The Postmodern philosophy endorsed by most contemporary “intellectuals” asserts that we are all locked in our subjective prisons, that everything is a matter of opinion, that no one set of principles or values is superior to any other. It is a lie that leads naturally to the myth of Systemic Racism, the notion that the Enlightenment Values which have traditionally informed our Western Democracies are no more than tools of White oppression. It is a recipe for self-indulgence born of the self-indulgence of many of the major “thinkers” of the Nineteenth Century. I can live my life however I wish and you have no right to tell me otherwise! But if my life turns out like shit, it’s your fault not mine!
I was a devout Catholic until I hit University in the 70s. The values of many “conservatives” are rooted in one form or another of Christian belief. But the informing principle of Western Civilization predates all modern religions as is evident in the writings of the Ancient Greeks. For Plato, Socrates, etc. it was a given that we are Intelligent Beings obligated to behave as such. Fundamentally distinct from the rest of animal creation, we must impose our wills upon the irrational and oftentimes destructive impulses of our animal appetites [i.e., the Id]. It is a Principle implicit with the existential imperatives of Self-Awareness and Self-Control, their abandonment entailing an inevitable decline into Primitivism. Our postmodern “intellectuals” have in fact set us on the road to that very destination. They call it Inclusiveness!
The Humanist values that informed my education in no way validated the racism and sexism that continued to plague Western societies throughout most of the 20th Century. In fact it was those values which incited our manifold improvements in those realms over the last fifty years. Black “conservatives” in the States are appalled that groups such as B.L.M., with the support of the Democratic Party, continue to suggest their country is barely distinguishable from Mississippi in the 50s when it is in fact radically different. Folks such as Condoleezza Rice, Candace Owens and Larry Elder, each prone to vote Democrat in their youth, attribute their embrace of “conservatism” to what they came to see as the absolute superiority of its Values, values which the well-intended policies of the Left do nothing but undermine. It appalled Elder that the L.A. Times, in its attempt to discredit his recent effort to displace the Gov. of California, rather than critiquing the quality of his ideas and policies, simply dismissed him as “the Black face of White Supremacy.” Upholding The Rule of Law and demanding responsible behavior from one’s citizens are now, absurdly, aspects of White Supremacy!
We have already discussed how the legal “reforms” of Newsom’s California turned that state into a hotbed of crime. Andrew Cuomo’s No Bail Law in N.Y. has had the same effect. These are but aspects of the “compassionate” Leftist belief that other than a “privileged few,” our species ought not to be held morally accountable for its actions. [Rich, Straight, White Males, of course, are the exceptions!] The traditional Humanist vision of Man as a Moral Being has been replaced by the Religion of Empowerment, the notion not only that every man is entitled to achieve his heart’s desire, but that anything that gets in his way is evil and oppressive. This juvenile fairy tale which flies in the face of Reality, has infected every aspect of our Culture, its impact most noticeable amongst the last couple of generations who seem to feel that any criticism of their beliefs or behavior is no more than an act of hatred.
In 2018, Utah State Prison announced that whereas in 1996 it had taken only 248 sex offenders into custody, that number had swelled to approximately 2500, 95% of whom would be released back into society. Gee, do you suppose our “progressive” culture’s never ending celebration of Entitlement while basically ignoring the onerous demands of Self-Awareness and Self-Control had anything to do with these shocking numbers? And are the legal “reforms” which tacitly exonerate all sorts of vile behavior by releasing repeat offenders over and over again, really the signs of an advanced civilization or one sliding precipitously into barbarism?
These questions become particularly significant in discussing the inordinately high rate of criminal behavior among young Black men. This is not a racist comment but a statistical fact. The narrative of the unequivocal evil of Western Colonialism culminating in Critical Race Theory has been taught as fact in America’s schools for some time now. It represents a gross simplification if not violation of historical truth. Informed by several books which I shan’t bother to list, it suggests people such as Columbus, Washington and Jefferson were racist monsters and Western Europeans the most pernicious force in all of history. I repeat once again that I’m not trying to whitewash Western Civilization but the brazenly racist “Anti-Racism” of people like Ibram X. Kendi which demonizes all White people and by implication their values, literally invites its initiates to resent if not ignore the “oppressive” strictures of Western Civilization, literally encourages them to give the middle finger to the Man! Hence the ludicrous spectacle of 2020 which saw the streets of America explode with violence with barely a word of protest from the mainstream media!
Candace Owens recently asked why it was that 75% of the young Black men in California failed to meet national reading standards. A study conducted in inner-city Baltimore found not a single student proficient in either math or reading! That city’s inner-city schools have been an abomination for some time, racism or a general lack of concern for the poor no doubt responsible for their under-funding in the past. More recently, funding having been radically increased, they continued to be utterly inefficient, a 2017 report showing they had graduated thousands who failed to meet basic national standards in every subject. The increase in finances, apparently, had gone to the wrong people and had had little effect on the quality of the classroom experience. Typical government inefficiency, a “conservative” might conclude! [Ironically, the Black Mayor of Baltimore in 2017, Catherine Pugh, was sentenced to 3 years in prison in 2020 on various charges of corruption.] But while outraged at America’s inexcusable failure to provide adequate schooling for its most challenged minority, that same “conservative” would also insist the members of that demographic, as intelligent human beings, take responsibility for their lives rather than seeking refuge in the bogus narrative of systemic racism.
Elder and others never stop commenting on the irony of the fact that in 1960, when America’s Blacks were still the victims of some brazenly racist policies, the nuclear family continued to be a force, only 22% of Black kids born into single-parent homes. Twenty years later, financed by the social assistance programs of Democrats such as LBJ designed to help single mothers, 70% of Black families were in fact without fathers. Statistics show unequivocally that children brought up in such circumstances are far more likely to lack sound values, abuse drugs, be promiscuous and end up in a life of crime. In Arizona’s recent debates on a pending abortion law, Republican Walt Blackman, a man of color, pointed out that 1300 Black babies are aborted in America every day, more than are actually born! Appalled by this statistical evidence of mindless promiscuity among young Blacks, “conservatives” are convinced the Left’s obsession with inclusiveness, by excluding genuine Cultural criticism of any sort, actually exacerbates the social ills it seeks to rectify. While CNN, MSNBC, etc, never stop lamenting unequal socioeconomic outcomes, when was the last time any of them engaged in an honest discussion of character, of the human frailties, both moral and otherwise, responsible for those disparities?
I am reminded of author Brittney Cooper’s appearance on Oprah’s network a couple of years ago in which she claimed the inordinate amount of obesity among Black women was caused by racism. Really?
In Seattle the wearing of bike helmets is no longer mandatory because most of those stopped by police for violating that by-law turned out to be Black. Yes, a perfectly rational mandate designed to insure the safety of cyclists has been cancelled lest the police be accused of targeting people of color, which they apparently were not.
In 2019, the government of Ontario established a mandatory math test for new teachers in order to assure they had the skills necessary for proper instruction in that subject. When it became apparent that 90% of the White candidates were passing that test as opposed to only 70% the Indigenous and people of Color, a group sued to have it eradicated. An Ontario court ruled in its favor, declaring the test to be racially insensitive. Wonderful! No guarantee in the “progressive” West that the people teaching your kids have any idea of what they’re talking about!
Programs designed to help the “marginalized” improve their lives are perfectly laudable. But cancelling the very values upon which Western Civilization was founded out of deference to the “marginalized” is quite literally insane! The fundamental irony of insanity, of course, is that those so afflicted do not know they are insane!