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What, in the way I don't address him or reference anything he has said? Bit of a stretch, isn't it? The first mention of either by t'other is after I've spoken to quixote's "It's not Islamophobic, it's just Islamofact" analysis, whereupon Saxy devotes this much space to a nearly meaningless and entirely valueless lampoon of something that was not addressed to him.
haus: Actually, it isn't true. It's a convenient lie that allows you to construct a pseudohistorical narrative in which one culture (theirs) is "arrested", its development stopped at some point in the past, and another (ours) has continued on from that point. It's a perfectly natural impulse, but it's absolute cock, and it is fuelled by the sort of ignorance that graciously offers apparently two continents (Ethiopia is not in the Middle East, for future reference) a place at the top table for the bits of its culture we like to eat, listen to, read or or look at - that is, the stuff that serves as an enhancement to the lifestyle of people in the west who believe themselves to be cosmopolitan because they eat take-out and listen to world music. This narrative of progress and arrest is a very useful one, not least because it makes not only a right but a moral duty of bringing to societies all the good things that our mature culture has produced - liberal democracy, the secular state, cut-off jeans - but it also leads to a considerable risk of fallacy.
As a very obbious example, let's take a look at the President of Iran. You may notice that he does not wear a tie. To apply the logic of the progress/arrest narrative, this is because he either does not know what a tie is, or does not yet understand that politicians are supposed to wear them. Is this the case?
yes, that is definitely the case. wearing ties is a sure sign of progression. also cut-off jeans, too. i'd like to add to this list:
- homelessness
- bad singing of national anthems
- the "jennifer aniston" haircut
- that thing that kids do where they tie your shoelaces together
- hockey fights
- believing in the tooth fairy
- teaching creationism as science
- using "nigger" in popular songs
- asbestos
- instant messaging
- meth labs
- bad british dentistry
- paris hilton
- linear forum threads
- family television hour violence
- potholes
those are all things that all and only very advanced societies contain. if a society does not contain those things, it can be considered backwards.
i do appreciate being let in on the secret that ethiopia isnt in the middle east. on the same note, where exactly are the easter islands? i always get confused there, and the holiday is coming up, so i need to be particularly clear where i'm going to find my eggs.
So. I think the bait is rather on the other foot, here, Flowers. |
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