mild-mannered scholar by day, raging anti-socialist by night

 
UC PRESS E-TEXTS NOW ONLINE

Great news for bibliophiles: The California Digital Library has now made a wide selection of University of California Press books available for free online at eScholarship Editions. Some of the books are unfortunately accessible only by faculty, staff, and students of the UC system, but many others are available to the public at large.

There are some really great titles there, based just on my relatively limited perusal . I was happy to see Victor Davis Hanson's Warfare and Agriculture in Classical Greece and The Other Greeks: The Family Farm and the Agrarian Roots of Western Civilization (both, alas for most of you, UC access only). One that I just recently finished and recommend, and is publicly accessible, is Jenny Franchot's Roads to Rome: The Antebellum Protestant Encounter with Catholicism. It explores antebellum Protestant views of and reactions to Catholicism in America, ranging from the fantastical "Maria Monk" type of breathless exposés to the tensions and self-criticism engendered by increasing exposure to a form of Christianity considered a rival to those envisioned as part and parcel of Americanness. I'm sure you'll find plenty more titles to match your own interests too.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 5:16 PM | Link

 
WICCA'S SUSPECT HISTORY

The questionable basis for the claimed history of Wicca is probably old news for most of you, but there is a very good extended exploration of the issue here: The Scholars and the Goddess. It shows how the claims of Wicca as having its origins in a prehistoric Mother-Goddess worshipping matriarchy simply do not stand up to the historical facts, resulting more from advocacy scholarship than a rigorous examination of the evidence.

As the article points out, however, these facts really should not have much significance for the typical Wiccan believer. Wicca's eschewing of dogma and any true theology, combined with the basic irrelevance of historicity to its beliefs, renders it largely impervious to any damage similar claims might have to other religions. After all, Wicca is mainly about ritual experiences and an easy-going ethics rather than a serious, all-encompassing dedication to metaphysical Truth:

Practicing Wicca is a way to have Christianity without, well, the burdens of Christianity. "It has the advantages of both Catholicism and Unitarianism," observes Allen Stairs, a philosophy professor at the University of Maryland who specializes in religion and magic. "Wicca allows one to wear one's beliefs lightly but also to have a rich and imaginative religious life."

It's interesting to speculate how the latter may be partially a response to Protestantism's largely thorough rejection of sacramentality and occasional uneasiness with the full implications of the Incarnation. The claims of rabid anti-Catholics that the Sacraments are "pagan rituals" are in one sense not so far off in that both are addressing the human need for tangible expression of spirituality and the engaging of both mind and body in belief. Wicca thus may be in part a reaction to malnourishment of this need in later Protestant culture. Add in a post-1960s mentality and you get a turning toward esoterica and occultism instead of toward Catholicism or Orthodoxy to fill it.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 3:38 PM | Link

 
STALIN & THE "JEWISH DOCTORS' PLOT"

Here's an interesting review of a new book on the "Doctors' Plot" in Stalin's Russia, entitled Stalin's Last Crime: The Plot Against the Jewish Doctors, 1948-1953. The incident involved claims by the Party that there existed a conspiracy among Jewish doctors to medically assassinate prominent Kremlin leaders:

On January 13, 1953, just six weeks before Stalin died, an ominous article appeared in Pravda: The ever-vigilant Soviet authorities had "discovered" that several Kremlin doctors, mostly Jews, were in fact killers sent by American intelligence to destroy the nation's leaders. For Soviet Jews, this terse disclosure about the "killers in white gowns" ushered in a period of fear and terror unusual even in a society where arbitrary arrests, denunciations and executions had become routine.

During that terrible winter, Jewish children came home from school bruised and beaten. Jews were assaulted on public buses, and patients shunned Jewish doctors. Dark rumors started to circulate that the government had decided to deport Soviet Jewry to the remote wastes of Birobidzhan, the Jewish autonomous region in the Far East. There were whispered reports of barracks and freight trains. Those in the know confirmed that famous Soviet Jews -- including violinist David Oistrakh and ballerina Maya Plisetskaya -- were told to sign a letter to Stalin that implored the Great Father to protect their nation from the wrath of the Russian people and noted that Siberia might be the perfect refuge from the imminent pogroms.

What is new in this book is that it goes beyond the usual interpretation of this incident simply being a dramatic instance of Soviet anti-Semitism to claim that it was an initial step in a broader political machination conceived by Stalin:

...Jonathan Brent and Vladimir P. Naumov argue that the Doctor's Plot was much more than just another attack on Jews. Using government and secret police documents hitherto unavailable to researchers, Brent and Naumov assert that the plot was orchestrated by Stalin to justify a new purge of the party and the police and to prepare the country for a war with the United States. The choreography of the plot was extremely complex and tied together many different events: the heart attack of Politburo member A.S. Shcherbakov in 1945; the Lysenko affair, in which a crackpot biologist promised to revolutionize Soviet agriculture and successfully terrorized his fellow scientists; the death of Politburo member Andrei Zhdanov in 1948; the execution of the Leningrad Party leadership in 1950, and the arrest of Ministry of State Security head Abakumov in 1951. All this played out against a backdrop of rising tension with the United States and Stalin's rabid suspicion that all Soviet Jews were potential American agents.

All in all, the article is yet more evidence that in the History's Worst Criminal Pageant it is indeed Stalin, and not Hitler, who deserves the crown.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 1:52 PM | Link

 
CAMPUS GRAFFITI WATCH
Doing Our Part to Bust the Budget!

Last week a rash of anti-Schwarzenegger graffiti broke out on campus. Included were such gems as "Defend Your Education -- Stop Arnold!", "Stop Budget Cuts!", and "Don't Let Your Education Get Terminated!" Of course, it seems to not have occurred to our brave poseurs that cleaning up after them is yet another loss of money for the university! That, and the fact that vandalizing school property is an awfully strange way to demonstrate how much you value your education.

Sociology majors, definitely.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 5:02 PM | Link

 
CONSERVATISM AND EDMUND BURKE

The American Conservative (which I don't usually like) has an excellent essay on how Edmund Burke illustrates what conservatism means. An excerpt:

Conservatism does not lend itself easily to schematic, didactic exposition, and conservatives do not readily engage in it. In introducing his anthology The Conservative Tradition, R.J. White defensively (or perhaps smugly and archly) claims, "To put conservatism in a bottle with a label is like trying to liquify the atmosphere or give an accurate description of the beliefs of a member of the Anglican Church. The difficulty arises from the nature of the thing. For conservatism is less a political doctrine than a habit of mind, a mode of feeling, a way of living."

Bearing this resistance to formal treatment in mind, it is perfectly in character that what is widely accepted as the ablest and most influential statement of conservative views--Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France--is not a systematic statement of a position but a polemic reacting to a particular political situation: an unprecedented upheaval in the most illustrious and powerful country in Europe. Embedded therein, in unsystematic fashion, are the tenets of a political philosophy.

As longtime readers will know, I was absolutely blown away by Burke's Reflections, finding (a la Chesterton) line after line of insight that resonated with my developing viewpoint. Burke not only expresses the heart of the conservative vision but also the truths that leave utopian revolutions condemned to metamorphose into the bloody depredations of the Great Terror. If you have not yet read the Reflections yet, do so; if you are trying to convince someone else to, passing along this article would be a good first step.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 4:31 PM | Link

 
MORE BLOGROLL ADDITIONS

Last time I forgot to add the blog of WorldNetDaily's Vox Day, Vox Popoli, and Kathy Shaidle's Relapsed Catholic.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 3:46 PM | Link

 
OF CARDINALS, DICTATORS, AND SCHISMS

By now you've no doubt noticed that the blogosphere is abuzz over Cardinal Renato Martino's complaints about Saddam's post-capture treatment. The Cardinal's comments were wrong and stupid. Wrong, because Saddam was not subjected to anything exceptionally humiliating, and over the long term the publicity of the capture might reduce future wrongdoing. Stupid, because by appearing to be more concerned with Saddam than his victims, he tarnishes our Church's reputation and destroys its ability to credibly voice legitimate concerns on these issues.

That said, it is true that, as Mark Shea points out, there is still a grain of truth in the Cardinal's foolish statement. Despite his crimes, Hussein is still a human being and should be treated as such, whether deservedly by worldly standards or not. Justice, after all, is subverted not only by exempting the guilty from earned punishment but from also depriving them of the protections due any man by the simple fact of his humanity.

Deus Hoc Vult?

This incident brings to mind the puzzlement I sometimes feel over the pro-war blogosphere's reactions to the Church's negative statements about the war. I support the war wholeheartedly, and think that some of these statements have been foolish and misguided, but I cannot fault the basic motive here. As Mark says:

I also don't begrudge the Church when it counsels mercy instead of humiliation. On the whole, I'd rather have the Church err on that side than have ministers of grace pump their fist in the air and say, "Burn the bastard!"

For what exactly is it that the Hawks would like the Church to say instead? Perhaps "Go forth with Our blessing to slaughter the infidel! God wills it!" would be nice? A return to the rhetoric of, say, the 11th Century? Or of today's Wahhabi imams? It is the Church's job to say instead: "Do not rush into violence. Be cautious and introspective. Do not let rage rule you. Be sure your cause is just, and if it is, do not arrogantly take that as justification for doing whatever you please in the tasks required. Above all, lose neither your humanity nor your respect for the humanity of your foe." That is a voice that any decent civilization will want in its ranks. Does the Catholic Church meet this ideal unfailingly, in each and every one of its spokesmen? Of course not. But I cannot condemn genuine attempts to do so on principle, even if they be done foolishly and ineptly.

On Schism As Solution

I pointed out Mark Shea's posts on this to Porphyrogenitus after reading his thoughts here. Regarding Porphy's comment "I will say that Catholics might start consider[ing] an old fashioned schism," I playfully responded "You are thinking like a Protestant and not a Catholic/Eastern Orthodox on that one!" to which he replied here. He makes some very good points, but it seems we had in mind different conceptions of "schism." Rather than a process of Reformation and Counter-Reformation, I had in mind more the later Protestant tendency to split off and form one's own denomination as a "solution" to disagreements, in contrast to the higher premium that the Catholics (and Orthodox, though perhaps less so) place on continued unity. The latter does tend to promote a "muddling through" situation, but practically and especially theologically is usually the more defensible path.

That is not to say schism cannot have positive effects, though they are not so beneficial as to justify the division of Christianity. Needed reforms in the Catholic Church did occur due to the catalyst of Luther. It can also be argued that the birth of Protestant denominations, with their accessible evangelical faith and easily "portable" style of religion that increasingly needed less and less of a support system, led to Christianity becoming more widespread than it might have otherwise. But keep in mind that this came at the cost of blood on both sides, a major loss of resources both human (talent, insight, intellect) and material for the Catholics, and a thoroughgoing abandonment of 1500 years of Christian heritage and increasing factionalism for Protestants.

As for the Catholic Church making the changes it needs at the moment, I see the eventual solution coming. It's not in Porphy's type of schism but rather a housecleaning of sorts through a largely voluntary attrition and exodus of liberal elements (the beholden-to-the-UN types) in Western Europe and the US combined with the continued rise to prominence of the traditionalist clergy of the Southern Hemisphere. I see it as essentially a less messy version of what is currently going on in the Anglican Communion. Perhaps expecting that is wildly optimistic on my part, but it would certainly be a better path to revitalization than the more destructive possibilities.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 5:17 PM | Link

 
BLOGROLL UPDATE

Newly added are Ghost of a Flea, Bad Eagle, Conservative English Major, and the hilarious Blame Bush. Check them out!

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 5:15 PM | Link

 
INDEED, I STILL LIVE...

...and should be blogging again soon. After all, what better way to rest after having dug oneself out from under a major writing project than writing some more!

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 4:58 PM | Link

 
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Have a great Thanksgiving Day everyone! I'm headed out for a brief holiday and then it's back to the definitely-no-time-for-blogging grindstone.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 11:22 AM | Link

 
SOCIALISM IS YOUR FRIEND!

Blame Bush explains why:

Look at it this way:

You go to the pie shop and realize that you only have enough money for one slice of pie. Then in walks Bill Gates who proceeds to buy all the pies and leaves you standing there completely pieless. Is that fair? Why does he get all the pies? Shouldn't he be made to share some of his pies instead of hording them all? Socialism says "YES, everyone is entitled to a piece of the pie! For now on, all pie shops will be under the control of The People, and The People will decide how to distribute the pies fairly and equitably."

Imagine a world where, instead of walking into a pie shop and hoping, PRAYING you have enough money for one itty bitty little piece of pie, you simply put your name on a waiting list for the priviledge to go before a special commitee, who will carefully determine how deserving you are of pie, and will then give you a slice of pie FOR FREE!!!!! Never again will anyone have to pay for pie, and never again will one man be able to horde ALL the pie. No more will people compete to get more pie than their neighbor. Everyone will be entitled to exactly the same amount of pie, with the exception of the People on the Pie Committee, who will get extra pie because they wear party pins.

How do you get a party pin? Well, you have to join the Party, and that will cost you a fee of 100 pies. Then you have to be approved by the party leader, MOI, and I don't like the shape of your nose. In fact, I think you're being greedy by coming around and asking for pie all the time when the People are starving in the streets. "I want pie! I want pie! ME ME ME ME ME!!!!" You are putting your needs above the needs of The People, and that just won't do. Your selfish attitude is harmful to The People, and you're the reason everyone is starving. It's because of YOU that there aren't enough pies to go around. The only way we're going to make this a perfect Socialist Utopia is if we put a stop to big-nosed, pie-stealing scum like you sabotaging the system! THE PEOPLE MUST BE CLEANSED OF YOUR DISEASE!!!! GET ON THE BOXCAR!!!! NOW!!!!

So the next time some right-wing extemist asks if you're a socialist, just smile and say, "I like pie".

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 11:12 AM | Link

 
VARENIUS' LAWS OF SPIRITUALITY

First Law: Those who claim to be spiritually advanced, aren't.

Second Law: If a religious system merely affirms what you are already doing, run from it.

Third Law: Ecstasy without content is a dead end.

Fourth Law: An awareness of evil does not entail an actual understanding of it.


(Inspired by the bad example of this guy.)

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 2:45 PM | Link

 
RICHARD PIPES: FATHER OF THE NEOCONS?

Sam Tanenhaus, author of Whittaker Chambers: A Biography, has a good article exploring renowned historian of the Soviet Union Richard Pipes' influence on neoconservative foreign policy. Richard Pipes, father of the controversial Middle East expert Daniel Pipes, had a major role in shaping the more confrontational stance toward the Soviet Union that ultimately became ascendant during the Reagan Administration:

But if Pipes's politics alienated many in the academy, they won him an attentive audience in Washington, particularly among those convinced, as he was, that the USSR was at once a menacing regime and a vulnerable one. It should not be merely "deterred" or "contained" but defeated in a war of attrition that would pit America's flexible democracy against what Pipes deemed "a rigidly conservative regime that had more in common with the absolutism of a Nicholas I than with the utopian fantasies of 19th-century radicals." The United States should strike where the enemy was weakest -- Russia's decrepit economy, its flagging national morale, its submerged dissident culture.

During the Ford Administration Pipes entered circles that read like a Who's Who of the neocons in today's Administration: Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Perle. Tanenhaus shows how the strategy and experiences of Pipes seem to still be at play among this group in today's War on Terror.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 12:03 PM | Link

 
PELTIER-MUMIA IN '04?

Commiewatch picked up a hint that Leftist pop icons and convicted murderers Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu-Jamal might be the presidential ticket for the Peace & Freedom Party in 2004. Yardley goes on to speculate what this move might mean for the Liliputian parties of the extreme Left. Hey, why not run these guys? It's a natural fit -- murderous ideologies and murderous candidates!

While you are at Commiewatch, be sure to check out Yardley's photos of the recent anti-war protest in San Francisco too.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 4:46 PM | Link

 
STRIPPING LAURELS FROM A STALINIST SHILL

It looks as if Walter Duranty may soon be losing his Pulitzer Prize over his mendacious reporting of the Soviet Union during the 1930s:

A Columbia University history professor hired by The New York Times to make an independent assessment of the coverage of one of its correspondents in the Soviet Union during the 1930's said yesterday that the Pulitzer Prize the reporter received should be rescinded because of his "lack of balance" in covering Stalin's government.

The Times had asked the professor, Mark von Hagen, to examine the coverage of the correspondent, Walter Duranty, after receiving a letter in early July from the Pulitzer Prize Board seeking its comment. In its letter to The Times, the board said it was responding to "a new round of demands" that the prize awarded to Mr. Duranty in 1932 be revoked. The most vocal demands came from Ukrainian-Americans who contended that Mr. Duranty should be punished for failing to report on a famine that killed millions of Ukrainians in 1932 and 1933.

In his report to The Times, Professor von Hagen described the coverage for which Mr. Duranty won the Pulitzer -- his writing in 1931, a year before the onset of the famine -- as a "dull and largely uncritical recitation of Soviet sources."

"That lack of balance and uncritical acceptance of the Soviet self-justification for its cruel and wasteful regime," the professor wrote, "was a disservice to the American readers of The New York Times and the liberal values they subscribe to and to the historical experience of the peoples of the Russian and Soviet empires and their struggle for a better life."

....Craig R. Whitney, who reported for The Times from Moscow from 1977 to 1980, wrote that Mr. Duranty "denied the existence of the famine in his dispatches until it was almost over, despite much evidence to the contrary that was published in his own paper at the time."

The Pulitzer Board is still in the process of rendering its judgment, but this report might give it the push it needs. It's about damned time Duranty loses it, I say. Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the publisher of The Times, seems to see it differently, fretting that

...such an action might evoke the "Stalinist practice to airbrush purged figures out of official records and histories."

Oh, bullshit. The fact that he was awarded the Prize at one time will still be in the history books -- that's hardly Stalinist airbrushing.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 4:37 PM | Link

 
SCANDALS WITHIN SCANDALS?

The CounterRevolutionary has discovered an intriguing possible explanation for the Niger yellowcake papers of Wilson/Plame infamy: Were they forged by disgruntled retired CIA agents?

Just be sure to evaluate this cautiously -- turning into this guy is easier than you might think!

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 5:16 PM | Link

 
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

A short time ago Mrs. Besant, in an interesting essay, announced that there was only one religion in the world... [which] is simply the universal self. It is the doctrine that we are really all one person; that there are no real walls of individuality between man and man. If I may put it so, she does not tell us to love our neighbours; she tells us to be our neighbours. That is Mrs. Besant's thoughtful and suggestive description of the religion in which all men must find themselves in agreement. And I never heard of any suggestion in my life with which I more violently disagree. I want to love my neighbour not because he is I, but precisely because he is not I. I want to adore the world, not as one likes a looking-glass, because it is one's self, but as one loves a woman, because she is entirely different. If souls are separate love is possible. If souls are united love is obviously impossible. A man may be said loosely to love himself, but he can hardly fall in love with himself, or, if he does, it must be a monotonous courtship. If the world is full of real selves, they can be really unselfish selves. But upon Mrs. Besant's principle the whole cosmos is only one enormously selfish person.

It is just here that Buddhism is on the side of modern pantheism and immanence. And it is just here that Christianity is on the side of humanity and liberty and love. Love desires personality; therefore love desires division. It is the instinct of Christianity to be glad that God has broken the universe into little pieces, because they are living pieces. It is her instinct to say "little children love one another" rather than to tell one large person to love himself. This is the intellectual abyss between Buddhism and Christianity; that for the Buddhist or Theosophist personality is the fall of man, for the Christian it is the purpose of God, the whole point of his cosmic idea. The world-soul of the Theosophists asks man to love it only in order that man may throw himself into it. But the divine centre of Christianity actually threw man out of it in order that he might love it. The oriental deity is like a giant who should have lost his leg or hand and be always seeking to find it; but the Christian power is like some giant who in a strange generosity should cut off his right hand, so that it might of its own accord shake hands with him.... No other philosophy makes God actually rejoice in the separation of the universe into living souls. But according to orthodox Christianity this separation between God and man is sacred, because this is eternal. That a man may love God it is necessary that there should be not only a God to be loved, but a man to love him.

--- G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 3:04 PM | Link

 
FROM THE POLITICAL "WELL, DUH" FILES

Writing in Opinion Journal, Daniel Henninger discovers that the Democratic Party is increasingly home for the irreligious:

...religiosity alone almost entirely explains why the "religious right" remains a phrase of political division.

In last fall's Public Interest quarterly, political scientists Louis Bolce and Gerald De Maio of Baruch College at the City University of New York argued in "Our Secularist Democratic Party" that the clearest indicator of party affiliation and voting patterns now is whether one is churched or unchurched, believer or agnostic....

Democratic secularists are defined as agnostics, atheists or people who rarely attend church, if ever. According to the national convention delegate surveys, write Messrs. Bolce and De Maio, "60% of first-time white delegates at the [1992] Democratic convention in New York City either claimed no attachment to religion or displayed the minimal attachment by attending worship services 'a few times a year' or less. About 5% of first-time delegates at the Republican convention in Houston identified themselves as secularists."

In the 1992 election, Bill Clinton got 75% of the secularist vote, while the current President's father received support from traditionalists (churchgoers) by 2 to 1. That pattern held in the 2000 election. "In terms of their size and party loyalty," Messrs. Bolce and De Maio argue, "secularists today are as important to the Democratic party as another key constituency, organized labor."

In turn this single self-definition tracks political belief across the entire battlefield of the culture wars--abortion, sexuality, prayer in the schools, judicial nominations....

All this calls to mind the severe criticism George Bush received early in his presidency when he proposed "faith-based initiatives." The hyper-heated reaction seemed startling at the time, but in retrospect one has to wonder if it didn't indeed reflect that for increasing numbers of the Democratic faithful, the one faith-based initiative they believe in above all today is that they don't believe.

The hard numbers are new, of course, but nothing here should surprise anyone. Knowing the intellectual currents of the last 200 years helps in expecting this, but that is far more than needed to catch on to it -- simply looking around and listening is enough. In the people I encounter and the media I come across, I find irreligiousity correlating overwhelmingly with a Leftist political slant (and vice versa) and no reason to suspect this is not true in general.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 5:19 PM | Link

 
SCHWARTZ ON REFORMING ISLAM

The Atlantic Monthly has an interesting interview with Stephen Schwartz on his book The Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa'ud from Tradition to Terror. The focus is mainly on the role of Wahhabism in Islamic extremism, but along the way Schwartz touches on the topic of reforming Islam with some points that mesh nicely with my past comments on the issue. Schwartz makes the unusual claim that the type of reform Islam needs is not that of the Reformation, but rather the Counter-Reformation:

A Protestant-style Islam would be stripped down, with no spirituality, no sense of Islam as a civilization or a culture, no love of poetry, of mysticism, of religious philosophy, no beautiful mosques. When you look at Protestantism versus Catholicism, or Wahhabism versus traditional Islam, these are the striking parallels. It's a big cliché in the West: "Islam needs a Reformation." No, Islam does not need a [R]eformation. If Islam needs anything comparable to developments in Christian history, it needs a Counter-Reformation. That is, what the Catholics did. You reaffirm faith, you reaffirm tradition, but you adjust the day-to-day functioning of the Church to the realities of a modern society.

Schwartz clearly agrees that there are traditions nurturing of civilization in Islam, and that the key to its future is a return to and a revival of those traditions.

(Via Godspy)

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 1:41 PM | Link

 
COLUMBUS DA PLAYA

Seen newly written underneath the anti-Columbus graffiti I mentioned previously:

But Columbus discovered YO' MAMA!

Not a bad comeback, but not exactly raising the level of discourse either. :)

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 12:39 PM | Link

 
VISIT THE KUNSTBAR

Kunstbar (German for "art bar") is a bizarre little animated romp through art history that's the most creative Web cartoon I've seen in a long time. Don't miss it!

(Via The Leibman Theory)

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 5:25 PM | Link

 
COLUMBUS: NO PIONEER IN SCATOLOGY!

Some Columbus Vilification Day graffiti spotted on campus today:

Columbus didn't discover SHIT!

Absolutely correct, O Brilliant One! Columbus didn't discover shit, he discovered America!

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 7:33 PM | Link

 
WILSON THE UCSB HIPPIE

OK, OK, just one more Joseph Wilson post from me: So one of Mark Steyn's latest is his take on the significance of the Plame/Wilson affair. Steyn sees it as an indictment of the CIA's poor human intel abilities -- a worthy point, but I want to focus instead on this minor passage from the column:

On his own, Wilson comes over like a total flake -- not a sober striped-pants diplomat but a shaggy-maned ideologically driven kook whose hippie-lyric quotes make a lot more sense than his neocon-bashing diatribes for leftie dronefests like the Nation. [Emph. mine]

That's overdoing it a bit, of course, but Steyn's description fueled something that's been on my mind recently: the significance of Joseph Wilson's college years. Wilson is a 1972 graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Assuming that he spent the standard 4 years at our fine institution, the timespan was 1968-1972, the high point of student radicalism. Though today most think of UC Berkeley almost exclusively when considering that phenomenon in California, UCSB gave the Cal campus some stiff competition and became notorious in the minds of other Californians (such as my parents) as perhaps even a worse hotbed for troublemakers. The primary reason occurred right smack in the middle of Wilson's college career: The 1970 Isla Vista Student Riots.

Isla Vista is a sleazy, high-density student slum immediately adjacent to campus. Inhabited by such wryly amusing specimens as these and these, the town boasts all the beer joints and crappy food places one could ever want. Just don't go looking for a bank -- there isn't one, thanks to the Assholes of 1970.

The IV Riots were an extended affair, the full breadth of which you can read about here and see in photos here. The most infamous incident, however, and the reason for the missing bank was what occurred on February 25:

More than 1,000 kids seized a three-block business district in a student neighborhood near the University of California at Santa Barbara [W]ednesday night, Feb. 25, held it from police for six hours, smashed windows, set fire to a police car, and burned a plush Bank of America office to the ground doing more than a quarter of a million dollars damage to the bank alone....

The most spectacular destruction occurred Wednesday night. One thousand demonstrators began pelting sheriff's cars with rocks. At 9:45 p.m. they captured one car, forcing two deputies to flee and then setting the car afire. The flames were 30 feet high. Windows were smashed; the plywood used to board up the Bank of America's windows, smashed the day before, was torn down and set afire; demonstrators then surged into the bank.

An observer said that the group inside "hurled chairs into windows, overturned desks, created snowfalls of envelopes from an upstairs office and tore up anything they could reach." Then some people got a big trashcan, set it on fire, and ran it through the front doors and pushed it against the drappery [sic].

The police were informed that a manager was inside the burning bank. Seventy sheriff's deputies, in full riot gear, were sent to free the manager, but when they arrived they found they had fallen into a trap. There was no manager inside but there were hundreds of students surrounding the cops, throwing rocks.

The police fought their way out and withdrew completely, surrendering the area to the students until 2:15 a.m., when a force of 240 cops returned to clear the streets.

After the police withdrawal, firemen were unable to reach the bank. Some fraternity members tried to put out the fire, but it was ignited again and the whole place was gone in 45 minutes. A few charred beams were all that remained the next morning, bank officials said $275,000 damage was done.

Given this incident and a later attempt to burn down the bank's temporary office, the Bank of America ultimately relocated several miles away. No other bank has ever dared to replace it.

Those who were involved seem rather pleased today with their past mayhem. An example:

WHY WAS THE BANK BURNED?

Langfelder: The B of A was the most convenient symbol of authority. Plus, it was a central building in I.V., yet isolated enough from the rest of town that a fire there wouldn't spread.

de la Rocha: Plus, the Gaucho had been running stories about the role of the Bank in farming industry in California and the tie to pesticides which where harmful to farmworkers, plus the Bank's role in financing the Vietnam War. At the time, A.S. was debating taking their money out of the Bank, too.

Langfelder: There had been several days of throwing rocks at the Bank, but there had been no planning of sabotage; the actual burning of the Bank was a completely spontaneous act. It was after Kunstler's speech in Harder Stadium that day that the crowd's mood changed a lot--they were much more willing to take risks in their challenge.

de la Rocha: It's important to understand that only the Bank and the real estate companies were trashed during that time; the targets were very selective.

See, we weren't just common vandals, but revolutionaries with ideals and strategic planning! Note to any and all who were involved in this: Your actions utterly disgust and sicken me, and show what spoiled, pretentious, narcissistic little brats you were and probably still are.

But I digress.

Back to Wilson. I submit that the events of his college years help to explain why, amid otherwise reasonable statements, he exhibits an anti-conservative animus of a kneejerk variety, and provide another reason for caution when evaluating his claims. Based on my personal experience of him, I doubt that Wilson was in the leadership of the student radicals, or outstandingly extreme during these years for that matter. Given his current-day Leftist views, however, it's unlikely he wasn't significantly shaped by the time. That mentality certainly peeks out of his statements now and then, such as with the hostility expressed in his now-infamous quote:

Neoconservatives and religious conservatives have hijacked this administration, and I consider myself on a personal mission to destroy both.

Hey Joe, I'll let you in on something: It isn't 1970 any more.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 3:39 PM | Link

 
BLOG UPDATE

So you, my last few straggling readers, have no doubt been thinking, "What's up with that Varenius dude? All he's been posting has been, like, one line entries 'n stuff. Where are the way-cool essay thingies he used to do once in a while, man?" Well I'm glad you asked, my hip little surfer buddy. It turns out I'm knee-deep in my dissertation work (as in Piling it high and Deep) this term and thus not very available for dispensing lengthier bits of blogospheric wisdom. So while I still intend to post several times a week, it will be some time before I can do more than brief entries during my breaks.

Coming soon, though: My socialism reading list.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 4:20 PM | Link

 
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE KAY REPORT

The Buggy Professor brings together several sources to explore the true significance of David Kay's Iraqi WMD report.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 5:02 PM | Link

 
THE WORST JOBS IN SCIENCE

Hate your job? Lighten up, it could be much worse! Popular Science brings you a little perspective with its list of The Worst Jobs in Science.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 3:31 PM | Link

 
WILSON'S POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS

It seems we now have some truly concrete evidence to back up the assertions of Joseph Wilson's political bias: Priorities & Frivolities has researched Wison's political contribution history, and, not surprisingly, the majority of his support has gone to Democrats. (And what Democrats!! Teddy Kennedy and Charlie Rangel?! Wilson, I expected better from you than that!)

Neither this nor what I stated in the previous post provides a justification for shrugging off the charges being made, however. No matter how much of a partisan Wilson may be, the facts of the case will stand apart from this. His bias is significant, though, when it comes to evaluating the trustworthiness of his own statements about the issue.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 5:18 PM | Link

 
THE PLAME/WILSON AFFAIR

Now that the story of the blown cover of Valerie Plame, wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, has been getting major airplay in the mainstream media (examples here and here) a widespread blogospheric eruption on the topic has broken out, in contrast to its formerly limited coverage by a few bloggers such as CalPundit. InstaPundit offers the best roundup of big blog coverage of the issue.

This topic is of particular interest to me because Wilson came to my campus twice to give Iraq-related speeches earlier this year, of which I wrote general summaries here and here. Although much of what I heard from Wilson does bolster his credibility, I do not consider it to be as impeccable as Donald Sensing appears to. Several aspects of his first presentation were suggestive of strong partisan tendencies:

• Wilson demonstrated obvious anti-Republican sentiments (i.e. of a partisan variety) at several points and indulged in some sneering cheap shots from time to time.
  


• He made at least one negative comment related to Karl Rove, showing an obvious animosity toward him.
  


• He accepts a version of the neoconservative conspiracy idea.
  


• There was mention of his having worked with the Democratic National Committee in the past.
  

It's significant to note that the majority of this came out during the following day's much more informal question-and-answer session, where Wilson dropped the public speaking persona of the previous night and was much more open, giving what I would consider to be a much clearer glimpse of the "real Wilson". Moreover, on his second visit to campus (a few months later) the spirit of his speech was much closer to that of the Q-and-A session than to that of the first speech, losing much of the judicious and evenhanded tone that tended to characterize the earlier one.

My purpose here is not to paint Wilson as some sort of extremist ideologue bent on a vendetta -- he clearly is not. However, I am suggesting that skepticism is warranted regarding the complete purity of his motives. He had an obvious bias against the Bush Administration before this event, and while that animosity is clearly not the sole motive here, it inevitably colors his reaction and should be kept in mind as the story unfolds in the days ahead.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 4:59 PM | Link

 
TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL

Inspired by Madonna's new self-appointed task of inculcating good values into our nation's children through literature, such moral luminaries as the Marquis de Sade, Hannibal Lector, and Jack Kevorkian have penned their own children's books!

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 1:07 PM | Link

 
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

"Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lieutenant Weinberg?

I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives.

You don't want the truth because, deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall.

We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline.

I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand at post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to."

--- Jack Nicholson as Col. Nathan R. Jessup, A Few Good Men

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 7:22 PM | Link

 
SLAVERY IN THE 21st CENTURY

Winds of Change offers some links and thoughts on the barely-acknowledged evil of present-day slavery.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 4:37 PM | Link

 
WHEN GMO VEGGIES GO BAD

The nightmarish spawn of an evil agro-corp trounces some hapless hippies!

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 4:35 PM | Link

 
CONSPIRACY THEORIES, 1941 & 2001

Front Page has an article exploring the similarities between anti-Bush conspiracy theories and those involving Franklin Roosevelt:

The similarities between today’s conspiracy theories and the conspiracy theories of World War II are nearly identical. In the 1940’s Roosevelt was accused of leading the U.S. into World War II because Jews influenced Roosevelt’s foreign policies. This is the direct antecedent of the Neocon, Zionist conspiracy theory of today. Then, FDR’s alleged Jewish Svengalis included Bernard Baruch, Henry Morgenthau, and Felix Frankfurter. Now, Bush’s supposed Jewish cabal consists of Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, and William Kristol. Then, Charles Lindbergh, Father Coughlin and Gerald L.K. Smith were among the chief advocates of the Jewish cabal theory; now, Pat Buchanan, Georgie Anne Geyer, and Ted Kennedy are its principle proponents....

The Zionist Neocon conspiracy theory is not the only one borrowed from WWII. Another present day conspiracy theory recycled from World War II is that the real purpose of the Iraq war is to enrich the American plutocracy or provide an economic benefit. Groups like the Workers World Party (WWP) say the war is a conspiracy by American oil companies to annex Iraqi oil. FDR’s critics said that Hitler’s economic revolution endangered the world economic hegemony of London and New York – and that is why Hitler needed to be destroyed. For those who found that too convoluted, there was a more convenient explanation. They were told that FDR needed WWII to end the Depression.

There's nothing new under the conspiratorial sun.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 11:47 AM | Link

 
SCANDINAVIANS BECOMING CAPITALIST ROADERS?

The American Enterprise has an interesting article on Scandinavia's Surprising Turn From Socialism.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 4:54 PM | Link

 
NEW BLOGS FROM ADAM & JONAH

Some new forays into the Blogosphere: Genesis X by some really old guy named Adam, and InstaProphet by Jonah son of Amittai.

(The Curt Jester has been on quite a creative roll lately!)

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 4:25 PM | Link

 
VARENIUS UNSEATS DUKAKIS!

Returning from my vacation on a flight from Boston to Denver, whom should I run into but Michael Dukakis, former governor of Massachusetts and 1988 presidential candidate, and his wife Kitty! And man oh man, is Kitty ever pissed! Why? Well, the stewardess did a little seat rearranging, and it turns out that Varenius and his friend are now occupying the Dukakis' former seats. While things are being straightened out, Kitty stands fuming, clearly thinking, "How dare they do this! Don't they know who we are??" Meanwhile, Michael stands by her side, patting her shoulder in a "There, there, honey, things will be all right" gesture.

Varenius, quite naturally, sits back snickering over this display of self-important elitism by supposed liberals.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 2:11 PM | Link

 
ON VACATION

Back after mid-month.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 9:27 PM | Link

 
THE LAST PROPHET

Ian Hunter takes a look at the increasingly forgotten anti-Communist hero Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 2:05 PM | Link

 
MICHAEL MOORE, CON ARTIST

Speaking of propaganda, here's a great site outlining the falsehoods and distortions in Michael Moore's film Bowling for Columbine.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 1:45 PM | Link

 
MODERN EDUCATION & PROPAGANDA

Cella's Review has an extended essay on the question of whether modern education makes one more susceptible to propaganda. An excerpt:

Resistance to propaganda consists in that sophistication of the intellect which allows one to develop in one’s mind a mental picture which inoculates by providing an alternative.... The antidote to untruth is not skeptical disbelief, a purely negative impulse, but the affirmation of truth, an act of positive vigor.

Modern education provides only the negative impulse, the impulse to distrust, an unfledged cynicism full of bluster but empty of real substance. This impulse is as treacherous as it sounds, and cunning propaganda will readily conquer it; for the skepticism inculcated by modern education will rarely include a distrust of one’s own emotions, the doctrine of original sin having been discarded....

...[I]magination, or the cultivation of the rightly-ordered intellect, not skepticism, is the only effective treatment against propaganda. Modern education teaches an ersatz method of treatment, by encouraging students to distrust, not merely the chaff of propaganda, but everything of the wheat, including the grain.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 1:16 PM | Link

 
O'SCANNLAIN ON THE "LIVING CONSTITUTION"

Judge Diarmiud F. O'Scannlain of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals gives his thoughts on reinterpreting the Constitution via judicial fiat.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 12:54 PM | Link

 
WEIRDO ROOMMATE CONSPIRACY THEORY NO. 1
"Bush and Bin Laden Have a Joint Bank Account"

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I am currently blessed with a conspiracy theorist for a roommate. He's a nice guy--I certainly can't say otherwise--but he ascribes to some of the screwiest crackpot ideas I've ever encountered. Even though I have no illusions about the likelihood of my changing his mind, I have been doing some limited research here and there into his claims, if for no other reason than to confirm that my bullshit sensor is calibrated correctly. I will be occasionally posting my findings here for your amusement and information. Here's the first one:

Claim: President George Bush and Osama bin Laden have a joint bank account, created some time before 9/11.

Answer: The source of this was a little difficult to track down. I suspect the claim's been altered and simplified as it's been passed around. The closest match I was able to find was in an article originally appearing in The Economist and now archived on various websites such as this one. The article is is a review of a book on the Carlyle Group, a sometimes-questionable international investment firm. While the reviewer seems to take a somewhat skeptical view of conspiratorial claims about the Group, he explores the factors that could lead to such claims. The following paragraph is what tipped me off to the likely connection to WRCT #1:

On the day Osama bin Laden's men attacked America, Shafiq bin Laden, described as an estranged brother of the terrorist, was at an investment conference in Washington, DC, along with two people who are close to President George Bush: his father, the first President Bush, and James Baker, the former secretary of state who masterminded the legal campaign that secured Dubya's move to the White House. The conference was hosted by the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm that manages billions of dollars, including, at the time, some bin Laden family wealth. It also employs Messrs Bush and Baker.

Not exactly what WRCT #1 claims, but it does include some basic building blocks that could lead to it: a Bush and a bin Laden connected in a financial structure. Pass that around through some credulous and intellectually careless hands and you can easily get WRCT #1.

Spirited Back to Saudi?

I was a little dismayed to find this article portraying as fact the following bogus claim that has been helping to fuel some of these conspiracy theories:

In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, when no one was being allowed in or out of the United States, many members of the bin Laden family in America were spirited home to Saudi Arabia.

This is a false rumor, originally put out by none other than His Enormity Michael Moore! You can get the true story behind it here.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 1:12 PM | Link

 
DISMANTLING THE DA VINCI CODE

Sandra Miesel, a comments box regular over at Mark Shea's blog, has put together a thorough refutation of the claims in the esoteric conspiracy novel The Da Vinci Code. (It's the typical "true feminine-worshipping Gnostic teachings of Jesus suppressed by evil Vatican but kept alive by Templars/Masons/etc." type of thing.) The notions she discusses are all too familiar to me since my current roommate is just wild about all this sort of nonsense, be it religious or political... It certainly keeps things interesting around my apartment!

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 3:07 PM | Link

 
THE U.N. THREAT TO POST-WAR IRAQ, PART 4

Continuing a theme here at Anti-Socialist Tendencies from last Spring, the peerless Mark Steyn explains why, in light of the Canal Hotel bombing, the U.N. should not take on a bigger role in Iraq: Leave It to America. Here's an absolutely priceless quote:

The Canal Hotel turned out to be a perfect microcosm of the UN: a group of naive internationalists refusing to take the murkier characters prowling the corridors at face value and concerned only to keep the US at arm’s length.

Not so different from today's Left!

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 12:54 PM | Link

 
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

In the field of politics the equivalent of a theorem is a perfectly disciplined army; of a sonnet or picture, a police state under a dictatorship. The Marxist calls himself scientific and to this claim the Fascist adds another: he is the poet--the scientific poet--of a new mythology. Both are justified in their pretensions; for each applies to human situations the procedures which have proved effective in the laboratory and the ivory tower. They simplify, they abstract, they eliminate all that, for their purposes, is irrelevant and ignore whatever they choose to regard an inessential; they impose a style, they compel the facts to verify a favorite hypothesis, they consign to the waste paper basket all that, to their mind, falls short of perfection...the dream of Order begets tyranny, the dream of Beauty, monsters and violence.

--- Aldous Huxley, Ape and Essence

(Via Photon Courier)

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 9:02 PM | Link

 
MORE COMMIE NOSTALGIA IN GERMANY

Continuing a trend I've commented on previously, a widespread nostalgia in Germany for the communist-era East (Ostalgie, meaning "East-stalgia") has spawned a line of TV shows celebrating the happy side of living under the old regime. Not surprisingly, not everyone is amused:

A batch of films, TV shows and series is cashing in on a wave of popular sentiment for the East German Communist era, and nearly all have avoided painful subjects such as the infamous Berlin Wall.

The programme's uncritical stance has angered those who suffered under Communism. Former dissidents who have studied East German Stasi secret police files say the shows are an insult to the more than 1,000 East Germans shot dead trying to escape to the West.

Walter Momper, Berlin's mayor during the fall of the Wall 14 years ago, has derided the programmes for making the former East German regime appear harmless. Erich Loest, an eastern German writer, said the producers of one nostalgia show should be sacked for their uncritical portrayal of a totalitarian era.

As you can easily guess, I am angered by these shows too, especially since I have relatives and loved ones who suffered under the East German regime. However, knowing these people also helps me understand the following sentiments:

German television has leapt to the defence of its Ostalgie output. Hans-Hermann Tiedje, the producer of a nostalgia programme on ZDF television, said: "Almost everything has been said about the totalitarian nature of East Germany, its indescribable Communist regime and its crazy secret police system. People want to remember how the East Germans coped with everyday life. It wasn't all bad. In fact, it was quite the opposite."....

Eastern German intellectuals and politicians have vied to offer explanations for the Ostalgie boom. Stefan Liebich, an eastern German who is head of the reform Communist party for Democratic Socialism in Berlin, said: "Life in East Germany has been demonised and dramatised so much that the nostalgia wave appears an almost natural reaction."

Leander Haussmann, director of the Ostalgie film Sonnenalle, said: "The East German system was dreadful and I hated it. But people don't want to be permanently reminded of the bad things. When they die, they want to look back on a happy life. They look for the right life in what was essentially the wrong one."

It's easy to forget that a decent, if deprived and limited, life is possible under totalitarianism for ordinary people. Everyday life still goes on, and despite the system some humanity will always seep up through the cracks, even if it be little more than camaraderie in shared suffering. There is no fault in ordinary East Germans wanting to remember the good things rather than seeing the era as nothing but darkness, so long as the darkness that was present is not forgotten.


posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 8:23 PM | Link

 
PONTIFEX ON GUN ERADICATION

Pontifex Ex Machina explains why a total gun ban would not be feasible.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 7:58 PM | Link

 
SOCIALISM JOKE

Q: What is the difference between a scientist and a socialist?

A: A scientist tries it out on mice first.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 9:19 PM | Link

 
FORECASTING LOCATIONS OF CRIME

In the latest issue of Wired there's a short piece on a project to develop methods of forecasting where criminal activity is likely to occur. The researchers dumped a database of criminal activity into a Geographic Information System [1] and developed a predictive model similar to those used in market analysis by businesses. The system yielded predictions of future crime locations at the police beat level with 80% accuracy .

The system does have some limitations, however:

So when's the criminologist going to show up on your local newscast to give tomorrow's felony count? It may be a while - there are still a few kinks to work out. For starters, even the latest crime-prediction models are accurate only on a month-to-month basis, not day to day. Plus, they're relatively low-resolution, being correct only within a 100-square-block area. Finally, presaging crime is actually a lot harder than mapping rain showers, because crime forecasters - unlike meteorologists - must account for the effects of their own reports. Think about it: A forecast is made, action is taken, and wrongdoing is averted, along with the very trends and statistical indicators needed to make the predictions in the first place.

...and in general this thing is being a little overhyped (as is sadly typical for a Wired piece). These types of software tools help to systematize analysis that otherwise would be only semiformal and partial as well as provide great visualization techniques, and to that extent are indeed useful, but it's very unlikely that they will ever provide something that's equivalent to precognition. The parallel to weather forecasting is quite appropriate: We can get very useful general predictions about crime this way -- ones that indeed help in our decisionmaking -- but will not be able to exactly and exhaustively pinpoint every individual instance over small increments of time.


[1] That's not what the author calls it, but it's obviously what they're using.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 4:19 PM | Link

 
SOME FUN STUFF

In recognition of the arrival of Friday, here are some entertaining sites for you. The Hall of Technical Documentation Weirdness showcases various amusing oddities from product instruction manuals. Be sure to check out the translated-while-tripping-on-acid installation instructions for the Dragonball Z flyer! And for you pedantic spoilsports who love to ruin your friends' simple enjoyment of movies, there's Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics. I found the discussion of dragon physics pretty funny.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 3:31 PM | Link

 
TRACES OF COMMUNISTS PAST

Some reminders of communists of yesterday surfaced on the Web this week. The diary of Georgi Dimitrov, first prime minister of communist Bulgaria, has recently been published. Before coming to power he was a close associate of Stalin, and the diary provides further insight into the world of nervous sycophants and toadies surrounding the notorious Soviet dictator.

Another article discusses the life and research of Nora Volkow, great-granddaughter of Leon Trotsky. Unlike her famous ancestor, Volkow is not involved in politics, instead having a career as a medical researcher at the National Institute on Drug Abuse here in the US. In addition to covering her groundbreaking work on drug addiction, the article gives us a fascinating exploration of life in the Trotsky household in Mexico City after his assassination by a Soviet agent in 1940.

On a lighter note, check out the plaque on this Soviet statue of Lenin currently residing in Dallas, Texas. I find it strangely appealing that he is now surrounded by tacky roadside Americana!

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 1:43 PM | Link

 
VIDEO KILLED THE OLD DDR **

OxBlog has an interesting post on actions by West Germany and Austria that helped bring down the East German government and by extension the rest of the Eastern Bloc. What were they? West German TV broadcasts, and Hungary opening its border with Austria.

I find this especially fascinating since it is exactly how someone very, very dear to me made it out of East Germany, even down to the preliminary detour through Czechoslovakia.


** For those of you too young to catch the silly reference, you can be enlightened here.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 12:48 PM | Link

 
NORWEGIAN BLOGGER ON EUROPE'S PENDING NON-DOOM

I can happily report that the Norwegian Blogger has now returned from his extended blog holiday. Welcome back, Vegard! He picks up the keyboard once again to explain how predictions of Europe's imminent demise are overblown, both in terms of runaway socialism and the growth of the EU as well as Muslim immigration. There is also the latest adventure of Wally and the gang for your anti-idiotarian amusement.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 5:08 PM | Link

 
DON'T BANK ON CD-Rs

A friend of mine passed along this cautionary article about the rapid deterioration of many brands of CD-recordable disks. It's definitely something to keep in mind if, like myself, you rely on them for archiving large datasets.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 12:20 PM | Link

 
THE SOVIET VIEW OF ISRAEL

The CounterRevolutionary has discovered a Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary from the 1950s and provides us with a translation of the entry on Israel. The parallels between it and today's anti-Israel attitudes are interesting to note.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 1:31 PM | Link

 
NEW DIET COLA DEBUTS

Enjoy new Diet Catholicism®, a theological taste sensation for the Me Generation! Now 100% dogma-free!

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 1:08 PM | Link

 
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

They constantly try to escape
From the darkness outside and within
By dreaming of systems so perfect
That no one will need to be good.
But the man that is will shadow
The man that pretends to be.

--- T.S. Eliot, The Rock

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 4:34 PM | Link

 
BURKE QUOTES & THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY RETURNS

Hey folks, just a quick entry to let you know I'm still alive. All my time has been getting sucked into georectifying some datasets that refuse to go into the correct projections. But I'm doing fine... or would be except for THOSE @#!$*% DATASETS! WHAT THE HELL IS WRO...

Uh, heh heh...

No, no, I'm fine. Really. Heh.

Anyway, Chicago Boyz has a list of insightful quotes from Edmund Burke, who is probably my favorite political philosopher. Also, long-time favorite The CounterRevolutionary is back to regular blogging after his summer break, so definitely drop in and pay him a visit.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 1:42 PM | Link

 
SOCIALIST EUGENICS

Though few can countenance a consideration of eugenics in today's post-Holocaust world, for many "progressives" in the first half of the 20th century eugenics was part and parcel of their ideology. This eugenics movement grew out of several interrelated streams of thought: overt racism/elitism, a fetish for "rationalizing" every aspect of society, and the desire to hasten the arrival of socialist utopia. The first stream consisted of those wishing to reduce the population of "undesirable peoples," whether they be non-white races or despised groups within society, in order to protect and foster either the white race as a whole or the elites of the Western nations. Falling into this category were such still-vaunted figures as birth-control advocate Margaret Sanger, who drew up ambitious plans for the sterilization and segregation of undesirables.

The social engineering spirit of Sanger's "Plan For Peace" also embodies the second stream feeding into the eugenics movement, those wishing to "rationalize" more and more aspects of society along "scientific" principles, including the reproduction of the population. Dissecting Leftism points out Bertrand Russell as an exemplar of this group. The combination of a rage for order with a boundless faith in the capabilities of Science led Russell and his ilk to dream of a "scientifically" based program to increased desired stocks in the population. [1] No longer would humanity be subject to the chaos of wild breeding -- the Scientist would step in and guide the process, nurturing here and pruning there, refining each generation more and more into the desired ideal.

Talk of a New Man and the broad-scale "scientific" management of society brings us to the third stream feeding into the eugenics movement, socialism. As Fightin' with Grabes documents, long before the rise of Fascism socialist thought included a good share of racism. This perhaps grew out of the application to racial categories of the historical-materialist conception of a progressive vanguard versus surrounding retrograde forces, with the European peoples' advanced state proving that they were history's chosen. [2] The "less-developed" races getting an upper hand would therefore be a setback for the socialist dream and must be prevented. Eugenics provided the tool for this, and fit in nicely given the frequent conflation of socialism and "science" in the minds of Western intellectuals. They soon discovered, however, that the gun and the gas chamber in their crude efficiency are a little more handy for utopians in a hurry.



[1] Since the would-be controllers just happened to have the superior genes and would therefore have to engage in their widespread, uh, dissemination, one has to wonder whether this was really all about juvenile fantasies of nerdy stud farms!

[2] If true, it's interesting to note that this is a reverse image of contemporary Marxism's take on the First versus Third World, embodied most blatantly in international Maoism, in which now the Third World is the vanguard.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 1:40 PM | Link

 
MORE ON ALLENDE & PINOCHET

Conservative Commentary brings together and adds to discussion of Pinochet's coup in Chile. It's a nice little addition to last month's Allende discussions initiated by Val's masterful post.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 3:48 PM | Link

 
THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

I believe what really happens in history is this: the old man is always wrong; and the young people are always wrong about what is wrong with him. The practical form it takes is this: that, while the old man may stand by some stupid custom, the young man always attacks it with some theory that turns out to be equally stupid.

--- G. K. Chesterton, Illustrated London News, 6-3-22


Do not enjoy yourself. Enjoy dances and theaters and joy-rides and champagne and oysters; enjoy jazz and cocktails and night-clubs if you can enjoy nothing better; enjoy bigamy and burglary and any crime in the calendar, in preference to the other alternative; but never learn to enjoy yourself.

--- G. K. Chesterton, The Common Man

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 7:11 PM | Link

 
"MAOIST PEOPLE'S WAR" IN NEPAL

Among the many developing nations of the world plagued by communist insurgencies is the mountain kingdom of Nepal. Since 1996 the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has been fighting to overthrow the nation's fledgling constitutional monarchy, with the support of various international communist groups. The conflict seems to not be registering very strongly on international radar screens, but as Steven C. Baker reports, that needs to change:

The insurgency may seem inconsequential in light of other world events, but its significance is noteworthy. As Richard Fisher, Asian Security Studies Fellow at the Center for Security Policy told me recently, "The larger context for the U.S. is the ongoing contest for pre-eminence in the Eurasian land mass. Events from NE Asia, SE Asia, South Asia to the Middle East will be determined by who is the prime power in Central Asia. Nepal is one of many sideshows." The real contest is between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and India. Should Nepal become a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist state led by the ignoble Comrade Prachanda, it is likely to result in two things:

First, Prachanda himself declared during a May 2001 interview that he hoped that Nepal could be used "as a base area of world revolution, internationalist in content and national in form".... Consequently, a win for the Maoists would place Nepal in the pro-PRC camp and offer a proxy through which like-minded governments and individuals may influence events in the region and affect the balance of power internationally....

Second, it does not require a leap of faith to imagine an anti-American regime such as Prachanda’s working with its internationalist brethren in the United States and abroad to attack U.S. interests worldwide. It is also conceivable that the totalitarian nature of a Prachanda regime will eventually find common cause with virulently anti-U.S. elements in the Islamic world.

Read the full article for the complete analysis, as well as more background on the CPN(M) and its ties to international communism.


posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 5:02 PM | Link

 
MORE ON THE "ATHANASIAN DARK AGES"

In my previous post on the reformability of Islam, I asked readers for their guesses as to why Imad A. Ahmad seems to blame "the establishment of Athanasian Christianity" for the Dark Ages. William Luse of Apologia writes in to say:

It may simply be his religious and cultural prejudice showing forth. The Arian heresy was Eastern in origin, and its tenets required the de-divinization of Christ. I think Westerners underestimate the degree of offense the Holy Trinity presents to most Muslims. It used to be that our theologians had the courage to call Mohammed what he was - a false prophet - and to remind us that the essence of his mission was to claim that Christ was no more than that, a prophet, and less of one than he. Athanasius' victory, because it took so long to accomplish, was eventually seen as a triumph of the West, of Europe, over the East, an enmity continued through the Crusades. The Dark Ages were enforced upon the West by the onslaughts of barbarians and later of Islam itself. The truth is the opposite of Ahmad's claim: Athanasius saved the West (and, to a lesser degree, the East). You may be right that Islam is capable of reform and of reviving a once sophisticated culture. I don't know. We just need to remember that they acquired the leisure to do so over the bodies of many Christians.

Thanks for expanding the picture a bit, Bill. I was thinking of Athanasius' offense to Islam as simply the issue of Trinity versus Unity, but of course that carries with it the issue of the nature of Christ. Basically we're seeing here the Muslim idea that Christianity began as at least a proto-Islam -- if not full Islam -- until its original message was distorted along the way. Apparently Ahmad would fix this turning point with Athanasius, which makes sense since his defeat of Arianism spelled the end of views of Christ as non-divine having any sort of significance in Christianity.

Looking over Ahmad's statement once more, I find it interesting that he seems to equate modernity and Islam:

Protestantism was part of the transition out of the Dark Ages and into modernity. It was Islam itself that had the same effect on the Arab world, which had been in an age of ignorance.

... implying that something's "modernity" is a function of its "Islamicity." If that's true, I'd be interested to know what he makes of the fact that the West has pulled ahead politically and technologically despite the Ummah's 800-year lead in coming out of a state of apparently equal backwardness.

"Seven American Nights"

Thinking about this has reminded me about a neat little science-fiction novella by Gene Wolfe entitled "Seven American Nights", which can be found in his anthology The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories. It takes place in a future America where our country has collapsed due to some sort of technologically-induced ecological catastrophe, making it a global backwater and apparently pulling the rest of the West down with it. Left untouched due to its lesser development has been the Muslim world, which fills the vacuum and leaps into a second Golden Age. The story follows the journey of a visitor from this resurrected Caliphate through our strange and barbarous land. What makes the story so memorable is Wolfe's skill at capturing the feel of a medieval travel journal -- it's the sort of thing one can easily imagine coming from a figure like Ibn Battuta. Well worth checking out.

Speaking of The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories, an online review of it caught my eye, which starts off with this:

Gene Wolfe is not an author for the meek. If he drives like he writes, he probably waits until he gets up to highway speed and then boots his passengers out the door. Mr. Wolfe seems to think his readers are getting some sort of existential experience here; in actuality, he's having the experience and his readers are winding up in body casts.

If a passage like that doesn't pique your curiosity, I don't know what will!

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 12:16 PM | Link

 
CLEARING THE MUDDY WATERS OF GAY MARRIAGE

There are certain topics I strive to avoid in my blogging: long-standing hot-button issues that are fueled mainly by emotion on both sides, and about which truly substantive debate is hard to come by. Unless I'm sure I can provide part of the latter, I just don't see the point.

Gay marriage is certainly one of these incendiary topics, and thus far I've decided to remain silent on it despite its current prominence in the blogosphere. I've decided to break my blogging silence on this, however, because I keep seeing muddled thinking on the subject everywhere, which ultimately serves only the interests of ideologues. Although what I write here will come mainly at the expense of its supporters, keep in mind that accepting these clarifications does not entail having to reject gay marriage -- they simply serve to clarify exactly what is being considered.

Equal Access Vs. Redefinition

The first example of fuzzy thinking deals with the nature of gay marriage vis a vis traditional marriage. Both sides in the debate seem to visualize the issue as a matter of the denial of access of homosexuals to traditional marriage. In a sense, this is an uncritical application of the template of historical civil rights arguments: a clearly defined subgroup is denied equal access to something which is open to citizens at large. This is an entirely wrong model. The simple fact is that homosexuals already have complete, unfettered access to marriage: any gay man is entirely free to marry a woman, and any lesbian is entirely free to marry a man. Allowing gay marriage should be seen instead as either a redefinition of or an addition to traditional marriage. It is either the creation of a second type of marriage alongside the traditional one, or a redefinition of traditional marriage from the union of two adults of opposite sex to the union of two adults of whatever sex. Which of these two models one adopts is not important -- the outcome is the same in either case -- but both are a far more accurate description than the misused civil rights template.

I suspect this recasting will not be eagerly adopted by gay marriage proponents, since at least over the short term the muddled visualization is more tactically useful through its drawing on accepted civil rights rhetoric. There is no legitimate reason, however, why one must automatically reject gay marriage when accepting this clarified model. Acknowledging that it is a redefinition of marriage ultimately says nothing about whether or not it should occur.

On Arbitrary Limits

The second example of fuzzy thinking deals with the casual dismissals of the "then we'll have polygamous/incestuous/bestial unions too!" type of argument. Regardless of how ridiculously these arguments might be delivered, their point is legitimate and disregarding them will in the end only be to the detriment of gay marriage supporters. The issue, after all, lies at the heart of the most common argument for gay marriage. This is essentially the claim that the requirement of couples to be of opposite sex is an arbitrary one resulting more from traditional prejudices then any substantive rationale, and thus must be removed. This may get them what they want, but by employing it proponents will have set in motion a relentless logic that threatens almost any limitation on marriage. If a limitation on the sex of the couple is "arbitrary," how less arbitrary is a limitation on the number of people involved? (Go on, find a good justification of limiting it to 2 people using their logic, I challenge you.) It's an easy exercise to continue on in this vein ad absurdum. Proponents may not bother to think beyond their issue, or perhaps have but don't personally care if the limits keep getting pushed like this. Regardless, many who must be won over have thought about it and are concerned. To be assured success, proponents must take this head on and come up with a justification for why limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples is arbitrary, but limiting it to two non-incestuously related adults is not.

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 6:20 PM | Link

 
TOWARD A REFORMED ISLAM

Again and again in the blogosphere I come across claims that Islam is unreformable, that it is inherently bloody-minded and destructive of civilization and can never be anything more. (This often crops up in the comments section of Little Green Footballs, for example.) If there is an awareness of the difference between Islam and Islamism it seems to be considered a meaningless distinction.

Well, Varenius ain't buying it.

The Islamic Golden Age would never have happened were Islam poisonous to civilization. Yes, I know Muslims (understandably) and anti-Western Westerners (despicably) overinflate its achievements. But exaggerated or not, achievements there were, and these would not have come about if Islam did not have something enriching to, or at least protective of, culture in it. Likewise, even if we take into consideration the fact that many of these were achieved by non-Arab and non-Muslim subjects rather than their Arabic overlords, this still testifies to the valuing of these positive cultural traits in the Islamic milieu. Thus to say there is nothing upon which Muslims can draw from their tradition to help in setting up societies more nurturing of civilization is groundless.

The same case can be made in the purely theological realm. Yes, there is much negative religious material in the inheritance of today's Islam. Given the faith's bloody birth and equally violent expansion combined with the frequently explicit scriptural justification for this barbarism, Islam has a far more challenging obstacle to overcome than either Judaism and Christianity (or any other major religion) has faced in dealing with their dark patches. Although their histories and scriptures have fewer reprehensible things to deal with, the fact that its fellow Abrahamic faiths have successfully done so gives one hope that Islam can do the same. If I, a non-Muslim, have been able to quickly sketch possible answers to problematic Qu'ranic verses off the cuff, then surely earnest Muslim theologians who have immersed themselves in the offerings of centuries of Muslim thinkers can work out substantive and robust ones. Here too, I see no reason to think that Islam cannot be reformed in a more positive direction.

What has occasioned my thoughts is a remarkable piece in Reason entitled Revealed Libertarianism. It's an interview with Imad A. Ahmad, president and director of Minaret of Freedom, a Muslim organization dedicated to promoting "Libertarianism" as an expression of Islamic values. (I think "classical liberalism" is a better description, since the ideas involved are not narrowly libertarian.) Ahmad states that free-market capitalism and Western-style civil rights are not only compatible with Islam, but are in fact fully supported by it. I cannot judge how valid this position is, but simply that one like it is being voiced and specifically backed up with Islam is very heartening. As more of these alternative visions of Islam come forth and spread, the birth of a reformed and revitalized Islam inhospitable to destructive traits becomes ever more likely.

Athanasius: Architect of the Dark Ages?

In the course of the interview, Ahmad makes this curious statement:

If you look at western history, the establishment of Athanasian Christianity in Europe coincided with the advent of the Dark Ages. Protestantism was part of the transition out of the Dark Ages and into modernity. It was Islam itself that had the same effect on the Arab world, which had been in an age of ignorance.

More than one criticism could easily be made of this, but what has me scratching my head is his singling out of Athanasian Christianity as the apparent instigator of the "Dark Ages." Why Athanasius' ideas??? I'm at a loss here. The only possibility that occurs to me is that it has to do with the Athanasian defense of the Trinity, which Ahmad perhaps sees as a "pagan" takeover of what was before a basically "Islamic" Christianity (though this would not explain why Protestantism was an escape from "ignorance" considering that most Protestants affirm the Trinity).

Any ideas, readers?

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 8:09 PM | Link

 
MARXISM WATCH: BRAZIL

It's time once again to see how our friend President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil is doing. Bill King at Enter Stage Right gives us an update on Lula's fortunes. Lula has thus far managed to continue on his promised prudent course:

Since taking office though, Lula has thankfully not lived up to the expectations of the loony left. Instead he's so far acted, to the surprise of many, with a good deal of moderation and maturity. He has largely continued the economic policies of his predecessor, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, and through his choice of ministers as well as his moderate statements he has restored the confidence of international investors in Brazilian markets. To a certain degree, Lula has even served as a moderating influence on Venezuela's Chavez, and has begun cooperating with Colombia's Alvaro Uribe in attempts to curb the expansionist terrorism of that country's main guerrilla outfit, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

But trouble is brewing over President da Silva's continuing attempts to reform the country's lavish public pension system. In a situation parallel to similar attempts going on in France, opposition to reforms by its beneficiaries threatens to be a political death-dealer, and is creating the potential for internecine fighting within the President's party:

The main opposition to Lula's plan for pension reform has come from individuals on the left-wing of the PT [Workers Party, of which da Silva is part], public sector unions, and from the largest of the many Trotskyist groups in Brazil, the Unified Socialist Workers Party (PSTU).... Inside the PT, the tension is mounting. Four representatives from the party's left-wing, including a senator and three from congress, have balked at backing the proposed pension reform as well as virtually every other step taken by the new government.

King concludes that Lula's administration may be at a turning point:

The next few weeks will be crucial for Brazil. If Lula can succeed in the difficult task of isolating and defeating the radicals, and maintaining and implementing his reform agenda, then things could actually begin to look up for a country that has incredible potential. But if the rising tensions inside the ruling party explode into full blown inter-party warfare, and if the far left is successful in aggravating strife among the unions and in the countryside, the result could be a weakened Lula and an increasing paralysis of his government in the face of widespread social conflict. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

(Previous entry in this series)

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 5:03 PM | Link

 
HAPPY (BELATED) BLOGIVERSARY TO ME

Well, I've passed the one-year mark here at Anti-Socialist Tendencies, believe it or not. To commemorate the occasion, here's a flashback to some of my favorite entries spanning the past year:

* ParEcon Doesn't Need Socialism!: Wherein I discuss the importance of butt fortitude in syndicalist economic schemes.

* The X-Files & Spiritual Dilettantes

* Dystopia in One Easy Step: The one human trait that fates all attempts at creating Utopia to end up creating a Hell instead.

* Anti-War Campus Follies: The Ridiculous, the Reasonable, and a Followup.

* The Raelian Cloning Fantasy: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3

* Mortality Makes Meaning?: Does death give an atheist's life meaning?

* Green Party Growth: Voter protest, not endorsement.

* Relativism Merely Scolded: I guess even philosophy profs can be slackers!

And finally:

* RUN, ABDUL! IT'S THOSE SEX-CRAZED EVANGELICALS!


Thanks to all my readers through the past year, regulars and occasional visitors alike!

posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 6:26 PM | Link

 
DEBUNKING THE ALLENDE MYTH

An absolutely outstanding piece on the Leftist myths surrounding the Allende regime in Chile and its overthrow by Pinochet appears over at Val e-diction. Especially noteworthy are its detailing of the dramatically destructive effects of Allende's policies on the Chilean economy and the negligible role of the CIA in the coup against him. I'm thrilled that Val has posted this since I've been wanting to write something like it for months, and he has done a far more masterful job of it than I would have.

Stafford Beer & Allende's Cybernetic Dreams

Some years back, I came across an interesting bit of trivia about Allende in the first edition of Theodore Roszak's The Cult of Information (I don't know if it is in the current edition). Allende had hired British "cyberneticist" Stafford Beer to design a near-real time information system for detailed, systematic monitoring and modeling of the Chilean national economy. According to Roszak it was (ironically) nicknamed the "Liberty Machine." Andrew Pickering [HTML | DOC] describes the project thusly:

Only on one major occasion did Beer have to chance to implement [his concepts] from the ground up -- when he was invited to help design and implement a control system for the entire economy of Chile, under the newly elected Marxist regime led by Salvador Allende. From 1971 to 1973 Beer threw himself into Project Cybersyn as it was called (for 'cybernetic synergy')...

By requisitioning [nationalizing?] telex facilities, a real-time communication network called Cybernet was established, linking much of Chile's industrial base to computers in Santiago. A set of programs called Cyberstride were written to process and filter the incoming data at the System Three level, and another program, CHECO, was written to simulate the overall behaviour of the Chilean economy at the System Four level. The System Four operations room [think Bond villian HQ] was also getting into shape by 1973... This cybernetisation of the Chilean economy was an extremely ambitious project which, alas, never had chance to go into full operation [due to Pinochet's coup].

Another online author claims that "By the time of the CIA sponsored [sic] coup on September 11, 1973, seventy-five per cent of nationalized industry was brought into the system with economic information not more than a day out of date."

Whatever the actual promise of this system, however, one can certainly be forgiven for skepticism regarding its usefulness given the spectacular train-wreck that the regime's approach had already made of Chile's economy.

UPDATE: Catallarchy has some interesting points regarding Allende and Pinochet as well.


posted by Bernhardt Varenius at 1:39 PM | Link