{"id":11135,"date":"2021-03-27T13:32:57","date_gmt":"2021-03-27T13:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/?p=11135"},"modified":"2021-03-27T13:32:57","modified_gmt":"2021-03-27T13:32:57","slug":"a-few-good-men-and-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/2021\/03\/27\/a-few-good-men-and-women\/","title":{"rendered":"A Few Good Men and Women"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">In the wake of the murder by a police officer of the unfortunate <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/current-affairs\/the-terrible-truth-about-sarah-everard\/\">Sarah Everard<\/a><\/span>, and the ensuing justified anger, many media people were calling for \u201cgood\u201d men to act more visibly in opposing violence against women. While I back 100% the calls made for \u201cgood\u201d men to speak up, I am also concerned that the more general ideas of social equality are fast becoming reduced to a gender-specific proposition, having the potential knock-on effect of splitting the Left.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This is not to diminish the seriousness of violence against women, but only to attempt to bring to light how the focus on gender equality may be impacting our perception of more general inequality, and how this apparent narrowing of focus risks being manipulated by those whose interests are not necessarily best served by social equality.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Rosita Sweetman lays the blame for the murder of Sarah Everard, and a rise in other forms of violence against women, on a global pornography worth $97 billion.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2RYtTMxm55\">https:\/\/t.co\/2RYtTMxm55<\/a><br \/>@RositaSweetman <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/broadsheet_ie?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@broadsheet_ie<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Andrea_Rey48?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Andrea_Rey48<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IlsaCarter1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@IlsaCarter1<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/amandaknox?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@amandaknox<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SarahEverard?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SarahEverard<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; CassandraVoices (@VoicesCassandra) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VoicesCassandra\/status\/1373232296065646594?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 20, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>While many women are exploited by many men, in the wider culture there are those still looking to keep wages low; rents and the cost of living high, while reneging on any social housing provision, who will look to spin the fact of female exploitation in order to capture the female vote to the service of their own particular brand of social exploitation.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Spin<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>In a recent tweet, Una Mullally, responding to Josepha Madigan\u2019s dig at the Kerryman newspaper, suggesting the paper be renamed the Kerryperson, called this out for the cynical political ploy it was. Referencing her own <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/opinion\/una-mullally-fine-gael-makes-a-clumsy-grab-for-female-voters-1.4503691?mode=sample&amp;auth-failed=1&amp;pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fopinion%2Funa-mullally-fine-gael-makes-a-clumsy-grab-for-female-voters-1.4503691\">Irish Times article of March 8<sup>th<\/sup><\/a><\/span> which predicted this type of play, Mullally described Madigan\u2019s move as an awkward Fine Gael grab for the female vote, which, as things stand, may decide the next government, as it decided the referendum in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>But the main talking point in the past week has not been Fine Gael attempts to capture the female vote, but the more immediate mystery as to why \u201cgood\u201d men don\u2019t speak out against violence against women.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/opinion\/fintan-o-toole-men-need-to-be-scandalised-appalled-and-outraged-by-misogynistic-violence-1.4510958\">Fintan O\u2019Toole, writing in the Irish Times on March 16<sup>th<\/sup><\/a><\/span> said that in order for men to make a more overt stand against violence against women they must first learn to be shocked by that violence. At the moment, he argues, such violence all seems routine to most men. I wonder about that, since it seems to suggest that silence equals complacency equals broad approval.<\/p>\n<p>When you remove the particular instance O\u2019Toole is referring to, that is, the emotive and highly charged question of violence against women, and replace it with say, general social inequality; you immediately already have an answer as to why \u201cgood\u201d men appear to do nothing in the face of violence against women. The truth is, the majority of good men, and good women too, tend to remain strategically <em>schtum<\/em> on a wide range of problematical social issues until they see which way the political winds are blowing.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Good Men<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Edmund Burke<\/span> is reputed to have said that \u2018The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.\u2018<\/p>\n<p>Burke wrote the line in a letter in 1770, which is more than a little while ago. The point being, the good men idea is far from being new. In fact, Burke\u2019s quote needs updating, since at the time of his writing the realization of women\u2019s suffrage was a long way in the future. An updated version would read: \u2018The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men and good women to do nothing.\u2018\u2019<\/p>\n<p>So instead of posing the question, Why do good men do nothing, in such a way as to refer to a specific issue \u2013 in this case male violence against women &#8211; it is perhaps clearer to ask why do good people, regardless of gender, not raise their voices in say, situations where right-wing policy creates homelessness and subsequent deaths from exposure; or privatisation results in poor services and deaths due to cut corners and profit-conscious oversights? Why do good people not raise their voices <em>en masse <\/em>on these issues too?<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">David Langwallner argues that we need a Renewed Deal, inspired by FDR&#39;s example in 1930s America that will bring Keynesian stabilisation measures.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/AJbSUjYWfZ\">https:\/\/t.co\/AJbSUjYWfZ<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/broadsheet_ie?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@broadsheet_ie<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/itsmybike?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@itsmybike<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaulGilgunn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PaulGilgunn<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KevinHIpoet1967?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@KevinHIpoet1967<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pyjamas_black?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@pyjamas_black<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mrkocnnll?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@mrkocnnll<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LumberBob?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LumberBob<\/a> @saoirse_mchugh<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; CassandraVoices (@VoicesCassandra) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VoicesCassandra\/status\/1243555464719335431?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 27, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>By the strict criteria of the \u201cgood\u201d men concept as framed by Edmund Burke and others, we are all responsible, good men and good women alike, for homeless deaths, for direct provision deaths, for deaths caused as a result of medical privatisation, for domestic violence in all its guises and so on. Since this is a democracy, we all, strictly speaking, bear equal responsibility for the failings of democracy to deliver equal treatment to all. But these are difficult questions when applied to the real world.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, if you were an arts practitioner cosying up to Josepha Madigan when she was Minister for Arts, with a view to gaining favour and financial support for some project you had planned, are you complicit in <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thejournal.ie\/jospeha-madigan-traveller-accommodation-2488607-Dec2015\/\">Madigan\u2019s rallying support to oppose Traveller<\/a><\/span> accommodation? Or are the two issues compartmentalised? One being her political position and the other being her apparent social and class intolerance. Do you sacrifice your project to make a point, or do you compromise?<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Herds<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Along with such moral quandaries you also have the problem of the behaviour of crowds, <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/society-culture\/the-algorithm-of-evil\/\">which tend to behave like herds<\/a><\/span>. Even politicians don\u2019t really lead, they too follow the herd in the form of the public mood glimpsed in polls. Most people are spectators, going with the flow of the herd. We stand and watch the game until some critical mass is reached and then we raise our voices in support of whatever new majority appears to be on the rise. This works for every growing gang, from commies to fascists. A critical mass is reached and the herd follows. History shows that the herd will follow any old idea once this critical mass is achieved.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"aCOpRe\">S\u00f8ren<\/span>\u00a0Kierkegaard, writing on this phenomenon, noted that an individual is worth more than a crowd of individuals, because an individual has personal agency, whereas a crowd tends to go with the flow of the herd. As a result, Kierkegaard comes to the conclusion that truth always belongs to the minority, since the majority tend towards unthinking obedience to the movement of the herd.<\/p>\n<p>It could be that now is the time where the issue of violence against women is to be embraced by the herd as an issue whose time has come. An issue for which good men are expected to speak up. But the point is, that apart from the particular issue, the question as to why do good people do nothing might be more properly considered in relation to a wider sense of social equality, encompassing all issues of social inequality.<\/p>\n<p>This applies equally to the politician allowing the market to decide the fates of those seeking housing, as it does to the person turning a blind eye to white collar corruption, or a man turning a blind eye to violence against women.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Good Men and Good Women<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>In this regard, for <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/politics\/fintan-otooles-brexit-myopia\/\">Fintan O\u2019Toole<\/a><\/span> to suggest that the evil of violence against women is exacerbated by good men doing nothing, is disingenuous at best, or is simply more political gamesmanship.<\/p>\n<p>Because the <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/science-environment\/environment\/irish-medias-business-model-brings-climate-inaction\/\"><em>Irish Times<\/em><\/a><\/span> also plays politics with notions of equality, quietly supporting right-wing Fine Gael policy through the manner in which it shapes and pitches stories, while always being first up with the property supplements when the market shifts, eager supporters of <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/politics\/how-irish-propaganda-operates\/\">the housing Ponzi scheme<\/a><\/span>, where the wealthy business class figuratively eat our young by selling them over-priced houses, while their political cronies refuse to enter into any believable form of social housing policy.<\/p>\n<p>Which begs the question, that when Fintan O\u2019Toole is calling on \u201cgood\u201d men to be more vociferous in condemning violence against women, is he referring to the same \u201cgood\u201d men who remain silent in the face of social inequality on a more general level, keeping strategically <em>schtum<\/em> on a range of social equality issues, in order to ensure the perpetuation of a <a href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/history\/gradations-of-evil-neoliberalism-and-neoconservatism\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">neoliberal<\/span><\/a> status quo that is giving rise to social inequality in the first place?<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">David Langwallner inveighs against the distinct evils of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/neoliberalism?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#neoliberalism<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/neoconservatism?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#neoconservatism<\/a> that have shaped our time.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mUXHStRe7M\">https:\/\/t.co\/mUXHStRe7M<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/broadsheet_ie?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@broadsheet_ie<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PD03662439?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PD03662439<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IlsaCarter1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@IlsaCarter1<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DLangwallner?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@DLangwallner<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FilmWayfarers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FilmWayfarers<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KevinHIpoet1967?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@KevinHIpoet1967<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NMcDevitt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NMcDevitt<\/a> @saoirse_mchugh <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Patrickttierney?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Patrickttierney<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; CassandraVoices (@VoicesCassandra) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VoicesCassandra\/status\/1296011108197769223?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 19, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>All of this is not to suggest that the call for \u201cgood\u201d men to raise their voices on the subject of violence against women is a wasted exercise; but only to point out that such a call to \u201cgood\u201d men is not new; and furthermore, that by repackaging that call as an issue-specific moral imperative, while ignoring the same demand across a more general range of social equality issues, is to have the effect, whether knowingly or not, of splitting the Left by narrowing the imperative of social equality to a divisive gender issue, in such a way as to assist the project of the establishment parties and the elite they appear to represent.<\/p>\n<p>This will doubtless remain the situation until such time as good men and good women of all classes speak out against social inequality in all its guises.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the wake of the murder by a police officer of the unfortunate Sarah Everard, and the ensuing justified anger, many media people were calling for \u201cgood\u201d men to act more visibly in opposing violence against women. While I back 100% the calls made for \u201cgood\u201d men to speak up, I am also concerned that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":11167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[501,1819,2777,2787,2789,2823,3256,3310,3325,3326,3329,3786,4302,4303,4304,4587,4618,4643,4703,5037,5038,5039,5180,5181,6069,7781,8127,8128,8502,8503,8548,9686,10168],"class_list":["post-11135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comment","tag-and","tag-comment","tag-eamon-kelly","tag-eamonn-kelly","tag-eamonn-kelly-freelance-writer","tag-edmund-burke","tag-few","tag-fine-gael","tag-fintan-otoole","tag-fintan-otoole-good-men","tag-fintant-otoole-identity-politics","tag-good","tag-identity-politics","tag-identity-politics-appropriated-by-the-centre-right","tag-identity-politics-ireland","tag-irish-media","tag-irish-politics","tag-irish-times","tag-its-time-for-a-renewed-deal","tag-josepha-madigan-kerryperson","tag-josepha-madigan-travellers","tag-josepha-madigan-una-mullally","tag-kerryman","tag-kerryman-to-kerryperson","tag-men","tag-response-to-sarah-everard","tag-sarah-everard","tag-sarah-everard-killing","tag-socio-economic-disparities","tag-socio-economic-rights","tag-soren-kierkegaard","tag-una-mullally","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}