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.
“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.