I had breakfast with a Leftie this morning. She knows my views so she tried to keep the conversation to non-political things - to avoid a confrontation. So, she brought up a new book she is reading about colonialization called 1491 - by a journalist, not a Meso-American historian or anthropologist.
I mention the author's credentials because I've had a life-long fascination with Meso-America; I selected my undergraduate school based on their Meso-American studies program -- Tulane University in New Orleans, home of the first institute devoted to studying the region: The Middle American Research Institute - founded in 1919 -- and I earned my undergraduate degree with a double major in Anthropology and Philosophy and a minor in History, and was a member of the History Honors Society. So the credentials of an author in this field is something I think is critical. And since the author of this book is NOT a credentialed historian, I was immediately skeptical. I WAS RIGHT O BE...
What this Leftie found so earth-shatteringly astounding and important about this book was that the author had related that the Meso-American peoples were REALLY subjugated because of their lack of immunity to European diseases, and that they were not literally conquered by the Spaniards
She was amazed to learn from reading this book that the Aztec "nation" has a huge population and well-developed agriculture and economy. That's true: In fact, Tenochtitlan (site of Mexico City) was a bigger city than any in all of Europe at the time.
She felt that the Conquistadors had vanquished a great culture and destroyed great temples and destroyed a great religion.
This is HOGWASH. I told her that. And that the Aztecs were in fact brought down by use of violence; they were literally CONQUERED by a superior Eurpoean military command which used superior technology and tactics and which successfully marshalled the forces of most of the other tribes which had previously been subjugated by the horrifically violent and brutal Aztecs. These other tribes were happy ally themselves to the Conquistadors because the Conquistadors would free them from the yoke of the Aztecs.
Also, the fact is that the "native religion" which this Leftie so thoroughly defended - as she so thoroughly attacked the West for destroying it - practiced massive human sacrifice, and genocide ROUTINELY. By destoying this religion the Conquisadors were LIBERATING the Meso-American peoples from a horrifyingly inhumane and superstitious creed. THAT'S A GOOD THING. And they were then converted to Christianity, and brought into the Roman Catholic Church. ALSO A GOOD THING.
The native peoples of Meso-America are VASTLY better off because they no longer worship the pagan gods of the Aztecs (et al) and no longer worship by ritually sacrificng thousands and thousands and thousands of their fellow human beings each year.
Naturally, when I said this to her she was INCENSED! HOW DARE I DEFEND THE DESTRUCTION OF A NATIVE CULTURE AND COLONIALIZATION! Of course she would react this way: post-modern Leftism prizes non-Western "indigenous-ness" above all else - EVEN IF THE INDIGENOUS CULTURE PRACTICES RITUAL GENOCIDE!
By the way: This VERY SAME LEFTIE (an intelligent woman, mind you - but one obviously indoctrinated by the Left) had two weeks earlier - at a dinner - cast a slur against the Roman Catholic Church by proffering that the RC Church wanted to force everyone who might be suffering a slow death due to incurable illness to stay on respirators and be force-fed rather than to choose a natural death.
I countered her by saying that IN FACT, the Church had no such rules, that Catholics are permitted to refuse medical attention and food, and that in fact, Pope JPII had turned down both food and medical attention. She countered that Catholic Church has one set of rules for the priests and another for the stupid flock. At which point I told her that what she was saying was an ignorant bigotted slur. Which it is. She was incensed.
Gosh golly gee whiz - it's really astounding: Liberals (post modern leftists) really have no idea how biggoted they are. They routinely say things like: Iraqis are not capable of democracy; and that blacks need affirmative action to get ahead; and that the Pope and devout Catholics are hypocritical dictators - and yet BECAUSE THEY ARE USUALLY AMONGST THEMSELVES, they are never called out on it.
Well, I USED TO BE a Lefty, and I'm often still in earshot of their biggoted blather AND I CALL THEM OUT ON IT. Whenever a lib says somethings biggoted, I tell them so. And when I do, I feel that I AM SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER.
Do they change? I dunno. But this "shock therapy" is, I believe, the first step. It can jolt them, make them question the belief system they have been carrying around the last few decades. Then they have a chance to discover that the liberal stuff they've been raised on is pure BS. That it's racist, isolationist, socialist BS which has NEVER liberated a single country or increased prosperity of a single nation.
On the contrary, Leftism has actually only spread: poverty - because it stifles creativity and the free excange of goods, services and ideas (domestically and internationally); and dependency on the State - by over regulating industries and markets, and by enforcing equal outcomes; and willful ignorance (through censorship).
AND ANOTHER THING: this whole experience reinforces in me the fact that the GWOT is a war fought on many fronts; some are abroad (in places like the Phillipines, Kashmir; Pakistan; Afghanistan; Iraq; Jordan; Lebanon; Israel; Morrocco; Algeria; Turkey; Georgia; Chechnya; Russia; Serbia; and Paris - to name just a few). But there is a domestic front, too: The GWOT is also fought on the home-front - by fighting the Leftists, the Fifth Column who seek to destroy the West from within.
I mention the author's credentials because I've had a life-long fascination with Meso-America; I selected my undergraduate school based on their Meso-American studies program -- Tulane University in New Orleans, home of the first institute devoted to studying the region: The Middle American Research Institute - founded in 1919 -- and I earned my undergraduate degree with a double major in Anthropology and Philosophy and a minor in History, and was a member of the History Honors Society. So the credentials of an author in this field is something I think is critical. And since the author of this book is NOT a credentialed historian, I was immediately skeptical. I WAS RIGHT O BE...
What this Leftie found so earth-shatteringly astounding and important about this book was that the author had related that the Meso-American peoples were REALLY subjugated because of their lack of immunity to European diseases, and that they were not literally conquered by the Spaniards
She was amazed to learn from reading this book that the Aztec "nation" has a huge population and well-developed agriculture and economy. That's true: In fact, Tenochtitlan (site of Mexico City) was a bigger city than any in all of Europe at the time.
She felt that the Conquistadors had vanquished a great culture and destroyed great temples and destroyed a great religion.
This is HOGWASH. I told her that. And that the Aztecs were in fact brought down by use of violence; they were literally CONQUERED by a superior Eurpoean military command which used superior technology and tactics and which successfully marshalled the forces of most of the other tribes which had previously been subjugated by the horrifically violent and brutal Aztecs. These other tribes were happy ally themselves to the Conquistadors because the Conquistadors would free them from the yoke of the Aztecs.
Also, the fact is that the "native religion" which this Leftie so thoroughly defended - as she so thoroughly attacked the West for destroying it - practiced massive human sacrifice, and genocide ROUTINELY. By destoying this religion the Conquisadors were LIBERATING the Meso-American peoples from a horrifyingly inhumane and superstitious creed. THAT'S A GOOD THING. And they were then converted to Christianity, and brought into the Roman Catholic Church. ALSO A GOOD THING.
The native peoples of Meso-America are VASTLY better off because they no longer worship the pagan gods of the Aztecs (et al) and no longer worship by ritually sacrificng thousands and thousands and thousands of their fellow human beings each year.
Naturally, when I said this to her she was INCENSED! HOW DARE I DEFEND THE DESTRUCTION OF A NATIVE CULTURE AND COLONIALIZATION! Of course she would react this way: post-modern Leftism prizes non-Western "indigenous-ness" above all else - EVEN IF THE INDIGENOUS CULTURE PRACTICES RITUAL GENOCIDE!
By the way: This VERY SAME LEFTIE (an intelligent woman, mind you - but one obviously indoctrinated by the Left) had two weeks earlier - at a dinner - cast a slur against the Roman Catholic Church by proffering that the RC Church wanted to force everyone who might be suffering a slow death due to incurable illness to stay on respirators and be force-fed rather than to choose a natural death.
I countered her by saying that IN FACT, the Church had no such rules, that Catholics are permitted to refuse medical attention and food, and that in fact, Pope JPII had turned down both food and medical attention. She countered that Catholic Church has one set of rules for the priests and another for the stupid flock. At which point I told her that what she was saying was an ignorant bigotted slur. Which it is. She was incensed.
Gosh golly gee whiz - it's really astounding: Liberals (post modern leftists) really have no idea how biggoted they are. They routinely say things like: Iraqis are not capable of democracy; and that blacks need affirmative action to get ahead; and that the Pope and devout Catholics are hypocritical dictators - and yet BECAUSE THEY ARE USUALLY AMONGST THEMSELVES, they are never called out on it.
Well, I USED TO BE a Lefty, and I'm often still in earshot of their biggoted blather AND I CALL THEM OUT ON IT. Whenever a lib says somethings biggoted, I tell them so. And when I do, I feel that I AM SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER.
Do they change? I dunno. But this "shock therapy" is, I believe, the first step. It can jolt them, make them question the belief system they have been carrying around the last few decades. Then they have a chance to discover that the liberal stuff they've been raised on is pure BS. That it's racist, isolationist, socialist BS which has NEVER liberated a single country or increased prosperity of a single nation.
On the contrary, Leftism has actually only spread: poverty - because it stifles creativity and the free excange of goods, services and ideas (domestically and internationally); and dependency on the State - by over regulating industries and markets, and by enforcing equal outcomes; and willful ignorance (through censorship).
AND ANOTHER THING: this whole experience reinforces in me the fact that the GWOT is a war fought on many fronts; some are abroad (in places like the Phillipines, Kashmir; Pakistan; Afghanistan; Iraq; Jordan; Lebanon; Israel; Morrocco; Algeria; Turkey; Georgia; Chechnya; Russia; Serbia; and Paris - to name just a few). But there is a domestic front, too: The GWOT is also fought on the home-front - by fighting the Leftists, the Fifth Column who seek to destroy the West from within.
2 comments:
Buddy,
I like your blog and agree with much of what you say.
But use spell check.
Good luck and happy blogging.
gee thnsk but spelcheck is tooo slow
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