Dialects in America
At least some types of particularity can maintain themselves these days, but I’m not sure what it shows: Despite the sameness of U.S. media, regional dialects refuse to blend.
James Kalb
The normality of liberalism
Why is something as radical as inclusiveness ideology normal, so that if you disagree with it you’re an irrational extremist? Here are some possibilities:
- Everything is bureaucratic or world market-oriented today, and bureaucracies and world markets find it easier to operate on explicit quantitative impersonal principles that ignore complex human relationships like sex and ethnicity.
Antiracist prosecutor in the UK
Sir David Calvert-Smith, UK director of public prosecutions, says most Britons are guilty of racism. He’s right, of course. Once you buy into antiracism and the rest of it the need to extirpate all traces of non-bureaucratic human relatedness becomes a sort of jihad—an infinite battle for the goal that exceeds all others. … More ...
Feminism and universal tyranny
British feminists call for continued Western occupation of Afghanistan, and Nicholas Kristof takes time out from abusing anyone with doubts about CEDAW to speak of “the half of the globe where to be female is to be persecuted until, often, death.” Is there a certain pattern here?
Meanwhile, closer to home, all decent people … More ...
Human rights and international capital
The campaign to make international capital an engine of “human rights” continues: Apartheid suit to target U.S. and German firms (if the former South African government had been unable to borrow money it wouldn’t have lasted as long), and Myanmar Human Rights Abuse Case Against US Oil Giant to Go Ahead (UNOCAL knew the Burmese … More ...
Universal radicalism
Signs that things are the same everywhere: Nude Performance Artist Shocks Conservative Chile and Japanese Activists Hail Ruling on Transgender Sacking. The news reports can’t be relied upon, of course, but it appears there is no serious, sustained and effective opposition to such things anywhere. The ubiquity of cultural radicalism suggests that its sources … More ...
Open borders rhetoric in Europe
I found this BBC article, EU immigration policies condemned, a useful compendium of open-borders rhetorical devices:
- Attribute concern about immigration to the “far right.”
- Call for “strong leadership” (i.e., ignoring popular concerns).
- Request the strong leadership to “dispel popular misconceptions and fears” (i.e., engage in obfuscation and shut down discussion).
Centralization and tradition in the Church
A disturbing thing about the bishops’ response to the scandals resulting from entrenched homosexuality in the priesthood is that it illustrates the extent to which institutional orthodoxy in the Roman Catholic Church has become dependent on one man, the Pope. The other bishops, it appears, aren’t much interested—certainly not enough to break “collegiality,” which appears … More ...
Diversity as good business strategy
The indisputable orthodoxy today is that companies need to be able to integrate all sorts of people into their workforce, and that diversity is strength. Hence such things as the following: Diversity drive at BP targets gay staff , and Wales: Training Service Opened To Combat Homophobia In Workplace. If you think there’s a … More ...
Indian underclass
An interesting addition to social taxonomy—Indians in Malaysia: A community in distress. I don’t know of another expat Indian underclass. Possible causes: they have to compete with the far more numerous Chinese, and don’t benefit from the strong affirmative action programs in favor of the Malay majority. Also, they were brought to Malaya … More ...