Elsewhere (271)
Jonah Goldberg on “cultural appropriation” and pretentious outrage:
Nearly every meal you’ve ever eaten is the by-product of centuries of cultural appropriation, to one extent or another. This column is written in English, a language that contains hundreds of thousands of words appropriated from other tongues. Just under two-thirds of our language derives from Latin or French. About a quarter is Germanic in origin. And about a sixth comes from Greek, Arabic and other languages… We are living through the greatest period of poverty alleviation in all of human history right now because countries in Asia and Africa have appropriated many economic policies and practices — free markets, property rights, etc. — that began as quirky artefacts of English and Dutch culture.
Douglas Murray on race and casting:
In an era that is witnessing the politicisation and polarisation of absolutely everything, the realm of fiction and art – one of the great barrier-breakers we have – is also becoming a battle-ground for racial exclusivity and racial exclusion… Perhaps those who are attempting to push such agendas will at some point wake up to the fact that they are heading towards an almighty logical crash. For the same logic that saw Sierra Boggess [hounded] off West Side Story [for not being Puerto Rican] can just as easily be used to insist that all future Prince Hals or Isoldes should be white. Casting can either be colour blind or colour-obsessed. It cannot be both.
Kristian Niemietz on the media’s tongue-bathing of Marxism:
If your ideas require impossible standards of purity in implementation in order to work, then maybe your ideas are not as great as you think they are. A good idea will still work out okay even in a distorted and poorly implemented version. That, arguably, is a big part of what makes a good idea good… Political and economic theories are never implemented in pure form, and their adherents are rarely impressed by politicians who claim to be inspired by them. That’s just par for the course. Marxists, however, are pretty much the only thinkers who accept no responsibility whatsoever for real-world approximations of their ideas.
And the late Leszek Kolakowski on Marx’s knack for being wrong:
What in the twentieth century perhaps comes closest to the working class revolution [predicted by Marx] were the events in Poland of 1980-81: the revolutionary movement of industrial workers (very strongly supported by the intelligentsia) against the exploiters, that is to say, the state. And this solitary example of a working class revolution (if even this may be counted) was directed against a socialist state, and carried out under the sign of the cross, with the blessing of the Pope.
As usual, feel free to share your own links and snippets, on any subject, in the comments.
Paul Embery on an alienating London.
Women in their eighties…were told to embrace the vibrancy of the new multiculturalism.
Vibrant machete attacks.
http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk//news/crime-court/boy-16-stabbed-on-hackney-s-nightingale-estate-during-brawl-with-machetes-1-5509592?
Vibrant stabbing attacks.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/teenager-16-found-stabbed-in-the-street-in-twickenham-a3833736.html
Vibrant acid attacks.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-44037498
Perhaps those who are attempting to push such agendas will at some point wake up to the fact that they are heading towards an almighty logical crash. Casting can either be colour blind or colour-obsessed. It cannot be both.
“If actions are only good or bad based on the parties doing them, then we wouldn’t be talking about law, morality, or principles at all. We’d be talking about tactics of cultural warfare. And why would one side docilely accept the tactics of its enemy?”
“Casting can either be colour blind or colour-obsessed. It cannot be both.”
This assumes the left cares about consistency.
Vibrant machete attacks.
For those who missed it, and very much related, the Simon Schama Tendency.
Maybe not break the law.
https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/nitv-news/article/2018/03/06/redress-scheme-racist-towards-indigenous-people-senate-committee-hears
Maybe not break the law.
“A secretive police gangs database containing the names of thousands of gang members, including children as young as 12, has been seen by Sky News. The Gangs Matrix compiled by Scotland Yard is shared with local councils and other agencies… a report by Amnesty international described it as “racially discriminatory” and said it breached international human rights law. Amnesty found that the number of black men on the Matrix is disproportionate.”
https://news.sky.com/story/amnesty-international-police-gang-database-racially-discriminatory-and-breaches-international-law-11364626
Facts are racist now.
Marx’s knack for being wrong
As has been noted on these pages by others, modern Marxists perpetrate a logical fraud by defining Marxism as a system plus the desired end result (Workers’ Paradise). Thus, every time the system leads to a nightmare, the modern Marxist says, “That wasn’t true Marxism.” It’s a nice little definitional dodge which gives them an out every time.
It’s a nice little definitional dodge
Quite.
“Logical and moral inconsistency is acceptable, even desirable, because power structures” – The New Left.
So many of the stupidities of modern life can be boiled down to this simple fact. They know that they’re not applying their philosophy on an equal basis and they don’t care.
It’s also worth noting that, because these ideas were developed in America (ok, from continental European ideas), the racial hierarchy they assume is almost uniquely American. Specifically, the broadly accurate picture historical oppression of black people and Native American by whitey is assumed to be an almost universal constant, before being mapped onto all “people of color”, irrespective of actual experience.
This obviously leads to some pretty eccentric conclusions. It would be ‘cultural appropriation’ for me as an Englishman to react to Japanese culture in the ‘wrong’ way. It’s very difficult to imagine the reverse being called out, despite the fact that Japan is richer than the UK and, fairly unusually, we were more sinned against than sinning as far as they were concerned.
To a greater or lesser extent depending on the situation, history is selectively edited to prove that the white man (even, say, a Ukrainian) has always been the oppressor. Therefore power structures and correcting the wrong of the past by repeating them in photo negative on a smaller scale.
Edward Said did a similar thing in Orientalism by referring to the Ottoman Empire so little. The period where Europe was on top was what mattered in interpreting the present. The period when Europe feared the Turk did not.
The Left is entirely consistent in its activities, it just doesn’t appear so to us because we like to think people mean what they say. The actual philosophy of the Left is defend your people, always. Attack the enemy with whatever comes to hand, always.
…“cultural appropriation” and pretentious outrage…
The bastard stepchild of which is the whole “decolonization” nonsense which is infecting everything, especially education. For an especially idiotic example, let us travel to scenic Stellenbosch, South Africa where one vice-rector for learning and teaching, witha very colonialist name, one Professor Arnold Schoonwinkel tells us how they are getting decolonization done,, the morst important pat of which appears to be:
No biggie, you think, they are surely talking about things like history, social “sciences”, useless studies, and the like.
Mai non ! Included are the programs (or programmes) in Conservation Ecology at the Ag School, Engineering, Science, Law, and Medicine.
Yes, as we all know, and as has been shown within these pages from time to time, one thing Africa is known for is its pre-colonial science ideas, and it is of course racist of me to point out that pre-colonial agriculture, engineering, and medicine were not exactly what we would call cutting edge. Regarding law, the good professor indicates that they need to be, “…taking cognisance of customary law…”, so I imagine trial by combat might make a comeback.
“Logical and moral inconsistency is acceptable, even desirable, because power structures” – The New Left.
Too bad when applied as above it will drag us all back to the dark ages (of course “dark ages” is probably racist too, I will denounce myself).
removing the notion that content or knowledge of colonising countries (especially European/Western countries) is superior to that of colonised countries and communities.
As we’ve seen many times, people can be fascinatingly, hypnotically stupid.
people can be fascinatingly, hypnotically stupid.
Speechless.
Speechless.
I suspect there may have been words exchanged on the way home.
I suspect there may have been words exchanged on the way home.
I suspect the casting authorities for that show have certain qualities in mind when picking contestants, A Levels proficiency being conspicuously absent among them.
…people can be fascinatingly, hypnotically stupid.
Schnikes. Good for them, but not so much for the rest of the world, that breathing is an autonomic function.
On the other hand, maybe it tells us that the whole “protecting the environment” shtick is wearing thin: that mantra gets tossed around so much these days that as far as these kids are concerned, it’s just meaningless background noise, and so they can’t summon it to (what passes for) mind.
Did you get consent before changing your baby’s nappy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4ESQbyouMI
Did you get consent before changing your baby’s nappy?
She seems to be living in a cartoon. Maybe it’s the unflattering purple hair.
“Ma’am, if you want to ask me something, I’d love to hear a question from you.”
I suspect the casting authorities for that show have certain qualities in mind when picking contestants
I had the fascinating experience of going through casting for a Canadian reality show last year. Whatever the show claims to be about, the real goal of the producers is finding people who will be entertaining. That may mean picking a “hero” for the audience to cheer for, but more likely it means “offensive and/or stupid”. Reality show audiences want to see people they can look down on.
I had the fascinating experience of going through casting for a Canadian reality show last year.
Even now, over a decade in, these threads can still surprise me.
Speaking of Marxist tongue baths…
Of course this is the same guy who runs the outfit who thought there was a bridge from Gaza to the West Bank, but it appears history is as alien to him as geography.
Speaking of Marxist tongue baths…
We live in an age of cartoon people.
Edward Said did a similar thing in Orientalism by referring to the Ottoman Empire so little. The period where Europe was on top was what mattered in interpreting the present. The period when Europe feared the Turk did not.
A noted antidote to Said and any of that ilk.
Reality show audiences want to see people they can look down on.
Such would be why I note such screened spasms as more correctly being called futility shows rather than anything else.
Oooo… emotional geographies of education!
Leszek Kolakowski taught me briefly at Oxford. He had a remarkable intellect, and no time for fashionable nonsense. He chain-smoked Gauloises and walked with aid of a striking perspex walking stick.
“Ma’am, if you want to ask me something, I’d love to hear a question from you.”
The know-nothing says nothing.
The know-nothing says nothing.
I’m not a huge fan of Dave Rubin, who generally strikes me as glib and unconvincing, but… compare and contrast. Despite repeated invitations to articulate her grievance, whatever it may be this week, the smug little moron making the noise has other priorities, like congratulating herself on trying to spoil the evening of some people she doesn’t know. Because that’s what the righteous do, apparently.
He chain-smoked Gauloises
Decades ago, when I was studying literature and philosophy in college–before those disciplines went to shit–I thought Gauloises would be an appropriate affection for my newly discovered intellectualism.
Jeeze-Louise in a chicken basket, I must have been an insufferable prick.*
*We can do without comments about the verb tense in that last sentence, thank you.
Even now, over a decade in, these threads can still surprise me.
It’s not that hard. You could put our entire TV industry in a decent-sized swimming pool. I’ve been out drinking with TV “stars” you’d probably recognize, simply because so much low-budget fantasy and SF TV is shot here and demand for “actors” exceeds the supply.
Via Tim Blair, someone got a little bored at Australian Budget time. Maz eh? You think you have heard everything but little nuggets appear from time to time.
‘I needed to try something new so I grabbed for a zucchini and got it ready. But then realised I’d stupidly put all the vegetables in the fridge and they were far too cold to maz with.
To distract myself, I tried to think about how Eartha Kitt, Paul Newman, and James Dean once had a threesome, and then I started researching James Dean. Turns out he’s had many threesomes, and even had sex with Marlon Brando. That was helping.’
https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/bj3gdv/i-masturbated-to-the-2018-budget-and-it-was-not-great
I can see why she is using vegetables instead of a human body part.
the Simon Schama Tendency.
“Singer and pro-mass migration campaigner Lily Allen has said she does not have enough space in her luxury London flat to take in any asylum seekers despite earlier promises.”
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/05/08/lily-allen-says-no-space-for-migrants-in-her-luxury-london-property/
Not only reality shows, but many quiz shows knowingly select based on the personalities involved.
People generally aren’t pleased to watch programs that show how stupid and ignorant they are. University Challenge isn’t exactly a mega-hit, and those students will know more later in life. A few people will like such shows, but only because they are secure in knowing that they are in the most knowledgeable and don’t mind a virtuous. Dummies never watch.
A quiz show I was on was explicit about it — you were there to entertain, not show how clever you were. Smiley and energetic people made it on. Focused and quiet people did not.
Modern quiz shows make sure to have as many simple questions as possible (people know the answer and assume, wrongly, that they would have beaten the buzzer). Multi-choice is popular, so you might get lucky with a guess. Luck is increasingly involved. Emotional aspects emphasized (phone a friend).
Not only that, I’m pretty sure they manipulated the winners on the show I was on. People they wanted to win were given patsy opposition. People they wanted to lose were given someone strong but too erratic to keep it up (err, that would have been me).
All TV is fake, as far as I can tell. That includes the news, quiz programs, documentaries and sports analysis. It’s just possible that the sport itself is real.
Singer and pro-mass migration campaigner Lily Allen has said she does not have enough space in her luxury London flat to take in any asylum seekers despite earlier promises.
What’s remarkable is that these creatures never seem to tire of their own evasions and contradictions, their own hypocrisy. There doesn’t seem to be a point at which the mismatch – being dishonest and then being exposed as dishonest – becomes exhausting. The pantomime just repeats. It is, I think, a strange way to live.
It’s just possible that the sport itself is real.
The game, the game, all glory to it . . .
—William Harrison
The pantomime just repeats.
Oh, No, It Doesn’t!!!
Oh, No, It Doesn’t!!!
Well, it is farcical. And you’d think that the dissonance, the continual risk of being rumbled, would take a toll.
But there’s no shortage of moral exhibitionists who will insist, emphatically, even tearfully, that we should throw open our borders to the flotsam of the world, while knowing full well that they don’t want that flotsam moving in next door to them, or next door to their elderly parents. And so those uneducated young men from Morocco and Eritrea are expected to move in next door to someone else, ideally in a part of town that the person airing their piety won’t have to visit or pay much attention to. And they do this while denouncing other, poorer people – the ones who would have to live with the consequences of this pseudo-piety – as selfish.
Like Mr Simon Schama, our well-heeled historian and professional bleeding heart, who lives a continent away from those “vibrant” machete attacks and the doorstep defecations that, for some, are becoming almost routine – in an exclusive, very white, millionaire village where shitting on someone’s doorstep is not a common activity.
Have you been out dining with Amanda Tapping?!?
Have you been out dining with Amanda Tapping?!?
If Daniel has any ‘sleb gossip I think it should be shared.
Not for me, you understand. I’m just thinking of my readers.
Please no, David!
I made a new year’s resolution about 20 years ago that I would not read or listen to any celebrity news. It’s been an easy one to keep.
The next year I added that I would pay no attention to anyone outside their sphere of excellence. So celebrity opinions on immigration, to take an example at random, are worthless. Actually celebrity opinions on anything are worthless. Again, it’s been easy to keep.
The world is a better place if celebrities are ignored totally. Root and Branch. Don’t feed the monster!
I made a new year’s resolution about 20 years ago that I would not read or listen to any celebrity news.
For the best, I think. Sorry, I was just carried away by the novelty of knowing the celebrity in question. Well, not knowing them, just recognising the name and having some vague idea that I might be able to identify them in a police line-up. Which doesn’t often happen.
I haven’t been filming Ms Tapping’s house through a telephoto lens or anything.
“What’s remarkable is that these creatures never seem to tire of their own evasions and contradictions, their own hypocrisy.”
If we expand Chester’s “All TV is fake” comment to “All statements made by leftists for public consumption are fake”, then you have one possible answer.
Or maybe they’re just ‘acting’…
Eric Hoffer:
“The followers of a mass movement see themselves on the march with drums beating and colors flying. They are participators in a soul-stirring drama played to a vast audience—generations gone and generations yet to come. They are made to feel that they are not their real selves but actors playing a role, and their doings a “performance,” rather than as the real thing.”
But it must take a special kind of insulated, aloof, non-self awareness (or uncaring) to pull it off.
(Aw crap. I hates it when you click and think it didn’t click, so you click again. Shall I proceed to the Scold-O-Matic™ forthwith?)
On selecting contestants for quiz shows: when I was a student we used to watch Sale of the Century, Nicholas Parsons being the quizmaster. This was a crummy, low budget affair put on by Anglia TV (‘from Norwich!’), featuring such star prizes as his & her mopeds. There were three contestants on each show, all obviously chosen for their, er, intellectual prowess.
We would watch this on a Sunday afternoon while drunk or stoned. It was a predictable show from which to take the piss (though not as good as The Golden Shot with the irreplaceable Bob Monkhouse). What we liked was Parsons’s utter humourlessness and the way everyone seemed to take the thing so seriously.
One week we were electrified by one of the contestants, a young man named Paul. He answered every question correctly, sometimes pressing his buzzer after only a few syllables from Mr P. For example:
Parsons: In October 1815, which—
Paul (pressing buzzer): Napoleon Bonaparte.
Parsons (exasperated): That is correct, Paul. Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled then to St Helena.
Two-thirds of the way through the show, Madge, on Paul’s left, had accrued £3 and had won moreover a hand-held vacuum cleaner as an ‘Instant Prize’, while Barry, on his right, had won nothing at all. Paul, on the other hand, had accumulated £280 and any number of other prizes.
Finally, having fiddled with his earpiece (no doubt on receiving a tirade from the producer), Mr Parsons said to Paul: ‘Give the others a chance, can’t you?’ whereupon Paul spoke these immortal words: ‘I thought this was supposed to be a contest.’
The show ended with Paul winning everything ‘behind the curtain’ and, most likely, with a loud and protracted bollocking for the person who’d let him through the net. We surmised that ‘Paul’ was a postgrad student or even a lecturer from UEA who had deliberately made himself look ignorant in the auditions.
Utter joy.
Shall I proceed to the Scold-O-Matic™ forthwith?
It’s been loaded up with fresh gravel and bottle tops. 30 minutes should do it.
Parsons: In October 1815, which—
Paul (pressing buzzer): Napoleon Bonaparte.
Parsons (exasperated): That is correct, Paul.
There was a large recurring briefing meeting which I attended for awhile. On one occasion a regular presenter announced that she was offering a good sized Amazon gift card, where as the July 4th US holidays were coming up, she thought she would stump the combined departments with a trivia question. Two US presidents—
Jefferson and Adams.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . and then she stopped blinking and announced I was correct.
After the meeting, when she brought me the card, I pointed out that pretty much any question or comment that involves Two US Presidents and July 4th is going to be about Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, and therefore was a rather well circulated trivia notation.
Singer and pro-mass migration campaigner Lily Allen has said she does not have enough space in her luxury London flat to take in any asylum seekers despite earlier promises.
And even if she did, what would it mean? The Lily Allen Corporation (like the Bob Geldof Corporation), can easily afford the gesture of housing a guest in one of the properties it manages. Is that supposed to shame the rest of us, who only have one place to live, and don’t have the housekeeping and security staff to insulate us from too much vibrant diversity?
One for technophobes:
Because it may soon be hard to tell.
Today’s words are cultivated victimhood.
We live in an age of cartoon people.
Yes, yes we do.
Cartoon people.
Cartoon people.
Related…
Have you been out dining with Amanda Tapping?!?
She was in the bar, but I don’t remember speaking with her directly. Richard Dean Anderson and Chris Judge, by the way, are f*cking hilarious in person. Anderson particularly, he has an incredibly dry sarcastic sense of humour and can monologue extemporaneously for ages.
You may think of these people as celebrities, but seriously. Just about every Canadian knows someone who has been on a show that was syndicated into the US market. I used to work with a woman who played a recurring minor Goa’uld.
If Daniel has any ‘sleb gossip I think it should be shared.
To be honest, most of the gossip I could share would be legally actionable libel. Things are very, very different now but on the con scene in the 90’s and 00’s it was not uncommon to rub elbows with SF film and TV stars getting up to … shenanigans. By way of explanation I’ll note that when the news of Jeri and Jack Ryan’s divorce hit my immediate reaction was “wait, he pressured her to go to the kinky swingers club? But she’s the Star Trek actress!”
“wait, he pressured her to go to the kinky swingers club? But she’s the Star Trek actress!”
I love this place. Where was the tip jar again?