Dear George,
In order to flourish, brutality and oppression need a thriving superstition. The more fanciful this superstition, the greater the barbarity it produces. Superstition succeeds because it is simplistic. Truth will never generate oppression because it is too complex and nuanced. The bigger the falsehood upon which a superstition is grounded the more stridently is it proclaimed an absolute truth.
For example, a belief in witchcraft in the late Middle Ages yielded a well-regulated relationship between the sexes. Capitalism flourished because of a superstitious belief in an invisible hand of the market. When blended with Social Darwinism, the two allowed the strong to cement the firewalls that separated the classes. Throughout history, vibrant myths and fancies have contributed to a society’s prosperity and order.
To live, a superstition must be so thoroughly ingrained into a people’s psyche that they cannot possibly conceive of it as a superstition. Rather, they accept it as an immutable fact. If the real world reveals this “fact” to be a superstition, the superstition simply reframes itself in language that returns it to the “real” world.
We are fortunate that we have such a dynamic fancy that is instrumental in maintaining a dynamic world order. That superstition is race; the deluded believe that we can classify whole peoples by hanging a racial label on them. It is pure fiction. Superficial morphological differences in no way imply substantive differences. Of all of the determinants of diverse human behavior, skin color does not even qualify as a footnote.
But by God, it is a great justification for our foreign policy. The fairy tale that White males of northern European descent represent the highpoint of civilization makes us ready to brutalize anyone of a different hue. If they dress funny and talk funny, the brutalization is all that more effective.
Racism whispers and cloaks itself in altruistic language. We are going to bring democracy and unbridled free enterprise to the ignorant natives because only their Great White Father can guide them. We will partition Iraq because those of a brownish skin tone are unable to govern themselves. Natives cannot control their own natural resources because they lack the racial gene the make the maximization of profits possible.
However, we will fight racism wherever it raises its ugly head, except in the corridors of power.
We are a noble race, George, and we are prepared to share our nobility with all the lesser peoples of the world. We are giving them the gift of civilization, but, just as with children, we must do so with a firm hand and superior firepower.
Your admirer,
Belacqua Jones
5:39:20 AM 
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