What It Touches, It Stupefies
Lifted from the comments, Elizabeth Weiss attends the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association:
There were many red flags indicating that this conference would have a greater emphasis on the political trends of anti-colonialism, indigenous knowledge, and atonement for past behaviour. For instance, there were nearly eighty sessions that used the keyword “decolonisation” and over seventy sessions that used the term “white supremacy” (none of these were ethnographic studies on actual white supremacist groups, such as the Aryan Brotherhood).
What she finds, it turns out, is in large part a gathering of the pretentious and neurotic, the casually incompetent, and the ideologically addled. Among whom, audio recordings of interviews are equated with colonialism and strip-mining, and therefore neglected in order to disavow an “extraction mindset,” and for whom “scepticism is violence” and “asking for evidence… plays to ‘right-wing pundits.’” Oh, and among whom, “anthropology of the self” is The New Hotness. Yes, these titans of rigour and fearless enquiry.
Via Darleen.
audio recordings of interviews are equated with colonialism and strip-mining, and therefore neglected in order to disavow an “extraction mindset,”
They’re stealing the natives’ essence!
What’s remarkable, I think, is the ease with which large areas of academia have been captured, corrupted and made pretty much worthless.
for whom “scepticism is violence” and “asking for evidence… plays to ‘right-wing pundits.’”
The Narrative doesn’t need evidence.
Oh, and among whom, “anthropology of the self” is The New Hotness.
Hmmm. I wonder what kind of people will be into that…
Oh, I think we know the answer.
Lifted from the comments, Elizabeth Weiss attends the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association
Yes, I read that this morning from Darleen’s link on the other thread – it’s quite something and amongst the many things that stood out was this (my italics):
While on the one hand I do not, at least in principle, see an issue with shifts in what a given community sees as more or less important or more or less sacred – all religions and sacred or ritual activities necessarily have to respond to the times they appear in and so are subject to continual reinterpretation.
On the other, there are many, many red flags here – even from the point of view of the anthropologists working with those communities.
What are presumably for the most part white liberals, ultimately representing the government, are financially incentivising “indigenous communities” to obliterate any continuity of tradition for future generations.
The grandchildren of those now incentivised will have to work hard in future to unpick those rituals and sacred objects that have some strong sense of continuity with past traditions from those that were so labelled for a quick buck.
And here was me naively thinking that it was just this sort of thing that the more anxious among the anthropologists were hoping to avoid.
And as for the observer’s paradox, these financial incentives are a surefire way of investigators interfering in their own investigations.
Speaking of which, “indigenous community” as a term disguises the fact this must surely refer to a select group within that community, not the community as a whole.
For example, I don’t consider the city council of where I live to represent my views much less represent what I consider to be important or sacred in my life.
The idea that these representatives do the same for all of the Nuxalk seems not only folly but, dare I say it?, a tad racist.
Hmmm. I wonder what kind of people will be into that…
Oh, I think we know the answer.
I suppose it was due to the hothouse atmosphere of leftist academia that it never occurred to the “scholar” Karl Andersson, or the editors who consented to publish his “research”, that there could be repercussions from his public embrace of a literature of evil.
Coincidentally, I just ran across this quote of Roger Scruton:
“…I intensely disliked the pederastic atmosphere of Cambridge [in the sixties], and always wondered why it was necessary, in order to affect the heights of sophistication, to be so entirely camp.”
—Conversations with Roger Scruton, Chapter 3, “Becoming a Conservative at Birkbeck”, by Mark Dooley
So, Cambridge and Manchester and where else? /a possibly rhetorical question
moved over from prev post
Anthropology: as a science, it does not allow you to save the world. As a science, you keep uncovering uncomfortable facts. As a science, it is tedious and difficult. For all these reasons, it had to be destroyed.
What’s remarkable, I think, is the ease with which large areas of academia have been captured, corrupted and made pretty much worthless.
This.
Paleo-genomics, the study of genetics of past populations, has enabled us to uncover Neanderthal genes in our genome, to trace the movements of past peoples, to study the origin and spread of disease and disease resistance genes. These studies are almost entirely absent for north american natives, and barely for south. The indians have decided such studies are racist or something (or at least their activists have). There are calls (by other activists) to prevent any identification of race in studies of genetic samples, which eliminates the ability to study racially-specific diseases. Want to alert black people that they have a risk of sickle cell anemia or a higher risk of diabetes and glaucoma? Or that they might react to meds differently? Sorry, that would be racist. The new morality is sick and stupid.
If we start with the following premises:
1) All humans are identical
2) All cultures are equally valid and good
3) Primitive peoples were noble savages
4) Primitive cultures were wonderful peaceful matriarchies
then anthropology is impossible. Yet these are the current premises, which may not be questioned.
The essential sonogram of onions frying where searchers meet.
In other news, I have been cooking chili for tomorrow.
In an absent-minded moment, I rubbed my eyes.
It was not a good idea.
It’s interesting to note that speakers discussed the financial gains for the tribes and the high price of returning items. For instance, to bring one hat and one ‘talking stick’ to an indigenous community within driving distance of the museum costs around $10,000 [ … ]
Pervasive corruption in tribal government has been noted before. Also the pervasive poverty, and the connection between the two.
One indigenous collaborator he quoted said that … the indigenous should be able to take multiple days off to cope with the trauma of working with these collections.
Dare I invoke the old epithet “lazy and shiftless”?
It is significant that white people are energized, motivated, and emotionally buoyed up when working to discover, study, and organize their cultural heritage. And yet these indigenous collaborators claim to be exhausted and traumatized, which should clue us in to the fact that they are merely playing a game to acquire power and money and status.
The best thing that we could do for these indigenous people is to end all subsidies and special privileges: Let them succeed or fail by their own efforts. No more excuses for failure, no more enabling of dysfunctions.
I would just like to note for our overseas readers here, that US native americans are no longer confined to reservations. They can go to college and work in a city and anything else. Given the huge number of hispanics, no one would even notice. I’ve known some who did and others you wouldn’t know.
One of the reasons for poverty on reservations is that land is held in common. You cannot build up equity in your farm or house. You cannot take out a loan based on your property value to open a store. It is dubious to even build a house so many live in trailers. Why improve the property? Put in irrigation? not guaranteed to get a return on it.
One of the reasons for poverty on reservations is that land is held in common… It is dubious to even build a house so many live in trailers. Why improve the property?
One exception: Tribal elders, who often have very nice houses. Pervasive corruption.
One exception: Tribal elders, who often have very nice houses. Pervasive corruption.
See also: African tribal customs. The pervasive corruption which continues to ruin so many African nations can be traced to tribalism and tribal customs. But we mustn’t call attention to that because it would be racist or something.
What’s remarkable, I think, is the ease with which large areas of academia have been captured, corrupted and made pretty much worthless.
IMHO, it’s because this woowoo has no standards, no rigor. Anyone can play the Woke version of Calvinball. Those with the most incomprehensible of language, with the right number of virtue words (colonialism, white supremacy, etc) win the accolades and grants. The science of hair analysis or forensic examination of fossil skeletons? Too hard, just denounce it and anyone that does it.
This is the toddlers winning the argument their finger painting (or even just empty canvases) is greater art than any dead white Dutch master or Italian ceiling painter. Guys screaming obscenities to a drumbeat are greater than any dead white classical music composer. Indeed, even musical notation that allows for the preservation and transmission of actual music is dismissed as “white supremacy”.
These are the toxic, psychotic lazy who want the fame without the work and who will do anything to keep other, more competent people out.
Well for God’s sake, don’t touch your cock!
I had a girl friend who related being orally stimulated by a guy who, unbeknownst to her, had just finished consuming a chilli kebab. Apparently she did not enjoy the experience. So probably don’t touch anyone else’s cock or fanny either.
“These studies are almost entirely absent for north american natives”
Indeed. I confirmed the family history back in the 90s with then current DNA testing. By the early aughts, however, all (and I mean all) reference material on native North American DNA was locked down, and no further research was allowed. Amazing, no?
IMHO, it’s because this woowoo has no standards, no rigor.
@Darleen – true. When a domain gets captured by a cult in which signalling one’s membership is more important than the purpose of the domain, it rapidly becomes ripe for a take-over by grifters: Individuals who pursue naked self-interest and are no longer excluded from the domain by gate-keepers diligently maintaining those standards. Hence the rising cost of doing anthropological business with self-appointed native “experts”. Or the infiltration of the teaching profession by paedophiles.
It’s not an accident that the worst examples are all Canadian. In the US, racial neurosis drives votes. Here it’s about graft (there aren’t enough Indians or sympathizers to be a significant voting bloc). The government provides funding to the Indians; the Indians protest against anything the government wants to destroy as part of its agenda (oil pipelines, land development, resource extraction); the government refuses to act because of the sacredness of the Indian gene; whatever the government wants destroyed gets destroyed.
A description suitable for many occasions.
Wait. The “$10000” to return an artifact gets paid to the tribe? Did I misunderstand?
Details…
This corruption is inevitable whenever the money being spent (this artifact nonsense, or academic grants) is Other People’s Money. It’s always, always about the jobs, the egos, and the power.
Apparently she did not enjoy the experience. So probably don’t touch anyone else’s cock or fanny either.
Yoghurt is a sovereign remedy in these circumstances (preferably the Greek variety)
Milk is also a useful counter-irritant, the chiliness of chili being fat soluble – water is fuel to the fire.
“Wait. The “$10000” to return an artifact gets paid to the tribe?”
Hmmm.
So, there’s this stick thingy (strike that. It’s a sacred totem of indigenous power transmission) sitting over there (points at far corner of so called “game room”).
I’ll let you study (or use it as a symbol of pre colonial times) for a measly $5k. In US dollars, cash preferred.
I’ll throw in shipping.
THE BASIC LAWS OF HUMAN STUPIDITY
http://harmful.cat-v.org/people/basic-laws-of-human-stupidity/
…in the society which performs poorly:
a) the stupid members of the society are allowed by the other members to become more active and take more actions; b) there is a change in the composition of the non-stupid section with a relative decline of populations of areas I, H1 and B1 and a proportionate increase of populations H2 and B2.
“One exception: Tribal elders, who often have very nice houses. Pervasive corruption.”
The Native Alaskans I’ve encountered can recite the entire laundry list of giveaways and entitlements the government divvies out to them. The kids overall have little ambition to achieve more than being on the receiving end of them (aside from the handful that truly believe they’re going to the NBA.)
The kids overall have little ambition to achieve more than being on the receiving end of them
How to destroy a culture. And it’s a lot easier to destroy than to repair.
Thomas Sowell has written about how culture is transmitted and gives ethnic groups advantages in certain circumstances. For example, greek fishermen came to Florida long ago and still dominate local fishing–there is some cultural knowledge they pass to their kids. Chinese have a culture that has helped them be merchants all over asia (raising resentment among locals in Malaysia and elsewhere). My kids learned how to use tools, bank, navigate college, make friends, etc. But if the dominant thing kids learn is grifting, then they will grift. If you teach your kids how to boost a car, shoplift, turn a trick, and get out on bail, then this is the life they are prepared for.
The kids overall have little ambition to achieve more than being on the receiving end of them
Not unlike a different community where ambition amongst the young generally equates to becoming a rapper.
That’s as maybe. However, please be considerate enough to discard the yoghurt pot after you’ve soothed your cock in it, and don’t just return it to the fridge.
Chinese have a culture that has helped them be merchants all over Asia…
Not to mention doing well in school and going on to get university degrees.
The Malays could buckle down and commit themselves to academic excellence, but instead chose to implement racial quotas in employment. (Unless you postulate that the Malays are inherently less able to compete intellectually, which suggestion would probably get me knifed to death in Malaysia.)
“What It Touches, It Stupefies“
The reverse of the monolith in 2001. Soon we’ll be apes again.
“Soon we’ll be apes again.” I believe they are aiming lower than that.
“It is extremely unusual for a woman to commit a capital offense, such as a brutal murder, and even more unusual for a woman to, as was the case with McLaughlin, rape and murder a woman,” Corrections Department spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said.
Could not resist, even if a bit off topic. McLaughlin has an impending appointment with Ol’ Sparky. The capital crimes were committed when they was a man.
I see the French are at it again.
“One exception: Tribal elders, who often have very nice houses. Pervasive corruption.”
When I practiced Family Law in Southern California, one of the more frustrating aspects was dealing with a litigant who had membership in one of the local Indian tribes. Even though the issues involved child support, serving a subpoena for income records or a wage assignment was a lesson in futility because they could be ignored as the tribe was a “sovereign nation” and that happened 100% of the time.
If you want to be a member of a sovereign nation within the boundaries of the United States, then you need a passport and visa each time you leave the reservation.
@Karl
However, please be considerate enough to discard the yoghurt pot
I was thinking more of an incident when I caused my wife some inadvertent distress through careless touch. Lingual assistance in applying the remedy makes some recompense for the original offence with pleasure to both parties and without wasting good yoghurt.
@asiaseen
My sympathies. Or congratulations.
I was thinking more of the time I unexpectedly ate cock-yoghurt.
Manga filter mishap.
I was so looking forward to a story involving guillotines and radical leftists, but noooo…
The ultimate suppository
No refunds. Credit note only.
I see the French are at it again.
Seems more like a San Francisco thing, but maybe it was part of a ritual to honor the memory of Michel Foucault.
If you want to be a member of a sovereign nation within the boundaries of the United States, then you need a passport and visa each time you leave the reservation.
Heh. Indeed.™
I have been warned that it is very risky for white people to drive on Indian reservations because the native police tend to be racist and corrupt. And this will not change because the Indians like it that way. In other words, they are as dirty as the small towns that occasionally get in the national news.
Manga filter mishap.
Even apart from the sexual dysfunction, that is just strange.
And speaking of strange, I have read that one of the originators of anime is now saying that he regrets it because of where it has led (lots of art which is not based on observing real people.) That calls to mind the idea of mental illness that spirals ever more into obsession and fantasy, like the joke about the bird that flies in spirals until it eventually flies up its own ass.
Lost a World Cup bet, perhaps? Meanwhile on Sunday a light blue convertible Cadillac full of Argentines was seen cruising around town, waving Argentina flags, getting out at stop lights and dancing around the intersection. I noticed as the day went on, every time we saw that car there was one less passenger.
“to honor the memory of Michel Foucault.”–the WAS nearly deconstructed…
I laughed at the comment and I’m not sorry.
If you want to be a member of a sovereign nation within the boundaries of the United States, then you need a passport and visa each time you leave the reservation.
I have the same opinion about our “First Nations”. You want to be a sovereign nation, that’s fine, but that means blockading our mining roads is an act of war and we have tanks.
I think. I haven’t checked recently.
Seeing that French thing again on a tab that I hadn’t closed and this kinda struck me…
Now not saying it really happened or not, and I think visiting my hometown has me in a 1979 mind set so in the context of 1979 I’m thinking why would that cause them to close the hospital? Just take the damn thing outside. I really think that part would have killed the joke in 1979. Granted, analyzing humor/dissecting frogs. Still.
I see the French are at it again.
Um …
I really think that part would have killed the joke in 1979. Granted, analyzing humor/dissecting frogs. Still.
All this talk about explosives, rectums, the french and frogs brings this joke to mind.
Teacher: Johnny what did you do for your summer vacation?
Johnny: Me and my friend stuck a firecracker up a frog’s ass…
Teacher: Rectum Johnny, rectum!
Johnny: Wrecked ‘im? Damn near killed him.
* I’ll be here all week. Don’t forget to tip your server.
I was thinking more of the time I unexpectedly ate cock-yoghurt.
I’m really hoping that’s not a euphemism.
Karl
December 19, 2022 9:34 pm
That’s as maybe. However, please be considerate enough to discard the yoghurt pot after you’ve soothed your cock in it, and don’t just return it to the fridge.”
I’m still laughing. 🙂
One exception: Tribal elders, who often have very nice houses. Pervasive corruption.
Over at Kate’s place (not our Kate!), the phrasing is ‘The chief’s driveway is always paved’.
That’s one where I am often reminded of the punch line, pretty much every time I see the word ‘rectum’, yet I cannot remember the joke. I had a barber who was a fan of old jokes and rather than trot out the whole thing and pretend, whenever I would sit down in the barber chair either one or the other of us would simply say, out of context, just a punchline. My favorite being, “Great pig like that, we couldn’t eat him all at once”.
‘The chief’s driveway is always paved’.
Chief Big Screen TV. Chief Escalade. Kate at Small Dead Animals has got a million of them.
Not sure if “stupefies” is a real word, but the great thing about English is you can declare it one. Very apt here.
There are cultures (not nations) where one is proud of never asking for a handout, the guy who never complains, for being the person who people come to for help, the person who has good advice. Then there are cultures where one is proud of being able to trick others. This is one measure of a culture. Another is who the heroes are. My heroes are patriots, soldiers, famous scientists. Among the Left, going way back, it is Che, Mao, Bill Ayers, black panthers, etc. Another very good measure.
Not sure if “stupefies” is a real word
Yes, it is.
A favorite example: Stupifyin Jones.
‘The chief’s driveway is always paved’.
Chief Big Screen TV. Chief Escalade.
That reminds me of a 1980’s BBC documentary, The Africans, which attempted to justify such tribal customs as requiring people to give gifts to tribal leaders in order to get permission to do much of anything. (It’s African, it’s tribal, it’s a tradition!) Ignored was how this was behind so much of the corruption which held African nations in poverty and chaos. The BBC and PBS heavily promoted this documentary, but its flaws persuaded me that the BBC and PBS were intellectually compromised and should not be trusted.
The Africans, which attempted to justify such tribal customs as requiring people to give gifts to tribal leaders in order to get permission to do much of anything. (It’s African, it’s tribal, it’s a tradition!)
The “indigenous” of British Columbia had something similar calle a potlatch where people gave away everything they owned to show how rich and generous the were. The government had to step in because it was forcing too many into poverty.
The “indigenous” of British Columbia had something similar called a potlatch…
The Minnesotans have something called a potluck, which involves jello salad and green bean casserole.
Mmmm. Jello Waldorf salad? Throw in some green beans with fried onions….
The grade school cafeteria often served line jello with little orange segments, which was okay. Then there was shredded carrots in jello, which was tolerable. But some of the varieties encountered at family events were…regrettable.
Ignored was how this was behind so much of the corruption which held African nations in poverty and chaos
There’s another African custom, the “Big Man”. An entire village will pool its resources to send the most promising young man to university or a government prep school so he can get a good job in the city – and for the rest of his life he’s expected to financially support the entire village, who will not take advantage of any other opportunities that come along because the “Big Man” will take care of them.
This is part of the reason for so much bribery in Africa: that bureaucrat has dozens of mouths to feed back home.
But some of the varieties encountered at family events were…regrettable.
Which brings us to the Gallery of Regrettable Food.
…and for the rest of his life he’s expected to financially support the entire village, who will not take advantage of any other opportunities that come along because the “Big Man” will take care of them.
And when that young man has started a business, their parasitism makes it impossible for him to ever accumulate enough capital to expand the business.
Meanwhile, we are supposed to praise this pathological custom while blaming ourselves for Africa’s continuing failures. If there were no Asians and Europeans in sub-Saharan Africa, what fraction of the economic development would never have happened? Fifty percent? Eighty percent? Ninety?
Which brings us to the Gallery of Regrettable Food.
A classic website, although not as traumatic as David’s offerings.
This reminds me of one of the worst jello abominations I ever was forced to taste, made with tomato. (Don’t ask me for exact details, it was a childhood trauma long ago.)
If there were no Asians and Europeans in sub-Saharan Africa, what fraction of the economic development would never have happened?
The question of What To Do About Africa has, I think, no good answers; only less bad ones.
Leaving the continent alone to figure shit out for itself isn’t really an option in a globally connected world; we know China is ruthlessly exploiting the continent for its resources and slave labour. The existing customs don’t work for anything but a Bronze Age tribal society. Any involvement by the West will be decried as colonialism.
Mark Steyn has pointed out the difference between the African regions that were colonized by the British vs. the regions that were colonized by everyone else; the British believed they had an obligation to bring civilization to the “savages” and after they left those regions retained functioning representative democracy for a while. But only a while.