tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post5220561760888022454..comments2024-02-13T12:50:30.457-05:00Comments on Rants Within the Undead God: CIA Digs up Dirt on President Trump, forms New PlanetBenjamin Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-26559312835308981972017-01-27T15:14:36.033-05:002017-01-27T15:14:36.033-05:00I agree there's a knee-jerk, politically corre...I agree there's a knee-jerk, politically correct condemnation of all forms of imperialism. I don't mean to take that "postmodern" line. I recently read Harari's books, Sapiens and Homo Deus, which have a more balanced view of empires. Harari points out that empires are highly complex, meaning that they necessarily do both good and evil. They're hyperobjects in Timothy Morton's sense.<br /><br />Thanks for reading. You might want to check out the Map of the Rants, which has a categorized list of all the links to my main articles.<br /><br />http://rantswithintheundeadgod.blogspot.ca/2013/02/map-of-rants.htmlBenjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-17848426628626597992017-01-24T19:03:34.288-05:002017-01-24T19:03:34.288-05:00I recently, for the first time in years, saw "...I recently, for the first time in years, saw "Northwest Passage" with Spencer Tracy. An odd film, full of colour at times and really pushing the positive line about American colonial westward expansion, although mostly in the final sequences. <br /><br />During the bulk of the movie, a ranger expedition against the French and Abenaki, it's surprisingly dark about their situation and actions. Certainly for a 40s film. It doesn't use the modern technique of applying pathetic fallacy [having constant rain, storms, and generally grim weather to make the point] so it's often oddly sunny and clear in those woods. But rather a dark tale.<br /><br />Not exactly the Revenant, but still.random observerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02348644823854777418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-42851216018446857672017-01-24T18:58:32.242-05:002017-01-24T18:58:32.242-05:00Hmm. I actually find that quite enlightening. Not ...Hmm. I actually find that quite enlightening. Not to mention I am struck by the concept of "dark cosmopolitanism", both the term and the idea behind it.<br /><br />Also agree on your tentative assessment of European progress, at least until the jury comes in at some point later on.<br /><br />Without necessarily requiring the level of jingoism I saw in that post on Trudeau, though, I'll probably hew closer to that line than your take on it. In a history of the world that replete with criminality and tragedy, I'm willing to acknowledge them and still take pride in the achievements of my predecessors. Including conquests. Actually, I may have grown up in an ethically middle-ground sort of era. The late 20th century when it was right and proper to deplore such things as mass murder for its own sake and to, seriously, regret all sorts of other forms of exploitation, but still to take collective pride in empire-building and military conquest. I admit I was probably a bit retro even at that, but such an era existed just the same. <br /><br />I gather that now all such things are seen as of a piece, morally speaking. I'm not quite there. <br /><br />I have been in comment arguments on Unz and elsewhere in which I have taken the part of defender of the huge accomplishments of non-Western civilizations against some who prefer to think there were none, so I appreciate the exasperation that can generate. I prefer to respect and absorb all of those and take pride in mine because it is mine, even if it took on a lot of borrowings.<br /><br />I works for me, at any rate.<br /><br />Anyway, I'm new to your blog and am finding it quite interesting. IIRC, I followed a link from Forward Base B [colony of commodus] to get here. I only discovered that guy late last year.random observerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02348644823854777418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-70328267255752054772017-01-24T16:16:47.002-05:002017-01-24T16:16:47.002-05:00The history of Europe's colonizing of North Am...The history of Europe's colonizing of North America is ethically mixed, to say the least, so the descendants' attitude towards that history should likewise be mixed. That means we shouldn't be especially proud about it. If anything, our pride should be canceled out by our shame, leaving ambivalence or apathy. That stands in contrast to nationalist fervor, such as the sort you find on that website.<br /><br />Even better, though, the shame might outweigh the pride, but this doesn't mean the descendants should wallow in guilt. This is because the history of every society is atrocious, so it's not as if non-native Americans and Canadians need to feel as though our social origins are morally worse than those of, say, African or East Asian societies. There have been atrocities and abominations committed in the past of every part of the world. <br /><br />So the best attitude would be a kind of dark cosmopolitanism. We should feel at one with the rest of our species in our appalling histories. Instead of pretending one society is superior to every other, we should recognize our smallness and fallibility as clever mammals. I'm not saying all cultures are entirely equal. Clearly, some societies excel in ways that others don't. But I see no grounds for condemning any culture as uniquely abhorrent. Even if Europe excels in science and technology, for example, we don't know the long-term consequences of that "progress." Our very strengths might prove globally disastrous. So humility coupled with a broad perspective on what unites all societies seems called for. Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-19745255398838999222017-01-24T14:58:27.256-05:002017-01-24T14:58:27.256-05:00An interesting set of observations.
What would yo...An interesting set of observations.<br /><br />What would you consider to be valid demonstration of confronting the dark side of colonization in North America?random observerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02348644823854777418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-42646978190684358482017-01-23T12:46:59.339-05:002017-01-23T12:46:59.339-05:00Person - Are you a Republican or a Democrat?
Me -...Person - Are you a Republican or a Democrat? <br />Me - I hate humans and worship death<br />Person - Slowly backs awayAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-83346691251772343232017-01-15T12:44:58.716-05:002017-01-15T12:44:58.716-05:00I agree with some of these points against Trudeau,...I agree with some of these points against Trudeau, but I don't entirely trust the defense of white European pride and heritage. Yes, the European pioneers showed great courage and fortitude in settling North America, but they also exterminated the native populations. Many of the colonists were fur traders or Catholic missionaries. I don't think these drivers of European expansion are particularly admirable. Beavers would have been hunted to extinction were it not for changing fashion in Europe (silk hats replaced beaver ones). <br /><br />I'd agree for Nietzschean reasons that Trudeau's neoliberalism isn't as inspiring as a more authentic heritage, and that ideally each society should be founded on myths and history of which the population can be proud. But I just don't see the European colonization of North America (slavery, the Beaver Wars, the genocides, etc) as being worthy of much pride on the part of the descendants. More specifically, I don't trust a European descendant who speaks of being proud of that history unless she confronts its dark side rather than glossing over it. Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-91066003562927101242017-01-11T20:15:38.036-05:002017-01-11T20:15:38.036-05:00Too bad the US didn't end up with a leader lik...Too bad the US didn't end up with a leader like Trudeau.<br /><br />http://www.eurocanadian.ca/2017/01/words-of-wisdom-from-justin-trudeau.html<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-86065859399524587372017-01-08T21:06:48.901-05:002017-01-08T21:06:48.901-05:00Why the left suddenly hates Russia.
https://www.y...Why the left suddenly hates Russia.<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJzFuTFdDrU<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-16129291003429812842017-01-07T17:20:58.213-05:002017-01-07T17:20:58.213-05:00JFK was quite critical of the CIA. JFK was quite critical of the CIA. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com