Episode 128 - The “Healing” Con: How Warm and Fuzzy Appeals for "Unity" Are Used to Protect Power

<div class="_2TO-components-SimpleRichTextEditor--paragraphElement" data-block="true" data-editor="2j57g" data-offset-key="jkcg-0-0"> <div class= "public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="jkcg-0-0"><span data-offset-key="jkcg-0-0">"Biden Calls For Hope And Healing In Speech,"</span> <span data-offset-key="jkcg-0-1">NPR</span> <span data-offset-key= "jkcg-0-2">reports. "Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot calls for return to Sept. 11 unity," writes</span> <span data-offset-key= "jkcg-0-3">The Chicago Tribune</span><span data-offset-key= "jkcg-0-4">. Following the 2014 Ferguson protests, a</span> <span data-offset-key="jkcg-0-5">CNN</span> <span data-offset-key= "jkcg-0-6">headline read, "Obama: Now is the time for peace, healing." "Filmmaker Ken Burns aims for healing with new documentary about Vietnam War," the</span> <span data-offset-key= "jkcg-0-7">San Diego Union-Tribune</span> <span data-offset-key= "jkcg-0-8">has told us. Everywhere we turn columnists, celebrities, pundits, and politicians are insisting we have "unity," "come together," promote "peace" and work to "heal the divisions."</span></div> <div class= "public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="jkcg-0-0"> </div> </div> <div class="_2TO-components-SimpleRichTextEditor--paragraphElement" data-block="true" data-editor="2j57g" data-offset-key="5evqb-0-0"> <div class= "public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="5evqb-0-0"><span data-offset-key="5evqb-0-0">On its face these concepts sound fine enough: after all, who doesn’t like</span> <span data-offset-key= "5evqb-0-1">peace</span><span data-offset-key="5evqb-0-2">?</span> <span data-offset-key="5evqb-0-3">Unity</span> <span data-offset-key="5evqb-0-4">sounds great! Who wouldn't want to "heal" our wounds? Wounds are bad! But in the majority of political contexts, these warm and fuzzy buzzwords rush past the messy and difficult work of justice, substantive change, or reparations and get straight to the par