of which Breivik said he opposed and said he murdered scores of leftists to demonstrate his opposition to them, can be dispensed with. It was really all about sex.

Now please don’t tell me that I am oversimplifying and distorting the brilliant and profound “Game” explanation of Breivik’s behavior. When a theorist totally dismisses what a person says are his reasons for doing something, reasons he’s worked out in a vast manifesto that took him three years to write, and insists that the person was “really” acting unconsciously under the influence of primal forces that are explained by the theorist’s own pet theory which has nothing to do with the person’s stated reasons, such a theory does not deserve to be treated with any more intellectual care than the theorist himself used in imposing his theory on reality.

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John McNeil writes:

I must admit I found the article persuasive, and almost fell under the author’s influence entirely until I read the first comment pointing out a critical hole in his argument; that white women hate white beta males so much that they’ll go after non-white alphas instead, when the reality is that white women still prefer white men (even betas) over non-white men. That statistically relevant fact helped deflate the original author’s well thought out balloon.

I’ve become more involved in the game blogosphere, being a frustrated beta myself. I think there is some truth in what they say about women, but in the end, they make a fatal mistake by making game to be the central unifying theory of everything that’s wrong with the West. The author of the article tries to tie in game with low birth rates, whereas the reality is that low birth rates have more to do with economic prosperity than the beta-fying of men. I think game may be useful in understanding women and (in theory) keeping a marriage together. But that is a separate issue altogether.

There’s all sorts of bizarre reactions to Breivik. Besides the game-reductionism, there’s also rightwing bloggers that are coming out and either praising Breivik or equivocating his crimes as a natural reaction against imposed diversity. Everyone seems to want to make Breivik fit into their worldview somehow, and ignore the real lesson; of what happens when we give in to blind hatred. In Breivik’s case, it’s hatred against Cultural Marxism, which admittedly is a force of evil in the world, and yet it is a force upheld by a wide variety of individuals, some of whom aren’t involved in any sinister conspiracy. Some Cultural Marxists are college kids who are simply naive, others are teenagers who haven’t had a chance to think things through, only preach what they’ve been spoon-fed by the State. And others may be adults who are otherwise contributing members of society. While we must viciously oppose Cultural Marxism’s venomous effects on our nations, we must not allow that opposition turn into genuine hatred against real people. I have friends who subscribe to various aspects of Cultural Marxism, and I’ve sometimes allowed my opposition to their ideas to have an adverse effect on my non-political relationships with them.

I think we should think hard on Jesus’ words on hating the sin and loving the sinner.

Max P. writes:

I don’t have a problem with Norwegian prisons. I imagine Norway, heretofore, was a relatively peaceful place and those sent to its prisons didn’t come out as hardened ex-cons as they seem to do in the US. They probably don’t have the problems of gangs and various groups competing to control the yard. So maybe Norwegian prisons are appropriate for that nation. However, the real problem seems to be that they are risking their idyllic environment by importing diversity. And if their demographics ever become anything close to those of the US, their prison system, like their nation, will have to change. Unfortunately, I don’t think they realize this.

Mark P. writes:

You’re killing me, Larry!!! I really enjoy Whiskey’s site. I do tend to agree, though, that an analysis of the killer’s writings is probably a better answer. The proverbial non-Islamic reason for Islamic violence should not be persuasive.

LA replies:

I think Mark meant to say: just as the proverbial non-Islamic reasons for Islamic violence should not be persuasive, a non-anti-Islamic reason for anti-Islamic violence should not be persuasive, and a non-anti-leftist reason for anti-leftist violence should not be persuasive.

In simpler English: a theory which refuses to consider a political or religious phenomenon in its own expressed terms but simply projects the theorist’s own terms onto the phenomenon, is questionable.

Tim W. writes:

Norway’s film industry has always had less exposure in America than neighboring Sweden’s. Though I enjoy foreign films, I haven’t seen many movies from Norway. I’m curious about how they would handle our classic American prison films. Imagine the Norwegian version of The Big House, 20,000 Years in Sing Sing, San Quentin, Each Dawn I Die, or White Heat. Somehow I can’t see Bogart or Cagney having a cute personal trainer while serving time.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at July 27, 2011 07:52 PM | Send