Three Problems for the Price of One

 

The West is currently embroiled in three problems:

1) The Problem of Islam.

2) The Problem of the West’s general myopia in relation to Problem #1, due to the West’s dominant PC Multiculturalism: the Problem of the Problem.

3) The Problem of the general myopia on the part of the small minority of ‘Jihad Watchers’ in relation to Problem #2:  the Problem of the Problem of the Problem.

(I define a ‘Jihad Watcher’ in the broad sense as any person who has crossed a certain threshhold whereby they see that Islam itself is the source of Muslim terrorism.)

Now, just as Problem #1 cannot be dealt with effectively without first dealing with Problem #2, so I would maintain that Problem #2 cannot be dealt with effectively without first dealing with Problem #3.

In a curious sense, then, Problem #3 is the most important problem, because it represents the first hurdle that needs to be surmounted before the other two can be dealt with.

The general ‘Jihad Watcher’ continues to scratch his or her head and wonder at the stupidity of this or that politician, or this or that journalist, or this or that academic, or this or that celebrity. But the ‘Jihad Watcher’ remains blind to the larger picture: the West continues to be dominated by the PC Multiculturalist template—on all levels of society, not just among a minority of powerful ‘elites’. Every time I read a ‘Jihad Watcher’ (including Hugh Fitzgerald) ask “why is this going on?” it makes me want to scream.

This is not some strange puzzle—or, at least, its facticity should not surprise or baffle us. Over the past 50-odd years, the West underwent a major sea change in consciousness on the levels of society, culture and politics, and a comprehensive and dominant paradigm has been the result: the PC Multiculturalist paradigm. And this is the paradigm that is currently hindering our general ability to notice and analyze the problem of Islam in a rational way.

While its facticity should not surprise or baffle us, its aetiology does remain a historical conundrum, which I have addressed in other essays here on my blog, notably Neo-Gnosticism and The PC Multiculturalist Paradigm (also see Spelunking the Leftist Psyche)—though the tentative conclusion of my hypothesis—namely, that PC Multiculturalism is rooted in the rise of Leftism in the modern West, which in turn is rooted in deeper historical currents of Gnosticism going further back—the aetiology it implies is, in fact, ultimately structured by pushing causation back indefinitely, until a substratum is uncovered that forces the conclusion of mystery, the mystery of pneumopathology, for which there is no materially reducible cause.

At any rate, the dominance of PC Multiculturalism today is a general problem, a far bigger problem than one caused by some minority of powerful ‘elites’. The typical ‘Jihad Watcher’ continues to suffer from the delusion that the majority of people out there is on our side and gets the problem.
Recap: 3 Problems for the Price of One:

Problem #1: The Problem of Islam.

Problem #2: Myopia about the Problem of Islam.

Problem #3: Myopia about the myopia.

Conclusion:

If we think we can leap over the immense obstacles presented by Problem #2, or if we minimize it into an easily surmountable, albeit annoying and aggravating, bump in the road—or, worse yet, if we unduly magnify the secondary problem into "the real problem"—then we will likely be significantly hampered in our efforts to deal with the primary problem, Problem #1: the Problem of Islam.