1/18/2003
Blogger Anti-War Coverage
Anna of BBB has her usual sarcastic commentary and some great original photographs of today's anti-war protest in DC. Check it out. I think that I have a better feel for the demonstrations from reading Anna's report than from having read the dull, dull reportage on CNN or the BBC. Advantage: blogosphere! OK, let's retire that line.
1/18/2003
Attack of the Giant Puppet Heads!
The puppets, the puppets! The giant puppet heads! It's good to see that the anti-war movement is moving forward and is right in tune with the giant puppet head-loving American public. I can't wait for the Marionettes for Peace rally next month. (Photo: AP; ripped from the BBC.)
1/17/2003
From Multiculturalism to Anti-Americanism in Six Easy Steps
There is a connection between multiculturalism and anti-Americanism. But how can acceptance of the fact that there are no absolutes when it comes to cultural truths lead to hatred of the United States? Follow along and see. We start with a simple and widely accepted axiom.1. We Cannot Judge Other Cultures
This much is obvious to anyone who ever went to college. Who are we to judge what's right for others or to decide what the best way for them to live is? How do we know our own way is best? There is no meaningful measuring stick one can use to judge other cultures by; ergo they cannot be judged. We must accept all of them for what they are and look at them without Western prejudice. Our Western notions cannot serve us here.
2. Therefore, All Cultures Are Equally Good
Since cultures cannot be judged, we must assume- and believe- that each is equally deserving of our respect, forbearance, and even admiration. Differing concepts of property rights, the role of women, the respect due authority, individuality, honor, justice- all are equally valid. Vastly different family structures, and economic structures, are merely different local flavors of no qualitative significance. We must celebrate diversity, even in political systems.
3. If Another Society Is Seen to Have Problems, It Cannot be Because of the Local Culture
Clearly people are being politically oppressed in the Middle East, starving in Africa, and suffering economic instability in South America, to name just three big problems. To solve problems, we must first identify causes. We must discover what's wrong. But we already know that cultures cannot be judged and are all equally deserving of admiration. There's nothing "wrong" with any of them. To say that this particular problem is caused by this particular aspect of their culture is to say that the culture is not as good in this particular way, and we've already established that we cannot do that. So the root cause of a society's problems cannot be found within the society or culture itself.
4. Therefore, the Problem Must Have an External Origin
Since we've ruled out the possibility that a society's problems come from the society itself, obviously their problems come from outside the society. Well, duh. Problems are bad, cultures are good- and a good thing cannot produce a bad thing.
5. We Can Judge Western Culture, and it Obviously has Many Problems
As is implied by Step No. 1, "We Cannot Judge Other Cultures", we are perfectly free to judge our own culture, Western culture, and that of its most visible agent, the US. And we're not just free to do so, indeed, we're obligated to do so. Like the first step, this is axiomatic. And when we do analyze Western and US culture, what a magnificent host of pathologies we find: racism, sexism, homophobia, imperialism, capitalism, corporatism, consumerism, and the chronic trashing of the environment. I could go on in this way for a while, but you get the idea. No shortage of root causes here.
6. Therefore, If Another Society Is Shown to Have Problems, it Must be Because of Western Culture
Problems abound in the world, but the various cultures of the world are clearly blameless, save one. If there is only one culture on the planet which has demonstrable faults, then clearly all the societal problems on the planet must have this culture as their source. Of course, it is Western culture. And as the most Western, most powerful, and least apologetic nation in the Western world, the vast majority of Western culture's crimes can be attributed to the United States of America. QED.
As empirical proof of this, it can be shown that any society which currently faces problems has current, or failing that, has had previous interactions with the US. This supports the view that all problems flow from contact with, or interference from, the US and its culture. The correlation (100% of countries have problems and 100% of countries have had United States involvement) is impossible to ignore.
There is a flaw in all of this. If we cannot judge other cultures because of a lack of absolute measures, how is is possible to judge Western culture itself? Against what is it being measured, and found wanting? Well, perfection, of course, though what constitutes perfection varies from person to person. The idealized Western culture. A perfect United States.
So multiculturalists accept other cultures for what they are (expectation differential: zero) and judge Western culture against perfect ideals (expectation differential: very negative). Of course we place last in that calculation. The worst!
1/17/2003
The Islam Show, Pt. II
From FrontPage (link via Sullivan):"So why is it somehow all right to offend Catholics and not Muslims? It's a question of relative fear, of the (perceived or real) difference between facing an angry Catholic activist and an angry Muslim one."
[Art critic Emily] Hall ends her paragraph with a chilling quote from gallery owner Anderson [who removed a piece of art potentially offensive to Muslims]: ‘"Christians can take it."’
And Muslims can't, one assumes. Now there's a theme that someone should tackle: Muslims' inability to handle criticism- offensive or otherwise. Oh wait, I already did. (Yes, this is the inevitable post where I accuse the big boys of stealing all my ideas and not giving proper credit- and hits.)
My view of course is that we should desensitize them to their emotional attachments to their shibboleths with all due deliberation. Hey, the porn industry might help us win this war!
But seriously, there's more (private) censorship of criticism of Islam than of criticism of the upcoming war in Iraq. But criticism of Islam is precisely the kind of talk that the multi-culti's on the left are against, what with foreign things being automatically beyond reproach. So don't expect any artistes of note or Hollywood gasbags to say a word against this sorry incident.
In this war, a certain group of people criticize the West freely, yet cannot bring themselves to say a word against our Islamist enemies. Well, two groups of people when you count the Islamists themselves.
