Even the left realized the value of studying our roots as a civilization – at least the left of 45 years ago. But the creatures who call themselves leftists today carry no such intellectual baggage. It has been drummed into their tiny brains that Western civilization – a civilization that created the modern world with all its grevious faults and stupendous successes – isn't worth examining.
So say the overwhelming majority of students at Stanford University, who voted down a proposal to require two semesters studying our roots by a 6-1 margin.
Well, you have to laugh. Socrates would have laughed, because these children are 100% immersed in Enlightenment Western Civ, and don't even want to know what it is or where it came from. I have seen plenty of willful ignorance in my life, but this has to take the cake. SAT-bright students, voting for ignorance of Homer, Plato, the Old Testament, Paul, Beowulf, Augustine, Aquinas, Lorenzo de Medici, Michelangelo, Rousseau, Shakespeare, Newton, Adam Smith, Martin Luther, Locke. Wow. They won't know bupkus and will not be worth a serious conversation.
And since all of modern physics, chemistry, medicine, and engineering are aspects and products of Western Civ too, perhaps they might consider eliminating those oppressive white male patriarchal things.
Ignorant kids, standing on the shoulders of giants while denying it. Fascinating phenomenon, the hubris of ignorance.
The fruit of this Western Civilization, a free and open society, is enjoyed but not understood by many people. The best kind of inclusiveness makes these benefits available to everyone in these societies. Talk of both white privilege and cultural appropriation are on the other hand an attempt to undermine cultural confidence as a precursor to Marxist indoctrination. Bill Whittle is having none of that in a presentation titled appropriate this:
Well, “Cultural Appropriation” is the latest form of combat used by Social Justice Warriors: a term used by crybullies to describe themselves as fighters against prejudice and privilege. They are the first warriors in history to burst into tears and require weeks of therapy at the mere sight of an actual weapon.
There is only one area where these progressive milliennials are not only allowed but encouraged to compete, and that is the struggle to see who can be the biggest victim and win the Virtue Signaling Silver Cup by being most sensitive to racial and gender injustice.
Cultural Appropriation is the idea that White Males have stolen various elements of minority and female culture and used them for their own benefit without acknowledging or appreciating the suffering of the offended party.
As I was watching the accompanying video I envisioned another narrative and Bill went there...Oh he did.
As a Straight White Male, I see these feminists and students of color appropriating my White Male culture every day. When I think of them walking around in blue jeans, using electricity to light their dorm rooms, or to run their microwave ovens so they can eat non-Anglo-Saxon food… well, frankly, it makes me sick. They sit there using their smart phones to write about Social Injustice and then use the internet to post it on Facebook and Twitter, and as a white male I find this incredibly offensive.
Do these racists ever give a thought to fact that they are not dying in their twenties and thirties because of immunization, pasteurization, antiseptics and antibiotics? When they go to the hospital, do they think about the suffering and back-breaking work by White Males in order to bring them laser surgery, MRI scans, artificial ventilators and all the rest? Do they give an instant’s thought to why none of them developed polio, or scores of other infectious diseases? Nope. They just culturally appropriate these things and use them inauthentically.
And he wasn't done:
And of all the things that Social Justice Warriors have culturally appropriated from White Men, the one thing I demand full recognition of is Rap.Check it out, the whole thing.
8 comments:
"Socrates would have laughed, because these children are 100% immersed in Enlightenment Western Civ, and don't even want to know what it is or where it came from."
Maybe Socrates would've laughed and while some of those voting against studying western civilization did it because they are "[i]gnorant kids, standing on the shoulders of giants while denying it," maybe it's not so irrational and ignorance seeking as the articles make it out to be.
It seems to me that this is a little bit the case of the pot calling the kettle black. I don't recall us having to study "Homer, Plato, the Old Testament, Paul, Beowulf, Augustine, Aquinas, Lorenzo de Medici, Michelangelo, Rousseau, Shakespeare, Newton, Adam Smith, Martin Luther, [or] Locke" when we were at MIT. Perhaps you did as an elective, but other than Newtonian Mechanics/Physics, I'm pretty sure I didn't encounter a single one of those names in a course at MIT.
Several things strike me when I think about this:
1. I don't think I would've voted for adding the Western Civ stuff as a requirement at MIT. It's not necessarily the best use of the resources of MIT and perhaps it's not a great use of resources at Stanford either.
2. If it's really so important that it be taught somewhere, it should be taught in public high schools so that everybody is exposed to it. Interestingly, in public high school, I was exposed to Homer, Plato, (possibly Medici), Michelangelo, (possibly Rousseau), Shakespeare, Newton, Luther, and Locke." Not in depth, but not a terrible introduction.
3. School isn't the only place to learn such things. I have more familiarity with all of those topics now and perhaps they are better studied over a lifetime as interest catches and time permits. All of these topics are widely available over the Internet for those interested.
4. For those truly dedicated to remaining ignorant, even if you try to stuff Western Civ down their throats, they'll just dismiss it as propaganda.
I'm as anti-PC as the next guy (probably more so than average, actually), but this feels like a bit of a smear of Stanford students.
Bret, No. 2 above hits the mark. The fiction and non-fiction classics should be required reading for many courses, not only Western Civ. and in the old days, even MIT had required non-technical courses so you nerds wouldn't feel awkward in the larger world of non-nerds. A friend taught Spanish at MIT as a visiting prof. and his stories are hilarious. :-) Another friend was a visiting prof. in the AI program and even she, a card-carrying nerd herself, thought you guys were a bit over-the-top.
I agree with Bret. The underlying fallacy here is that force-feeding Western Civ (a.k.a. "our roots") to students would result in their gravitation to the politics favoured by the author. European intellectuals of the late 19th and early 20th century who gravitated to Marxism and socialism in huge numbers were very well-educated in the Classics.
European intellectuals of the late 19th and early 20th century who gravitated to Marxism and socialism in huge numbers were very well-educated in the Classics.
They certainly were, but now we can also teach about the nihilism that seems inherent in their treason.
It's probably a good idea to offer intro. level Western Civ. at the high school level.
In that case, maybe we should force-feed 'em Mao.
Have them memorize the Little Red Book and force them recite it 24/7 (with bathroom breaks).
Then have 'em memorize Engels til it comes out of their ears.
Then ship 'em off to Venezuela (or Cuba) for a year of "field work".
Yep, that oughtta work!
Then ship 'em off to Venezuela (or Cuba) for a year of "field work".
If they don't get it then, at least we tried...
... isn't cruel and unusual punishment forbidden by the Constitution?
... What about a neo-cultural revolution. Send all intellectuals into the.lfields.
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