The entire concept of Civilization has been so deconstructed, and vilified, that by having the audacity to defend the ideals of Civilized behavior Your Author has been called a racist (nope – I happen to have African Ancestors!), a repressed homosexual (please – I have two pairs of shoes!) and even a potential cannibal! (What happens in Papua New Guinea, stays in Papua New Guinea.)
Worse than all of this – I can barely bring myself to mention it – I have been called a nerd by some of these horrible, mean, spiteful people! Me! A Nerd! I suppose that by having a banner on my website where a nerd compares me to another nerd by using a Star Trek reference somehow makes me a nerd! Preposterous!
Reading that made me so furious I just had to unwind and think. I removed my button-down triple-knit nylon print shirt (with all five Enterprises including kick-ass Enterprise E), and decided to just ‘go commando’ leaving only the black turtleneck underneath. I grabbed a Fresca, unzipped my boots and decided to pop in a cassette. (Man, that Dolby NR sure cuts the hiss!) Hanson or *NSYNC? ABBA or Partridge Family? I definitely felt like some old skool, so I broke out the trusty old party mix with Starland Vocal Band and Gary Wright, plus some MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice representin’ that mad hip-hop flava I’m so down with, then put on my Yoda jammies and my bunny slippers, leaned way back in my plaid recliner, and began to ponder. Deeply ponder. Cogitate, even.
Why all the hatred? Why are so many people so ashamed of the most amazing Civilization that has ever existed on the face of this planet? What the hell have these people been taught to make them think such transparent nonsense?
These are good questions, and Bill has taken a lot of time to think about the answers.
A must read, I'd say.
posted by Eric on 07.25.06 at 08:54 AM
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Via Justin, I just learned that Bill Whittle has posted chapter one of his new book, AN AMERICAN CIVILIZATION.
So what am I doing here, then? ;)
Really nice work on the CHB posts, by the way. A few more days of that and they'll have to delete their entire website.
Billy, the authors are making two different points. Read was trying to get advocates of central planning to realize the folly of it. He presumes his reader already understands the need for an institution of government to restrain people from aggression.
Whittle, on the other hand, is trying to fight the ideas that are undermining what Read takes for granted. In formulaing a theory of the just powers of government, one must delineate that place at which we, as civilized humans, are morally justified in using force (including the deadly variety) against other humans who have breached the covenants of civilization.
Read is telling us why government should refrain from acting against those who have not crossed The Line. Whittle is telling us why it must act against those who have. He's had the special perspective of working in the industry that communicates values to people; exposing their folly is integral to his message.
Never mind pencils. There are medications whose daily use The Bride of Monster requires. If the enemies of Civilization succeed in crippling the Web of Trust, she dies, just as surely as the casualties we hear about on the news. To the kid in the Che t-shirt in the studio audience at The Daily Show, this is all a bunch of laughs. To those of us who understand what is at stake, it's deadly serious.
The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
Don?t bang your head!
Via Justin, I just learned that Bill Whittle has posted chapter one of his new book, AN AMERICAN CIVILIZATION.
So what am I doing here, then? ;)
Really nice work on the CHB posts, by the way. A few more days of that and they'll have to delete their entire website.