Longtime readers of this site will recall that I’ve often tied progressivism (specifically by way of its philosophical assumptions) to totalitarianism, arguing that the resurgence of progressivism as a viable political force is, at least in part, tied to the linguistic turn — a rethinking of where “meaning” is grounded that gave us the kind of structural-linguistic arguments (incoherent and pernicious as they are) that came to undergird our very
identity politics
June 5, 2008
A Tale of Two (Multiculturalist) Cities, distilled
Daniel Henninger examines the Democratic nomination battle and comes away with the idea that identity politics is something of a tar baby. Or maybe it’s a whore with a heart of gold. Pick ’em, as they say: […] the candidacy of the first liberal white woman to run for president is about to lose, defeated by, yes, a black man. Some in the Clinton tong profess not to understand what
April 27, 2008
The Colonialization of Kong
In light of feminist outrage over the supposedly RACIST! way some Vogue photographer posed LeBron James and Giselle Bundchen (LeBron being a man — and a Black man, at that — was too stupid, presumably, to notice that he was being used by the white power structure to denigrate his own race; and Giselle, being a “pretty white thing,” was probably too frail and fearful to put an end to
October 4, 2007
Oh. And just in case people think I'm not still paying at least partial attention…
…this entire dustup over the use of “faggot” does nothing much more than vindicate every argument I’ve ever made on this site about how language functions — and about the dangers of allowing for the appropriation of hermeneutics by consensus-driven communities under no compulsion to appeal to anything other than their own interpretations as a way towards determining “meaning.” Not only is the maneuver on offer all over the leftwing
August 16, 2007
Everything old is new again: peace studies and the “new reality”
David Thompson, on False Consciousness and the modern “peace studies” movement led by Norwegian Marxist and professor Johann Galtung: Galtung is the founder of the “peace universityâ€Â, Transcend, which stresses “a new reality†in conflict resolution and reporting – one based largely on “recognising the validity of the other†and avoiding descriptive terms like “barbarous†and “terroristâ€Â. How that “new reality†would address the actual realities of jihadist groups such
July 9, 2007
About the author — interpretation, intention, and the "historical" agency
An interesting juxtaposition on “journalistic disclosure” from today’s Rocky Mountain News, which excerpts competing views from the National Journal’s William Powers and CBSNews’ Brian Montopoli. First, here’s Powers, who, it’s fair to say, believes journalistic outlets should provide their readerships with biographical information on their reporters: Every news outlet of any consequence now has endless space online to offer supplementary information about the people who report, edit, and produce the
June 30, 2007
The diversity debacle, continued
John Leo, on the “troubling” diversity research being withheld by Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam, whose “five-year study shows that immigration and ethnic diversity have a devastating short- and medium-term influence on the social capital, fabric of associations, trust, and neighborliness that create and sustain communities”: Putnam’s study does make two positive points: in the long run, increased immigration and diversity are inevitable and desirable, and successful immigrant societies “dampen
June 23, 2007
Wankers Down Under [Dan Collins (& Furriskey)]
From Australia’s The Age, the tale of a compleat wanker: A Brisbane woman stabbed a male friend twice in the shower after he refused to stop masturbating in front of her children. Defence lawyers for Kylie Louise Wilson, 28, said the mother of two “lost it” when her friend of six years, Daniel Peter Blair, went on a masturbation marathon on April 6 last year. Brisbane’s District Court this morning
June 18, 2007
Knight of the Living Dead
From the BBC, “Iran condemns Rushdie knighthood”: His book The Satanic Verses offended Muslims worldwide and led to Iran issuing a fatwa in 1989, ordering Sir Salman’s execution. Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said the decision to praise the “apostate” showed Islamophobia among British officials. The UK Foreign Office said Sir Salman’s honour was “richly deserved”. […] Mr Hosseini told a press conference: “Giving a medal to someone
February 16, 2007
On cultural materialism, language, and the progressive gambit
From Linda Kimball at Amercan Thinker, a broad but interesting historical overview of the path Cultural Marxism has cut through the American political scene. Writes Kimball: It is said that courage is the first of the virtues because without it fear will paralyze man, thus keeping him from acting upon his moral convictions and speaking truth. Thus bringing about a general state of paralyzing fear, apathy, and submission—the chains of