Divide and Conquer

For John, BLUF:  There are uniters and dividers.  Don't be a divider.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Dogs slammed as ‘settler-colonial’ as pooches and owners blamed for ‘gentrifying’ NYC by woke activists

From The New York Post, by Reporter Chris Nesi, 21 April 2024, 6:34 p.m. ET.

Here is the lede plus seven:

This is a ruff take!

City-dwelling dog owners are marking their “colonial” territory with pooches who are “gentrifying” neighborhoods, critics say in a bizarre online debate.

Sparking the controversy was a story in The Cut that delves into the growing hostility between dog owners and the dog-free in New York.

The article quotes Mia, of Prospects Lefferts Gardens, the proud owner of two terriers, who noticed a growing anti-dog sentiment brewing on her community Facebook group.

One post about picking up dog poop eventually spiraled into bonkers accusations that the pooches of PGL were “gentrifying the neighborhood.”

Mia, a New York-born Latina, told the outlet upon reading this she wondered “Are they saying that only white people have dogs?”

Another woman with an off-leash dog was apparently confronted in Prospect Park by someone filming her with her cellphone camera.

“She was asking me why I thought I was special, why my dog didn’t need to be leashed. Was it because of my white privilege?

First, isn't it the job of the Editor to spare us from bad puns?  Perhaps The Post cut one too many editors during its recently announced restructuring.

As to the issue of the article, we are seeing our fellow Americans falling into the "settler colonial" terminology of serious Marxists.  A pet dog is about companionship, not a marking of territory.  The fact that we would have so little respect for our fellow Citizens by accusing them of using a pet dog to dominate a neighborhood suggests we are not getting out and socialiizing enough.  Someone with a pet should be an opportunity to strike up a conversation,  "What a nice dog you have.  What is his name?"  Maybe even pet the pooch.

Marxism seems to be about pitting one group against another.  It can get ugly.  Ask the kulaks, if you can find one.  And not just Soviet Marxists.  Look at "between the wars Germany," where the Jews, and Romi, were singled out, persecuted and killed.  It doesn't end with the extermination of one unfavored group.  New ones are selected.  Ask Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller.

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Regards  —  Cliff