America Celebrates July Fourth

[lliam]

My Dear b.com BB posters,

July Fourth Celebrates America's and the West's Core Values Reason and Rights and I guess Sience Are What Made America Great..

Why should we celebrate the Fourth of July? Because America as the greatest product of Western civilisation is the greatest country in the world. But it cannot remain great unless we understand the causes of its greatness. In this age of diversity-worship, it is considered axiomatic that all cultures and countries are equal. Western culture, it is declared, is in no way superior to that of any other, not even to tribes of cannibals. To deny the equality of all cultures, claim the intellectuals, is to be guilty of the most heinous of intellectual sins: "ethnocentrism." It is to flout the "sacred" (and false) principle of cultural relativism. I disagree with the relativists, absolutely.

Despite its undeniable triumphs, America is by no means secure. Its core principles are under attack from every direction--by religious zealots who want to undermine the separation of church and state, and by its own intellectuals, who are denouncing reason in the name of scepticism, rights in the name of special entitlements, and progress in the name of environmentalism. We are heading rapidly toward the destruction of our core values and the dead end of nihilism. The core values and achievements of the West and of America must be asserted proudly and defended to the death. Our lives depend on them.

That's all folk's I've said my two penneth.
Lliam.

<small>[ 07-05-2003, 11:06 AM: Message edited by: lliam ]</small>

[OperaTenor]

A very valuable two penneth. Thanks.

[shostakovich]

Hi Lliam,
I'm voting for you in 2004. The only thing I take exception to is (attacking) "progress in the name of environmentalism". There's no question that some environmentalists are as big jerks as some of the people they oppose, but protecting the planet (as much as is possible) from pollution of all kinds SHOULD be a goal of all conscientious people.

Overpopulation is the biggest danger. We're deep in the danger zone, and not doing anything sensible about it. No politician will touch the subject for obvious reasons till the electorate exhibits understanding of the situation. Unfortunately, most religious people ("The Lord will provide"), selfish people ("Who gives a shit?"), and ignorant people ("Problem? What problem?") exempt themselves from any solution. So, for the foreseeable future, things will get worse.

One more thing. The word "equality" is ambiguous. In math "=" means the expressions on each side of it are the SAME in some NUMERICAL way. It is a QUANTITATIVE symbol. "Equality" among people (used QUALITATIVELY) has NO fixed meaning. It means to each of us only what meaning we give to it. Consequently, a lot of rhetoric is spent on an undefined term because it sounds good. Sorry, but that's why there will never be "equality" among peoples. It has no real meaning in that context.
Shos

<small>[ 07-05-2003, 02:12 PM: Message edited by: shostakovich ]</small>

[OperaTenor]

Why Shos, did I detect a hint cynicism in those last two paragraphs?

Jim "When you're at the bottom, the only way to look is up." B.

[lliam]

Hi Shos, in answer to your post: environmentalism, Overpopulation, Qualitatively and equality.

"observe that in all the propaganda of the ecologists amidst all their appeals to nature and pleas for 'harmony with nature' there is no discussion of man's needs and the requirements of his survival. Man is treated as if he were an unnatural phenomenon. Man cannot survive in the kind of state of nature that the ecologists envision i.e., on the level of sea urchins or polar bears"


While the empowerment of women and the provision of reproductive health services undoubtedly reduces the birthrate in the poorer countries, there is a much more serious problem facing the developed countries of our world. We have based our entire society on "competition" and the "profit motive", which has worked well during times of increasing demand for goods and services. However the crucial factor for its success lies in those two words, "increasing demand", which is completely contradictory to a reduction in our population.

Thinking Qualitatively is aimed at participants who are new to qualitative inquiry, from all disciplines, including graduate students embarking on a research career, professionals who find that they need to do qualitative research, and faculty who wish to enhance their qualitative skills. Though this is an introductory program, a basic understanding of the goals and practices of qualitative inquiry is expected.

Discrimination is also one of the many factors operating against equality. But even if all human beings behaved like saints toward one another, the other factors would still make equality of income and wealth virtually impossible to achieve.

Lliam.

[Serenity]

Time to start populating the stars.

[OperaTenor]

I don't think that's a good idea. Kinda warm there. :p

[Serenity]

So send that part of the population that likes it warm up there

[shostakovich]

Hi Lliam. You describe what IS happening. My rant is about what (IMHO) SHOULD BE happening.
Dreamer

[lliam]

Originally posted by shostakovich:
Hi Lliam. You describe what IS happening. My rant is about what (IMHO) SHOULD BE happening.
Dreamer

Sorry Shos, that's all I could think of, at the time .
Lliam.

[shostakovich]

You got it.

[dai bread 1]

Liberal intellectuals, coupled with complaisant news media, will sink Western civilisation. Not Osama, not Saddam, not even Kim Jung the Second, as he's been called.

Many so-called journalists consider a press release to be news, and dutifully publish it. Someone, I forget who, said "News is what they don't want you to know". A press release, being something they DO want you to know, is therefore not news.

The result is that axe-grinders and the vocal disaffected get published and the rest of us think there's something wrong with what we do. This has been going on for many years now.

Sometimes there is something wrong with what we do. Putting lead in petrol for instance. Failing to replant harvested forests. Over-fishing. We have to keep our wits about us.