Kafkatrapping (The 'White Privilege" argument is a Kafkatrap)

Legal Insurrection ^ | 9-1-2013 | William A. Jacobson

[servo1969]

A reader writes:

In White-liberal white-baiting link-baiting gone wild you mentioned this:

Make an outlandish statement about White people.

Watch White people react in denial.

Use denial reaction as proof you were right all along.

There’s a word for this logical Fallacy. It’s called Kafkatrapping.

In short it takes the form of using denial of guilt as proof of guilt. Here’s the blog that explains it very well.

I think the term should be used more widely.

Absolutely, and thanks for the heads up.

Kafkatrapping now not only is in our vocabulary, it’s a “tag” (I need to go back and add it to past posts).

Here’s an excerpt from the blog post explaining it, Kafkatrapping:

One very notable pathology is a form of argument that, reduced to essence, runs like this: “Your refusal to acknowledge that you are guilty of {sin,racism,sexism, homophobia,oppression…} confirms that you are guilty of {sin,racism,sexism, homophobia,oppression…}.” I’ve been presented with enough instances of this recently that I’ve decided that it needs a name. I call this general style of argument “kafkatrapping”, and the above the Model A kafkatrap….

My reference, of course, is to Franz Kafka’s “The Trial”, in which the protagonist Josef K. is accused of crimes the nature of which are never actually specified, and enmeshed in a process designed to degrade, humiliate, and destroy him whether or not he has in fact committed any crime at all. The only way out of the trap is for him to acquiesce in his own destruction; indeed, forcing him to that point of acquiescence and the collapse of his will to live as a free human being seems to be the only point of the process, if it has one at all.

This is almost exactly the way the kafkatrap operates in religious and political argument. Real crimes – actual transgressions against flesh-and-blood individuals – are generally not specified. The aim of the kafkatrap is to produce a kind of free-floating guilt in the subject, a conviction of sinfulness that can be manipulated by the operator to make the subject say and do things that are convenient to the operator’s personal, political, or religious goals. Ideally, the subject will then internalize these demands, and then become complicit in the kafkatrapping of others.

[Broker]

Being called racist is a trap avoided best by an aggressive offensive response. Take pride in your homophobia. Never be bullied.

[Falcon4.0]

When ever I hear the term “white Privilege” I can't help but be reminded of the SNL skit where Eddie Murphy disguises him self as a White Man and goes out into the city. The gag is that he states that when nobody else is around, White People act differently to the point of just giving things to each other for free and partying.

[FlyingEagle]

The racism in America Is all stoked by black power hungry fear mongers.

There is no white on black racism. White people hide, move, run away, generally avoid the aggressive entitlement race baiters.

Really, it has become unseemly and dreadfully boring. Is there nothing else to talk about in America?

How about the 50 million dead babies? Now that’s a genocide the people need to starkly address. A real issue.

[Slings and Arrows]

Related:

“Did you really think we want those laws observed?”
said Dr. Ferris. “We want them to be broken. You’d
better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy
scouts you’re up against... We’re after power and we
mean it... There’s no way to rule innocent men. The
only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t
enough criminals one makes them. One declares so
many things to be a crime that it becomes
impossible for men to live without breaking laws.
Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s
there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or
objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of
law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now
that’s the system, Mr. Reardon, that’s the game,
and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to
deal with.”
- Ayn Rand, 1957 -

[elcid1970]

When called a racist, “So’s your old man!” is a not inappropriate response.

[Makana]

“Your refusal to acknowledge that you are guilty of witchcraft confirms that you are guilty of witchcraft.”

That fact that you drowned in the Dunking Stool is incontrovertible proof of your guilt.

[Notary Sojac]

Great article, bumped for future reference

[Skooz]

bump

[Standing Wolf]

I'm not impressed by the term "Kafkatrapping," though I've seen leftist extremists sucker the unwary by that method.

I simply avoid talking to leftist extremists. Life is short. Why waste time trying to reason with moral and intellectual juvenile delinquents?

[Excellence]

Sounds like “captious.”

[bert]

———Why waste time-——

Pleasure...... just knowing the insult drew blood

[Lazamataz]

Since the new definition of “racist” is one who is disagreeing with any liberal about any topic, I now proudly proclaim that I am a “racist”.

[Moltke]

Sounds like little more than a new term for “Kafkaesque”.

[rbg81]

I had someone use the term “white privilege” around me. And I said, “Or maybe White wealth is the result of hard work.” The silence was deafening, but there was no retort. Because to refute that would have forced them to sound like Al Sharpton—which would have them look like racist wacos.

The secret is that the term “white privilege” can be used without risk only if white people accept it without comment. However, any pushback forces the user to justify their position. And very few people can spout off like Al Sharpton without either a) seeming like a kook or b) having a twinge of conscience or shame.

[tacticalogic]

Somehow this “white privilege” thing isn’t putting any stacks of cash in my freezer. What’s the deal?

[Altura Ct.]

Watch White people react in denial. Use denial reaction as proof you were right all along.

This post is spot on!

You see it here on Freepers frequently particularly with the 'racism' charge as people fall all over themselves denying they are racist!

It also takes on a second form. The 'not me it's them'! If it is not denied it is pointed out that 'they are the real racist' Which also is a form of 'proof'.

[Professional Engineer]

Bfl

[Chode]

kinda like when did you stop beating your wife...

[Mack the knife]

When called a racist, “So’s your old man!” is a not inappropriate response.

---

I usually take it a step further, rhetorically slamming them against the wall.

If it is a woman, I respond with, “I have more evidence that you have a secret life as a $20 street walking prostitute than you have that I am a racist.”

If it is a man, I respond with, “I have more evidence that you are a pedophile, that you get off sexually with little boys, than you have that I am a racist.”