Friday, December 12, 2003
VDH: "Critical Mass"
An excellent new piece by Hanson. Nobody is better at framing the larger picture.
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
"Quagmire" in Kosovo
Instapundit points out this noteworthy article in Canada's National Post. Seems that the UN's nation building, or ethnic-stablization, in Kosovo is a bit of a quagmire. Seems parts are more and more overun by organized crime, drug runners, racial cleansing, terrorist sympathizers (including Al-Qaeda). As a matter of fact,
"According to statistics collected by the UN criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia at The Hague, 1,192 Serbs have been killed, 1,303 kidnapped and 1,305 wounded in Kosovo this year."
So much for the UN's leadership. Now, back to your regular scheduled "quagmire" elsewhere.
"According to statistics collected by the UN criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia at The Hague, 1,192 Serbs have been killed, 1,303 kidnapped and 1,305 wounded in Kosovo this year."
So much for the UN's leadership. Now, back to your regular scheduled "quagmire" elsewhere.
The self-poisoning of open society
New Criterion's Notes and Comments (scroll down) has an interesting tidbit about a Polish philosopher I have never heard of, Leszek Kolakowski. They say that his magnum opus is a 3-volume treatise on communism, Main Currents of Marxism, and that he has only recently been honored with the Kluge award. But, what caught my attention is what the editor thought was Kolakowski's most profound theme is his most relevant insight to our time.
"But his deeper subject has been the insidious variety of human bondage: not just political tyranny but also the sundry metaphysical tyrannies with which mankind has striven mightily to perpetuate its enslavement even as it mouths the word 'freedom.' Of particular relevance to our own situation today is his analysis of 'The Self-Poisoning of the Open Society' (the title of an essay in his book Modernity on Endless Trial). Among the many dangers that threaten a pluralist society from within, Kolakowski notes, perhaps the most destructive is 'the weakening of the psychological preparedness to defend it.'"
The "self-poison of open society." Is this decadence? Certainly we are a decadent society. But to the point of impotency? Seems I've heard others (our Islamic critics for example) say this. And I have heard others who wondered whether the younger generations would ever be able to match the Greatest Generation's sacrifice and example of service. But I think Todd Beamer and the others on Flight 93 Pennsylvania have put that fear to rest.
Yet, something about this idea seems right. The most obvious place I see this is in (some of) the current anti-war crowd. Listening to them, it just doesn't seem like there is any justification for a defensive war, let alone a pre-emptive one. Appeals to preserving our (or their) way of life makes little impact. Part of the problem may be relativism in the name of "an open society." That is, as someone has said, the price of purity is a purist, so maybe those who imbibe to deeply on the virtues of open society, in the end, have trouble with defending it because it means excluding someone.
At any rate, I wonder what Kolakowski has to say.
"But his deeper subject has been the insidious variety of human bondage: not just political tyranny but also the sundry metaphysical tyrannies with which mankind has striven mightily to perpetuate its enslavement even as it mouths the word 'freedom.' Of particular relevance to our own situation today is his analysis of 'The Self-Poisoning of the Open Society' (the title of an essay in his book Modernity on Endless Trial). Among the many dangers that threaten a pluralist society from within, Kolakowski notes, perhaps the most destructive is 'the weakening of the psychological preparedness to defend it.'"
The "self-poison of open society." Is this decadence? Certainly we are a decadent society. But to the point of impotency? Seems I've heard others (our Islamic critics for example) say this. And I have heard others who wondered whether the younger generations would ever be able to match the Greatest Generation's sacrifice and example of service. But I think Todd Beamer and the others on Flight 93 Pennsylvania have put that fear to rest.
Yet, something about this idea seems right. The most obvious place I see this is in (some of) the current anti-war crowd. Listening to them, it just doesn't seem like there is any justification for a defensive war, let alone a pre-emptive one. Appeals to preserving our (or their) way of life makes little impact. Part of the problem may be relativism in the name of "an open society." That is, as someone has said, the price of purity is a purist, so maybe those who imbibe to deeply on the virtues of open society, in the end, have trouble with defending it because it means excluding someone.
At any rate, I wonder what Kolakowski has to say.
Return of the Professors
Christian Science Monitor has a story about the return of Iraqi's educated people. They have dreams of returning Baghdad to the days it was the academic Mecca of the Middle East, '60's and '70's.
Saturday, December 06, 2003
American military leaders: Progress in Iraq
Washington Post carries this helpful compilation of the military leaders' assessment of their progress against insurgents. It is good to hear their opitimism and some of the specifics they can share. Interestingly enough, one of them mentioned that the progress of July and August in winning the hearts and minds was stymied by a lack of funding in September, leading to an increase of the insurgents' attacks. Does that funding lapse coincide with Congress' slowness in approving Bush's funding request? I don't know.
Tuesday, December 02, 2003
Michael Crichton speech
This speech is a pleasant surprise, coming from one of the best-selling writers today. Surprising to see someone so popular take on the sacred cow of enviromentalism and to say so many thoughtful things, such as:
"Every one of us has a sense of the world, and we all know that this sense is in part given to us by what other people and society tell us; in part generated by our emotional state, which we project outward; and in part by our genuine perceptions of reality. In short, our struggle to determine what is true is the struggle to decide which of our perceptions are genuine, and which are false because they are handed down, or sold to us, or generated by our own hopes and fears. "
"Every one of us has a sense of the world, and we all know that this sense is in part given to us by what other people and society tell us; in part generated by our emotional state, which we project outward; and in part by our genuine perceptions of reality. In short, our struggle to determine what is true is the struggle to decide which of our perceptions are genuine, and which are false because they are handed down, or sold to us, or generated by our own hopes and fears. "
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)