Today's claim that Steve Bannon is a "white supremacist" turns on his praise of a work of speculative fiction, The Camp of the Saints. I have never read this book, so I can neither praise nor condemn it. However, the description and excepts make it sound like it falls squarely within a genre of books that includes some highly celebrated on the Left: The Handmaid's Tale, for example, or 1984, or Brave New World, or Fahrenheit 451.
Each of these includes awful images of a highly undesirable future, for the purpose of criticizing present trends with dangerous conclusions. According to Wikipedia, for whatever that's worth, this piece was written in 1973, and was widely praised by intellectuals at the time of its publication. That it is of lasting interest more than forty years after its original publication suggests there might be something to the book; that it provokes such discomfort among its critics, likewise.
I haven't read it. Perhaps it's awful. Still, what an odd ground for criticism. The quite-Left American Library Association organizes a "Banned Books Week" every year, and maintains a part of its online store devoted to banned and challenged books.
Yet here is the alleged proof of Bannon's evil: "He likes a disapproved book."
A Problem with Chesterton's Fence
In general, I agree with G. K. Chesterton's principle here:
There are a couple of problems here. The first is that, over time, the reason a very useful institution was created may get lost so that no one really knows why it was created or how exactly it is useful, or it may have developed empirically over centuries or millennia to be the best way of doing things but no one ever fully articulated the reasons why. When the modernizer challenges it, the conservative isn't ready with a good explanation, and the modernizer then assumes there isn't one.
Another issue is that Chesterton's statement of his maxim assumes the conservative (i.e., "more intelligent") reformer has the power to stop the modernizer, but that's often not the case. Often in society both put their arguments out there and a bunch of fence-sitters cast the deciding votes.
As a result, some important American institutions have been torn down in part because conservatives seemed unable to adequately explain their purpose. When they tried to preserve them, they seemed tied to dead traditions, stupid, or bigoted. Decades later the negative effects of the destruction become apparent; in hindsight we can see the purposes of those institutions fairly clearly, but we can't go back in time to deliver our now-learned retort.
Some human institutions, like government, are consciously created and we have something like the Federalist Papers that explains them. However, some are not consciously created. They developed empirically, by accumulated experience, over many generations. That's what living tradition is, the accumulated experience and wisdom of a culture.
Wisdom, though, can be ineffable. Sometimes you know something is right, but you cannot intellectualize why. That is the problem in miniature: How can we tell the difference between ineffable wisdom and baloney? It's a difficult problem.
Chesterton's fence is the principle that reforms should not be made until the reasoning behind the existing state of affairs is understood. The quotation is from Chesterton’s 1929 book The Thing: Why I am a Catholic, in the chapter entitled "The Drift from Domesticity": "In the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away." To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: "If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it."
There are a couple of problems here. The first is that, over time, the reason a very useful institution was created may get lost so that no one really knows why it was created or how exactly it is useful, or it may have developed empirically over centuries or millennia to be the best way of doing things but no one ever fully articulated the reasons why. When the modernizer challenges it, the conservative isn't ready with a good explanation, and the modernizer then assumes there isn't one.
Another issue is that Chesterton's statement of his maxim assumes the conservative (i.e., "more intelligent") reformer has the power to stop the modernizer, but that's often not the case. Often in society both put their arguments out there and a bunch of fence-sitters cast the deciding votes.
As a result, some important American institutions have been torn down in part because conservatives seemed unable to adequately explain their purpose. When they tried to preserve them, they seemed tied to dead traditions, stupid, or bigoted. Decades later the negative effects of the destruction become apparent; in hindsight we can see the purposes of those institutions fairly clearly, but we can't go back in time to deliver our now-learned retort.
Some human institutions, like government, are consciously created and we have something like the Federalist Papers that explains them. However, some are not consciously created. They developed empirically, by accumulated experience, over many generations. That's what living tradition is, the accumulated experience and wisdom of a culture.
Wisdom, though, can be ineffable. Sometimes you know something is right, but you cannot intellectualize why. That is the problem in miniature: How can we tell the difference between ineffable wisdom and baloney? It's a difficult problem.
Plato vs. Aristotle
Joel Gehrke gives an interesting review and discussion of Arthur Herman's The Cave and The Light: Plato versus Aristotle and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization over at the Federalist.
I enjoyed the review and the book sounds pretty good, though Gehrke points out some problems with the argument.
Herman sets out to show that the debate between these two thinkers, who lived about 400 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, provides the distinctive, even governing, feature of Western civilization.
“One path – Plato’s path – sees the world through the eyes of the religious mystic as well as the artist,” he writes in The Cave and the Light. “The path of Aristotle, by contrast, observes reality through the sober eyes of science and reveals the power of logic and analysis as tools of human freedom.”
Western civilization depends on both for its vigor, according to Herman. “It’s the constant tension between these two ways of seeing the world – the material versus the spiritual, the practical versus the insightful-intuitive side – it’s the creative tension, like the drawing of a string of a bow, that creates the dynamism that’s been so characteristic of western culture throughout its history,” he said ...
I enjoyed the review and the book sounds pretty good, though Gehrke points out some problems with the argument.
You Might Pack A Separate Sock
I mean, I always carry one pair of extra socks when backpacking just to sleep in. One more additional single sock would not be the end of the world.
Maddow Gets Played
So Donald Trump's 2005 tax returns just 'show up' in one of her people's mailboxes, with no names attached. And she gets all excited, goes to press with it, and -- it just so happens -- team Trump is ready to release the documents themselves that afternoon in order to scoop her. And then she goes over the top, of course, trying to tie this to various conspiracy theories. Then the returns prove mainly that he paid a massive amount of taxes that year, hundreds of times more than the average taxpayer will pay in a lifetime of paying taxes.
I'll bet I know who mailed those tax forms to Maddow's assistant.
And now Trump is immunized against the whole "show us your taxes!" issue.
I'll bet I know who mailed those tax forms to Maddow's assistant.
And now Trump is immunized against the whole "show us your taxes!" issue.
"Are We Raising Racists?"
Since this article appears in the New York Times, I guessed before reading it that the answer was "Yes." It turns out that the answer may be, 'No, but we should be.'
Parents of black and Latino children have long made thoughtful choices about when and how to engage in difficult and nuanced discussions about difference. Studies show that such parents are two to five times more likely than whites to teach their children explicitly about race from very young ages to counter negative social messages and build a strong sense of identity.Is that really what you want me to do? Raise my children to think "explicitly about race" and to have a "strong sense of [racial] identity"? Have you thought this through?
I Certainly Hope This Is True
Attack on the administrative state allegedly planned by Trump's legal team. That might go a long way to restoring the Constitutional order.
The Chieftains
Tonight, at the University of Georgia, the greatest remaining Irish band came to play. They are celebrating their 55th year of playing as a group, which might lead you -- as it did me -- to expect the concert to be a sort of sober greatest-hits affair, suitably slowed down to respect the needs of aging performers.
I was wrong. They were off the chain. In a lifetime of going to concerts, symphonies, and shows, I have never seen their equals.
For the encore, following a standing ovation, they did a Medieval piece from Brittany called "Andro." Dancers who had come to join the concert, just kids from a local school, came out and formed a "snake dance" line with the Chieftains' own dancers. It wound through the audience, pulling in anyone who wanted to join. All these old hippies with beards who had come to see the show joined in, holding hands, dancing up and down. The Chieftains ensemble's performance was joined by the Atlanta Pipe Band, with a sextet of Great Highland Bagpipes paired to military drums, perfectly blended into their work -- apparently without rehersal, as the Chieftains just rolled into town and had a wedding to go to last night.
The whole was a performance of high energy and spirit from first to last. I wish I could recreate any part of it here, but no recorded performance of theirs even implied to me how powerful their live performances really are. What a treat to see them after all these years, and to find them so strong.
I was wrong. They were off the chain. In a lifetime of going to concerts, symphonies, and shows, I have never seen their equals.
For the encore, following a standing ovation, they did a Medieval piece from Brittany called "Andro." Dancers who had come to join the concert, just kids from a local school, came out and formed a "snake dance" line with the Chieftains' own dancers. It wound through the audience, pulling in anyone who wanted to join. All these old hippies with beards who had come to see the show joined in, holding hands, dancing up and down. The Chieftains ensemble's performance was joined by the Atlanta Pipe Band, with a sextet of Great Highland Bagpipes paired to military drums, perfectly blended into their work -- apparently without rehersal, as the Chieftains just rolled into town and had a wedding to go to last night.
The whole was a performance of high energy and spirit from first to last. I wish I could recreate any part of it here, but no recorded performance of theirs even implied to me how powerful their live performances really are. What a treat to see them after all these years, and to find them so strong.
Tenth Amendment Lawsuit
The state of Tennessee is suing over the refugee resettlement program, arguing that it violates the Tenth Amendment.
Given all the areas where the Federal government is manifestly violating the Tenth Amendment, they had to pick this one to test the principle? I suppose one could argue that the Federal government has the power to admit anyone to the United States that it wants to do, but that states can't be required to participate in resettlement programs. Still, this has to be the least clear case for reasserting the Tenth that I can think of given that the Federal government does have a legitimate, outward-looking role to play here.
Given all the areas where the Federal government is manifestly violating the Tenth Amendment, they had to pick this one to test the principle? I suppose one could argue that the Federal government has the power to admit anyone to the United States that it wants to do, but that states can't be required to participate in resettlement programs. Still, this has to be the least clear case for reasserting the Tenth that I can think of given that the Federal government does have a legitimate, outward-looking role to play here.
Are You Kidding Me?
This is the sort of news story that should never get published. Freedom of the press is a cherished value. All the same, publishing the details of a secret unit's training exercises can do no good whatsoever, and might get some fine Americans killed into the bargain.
We Apologize for Providing Your Refuge
A small town in Iowa has forced its high school students to apologize for wearing red, white, and blue attire to a sporting event. "The Valley High School students' USA-themed attire was seen as offensive because some of the rival school's players were from refugee families."
Oh, well, instead let's wear colors to celebrate whatever place was so hellish that you fled halfway around the world to get here.
Oh, well, instead let's wear colors to celebrate whatever place was so hellish that you fled halfway around the world to get here.
Longing for the Klan
The Washington Post would just love it if Southerners would play along with their script by demonstrating a resurgence of racism. This story from Dahlonega -- home of Georgia's military college, North Georgia University, and a place where I have spent many of my days -- shows how much they want this.
They actually did figure out the real story, if you read far enough -- they just put it in paragraph twenty-five.
Then there's this one 84 year old woman, who would like to be even richer than she is, but the town won't go along with her hotel plans. So, here's a way she can pressure the town government. 'Don't like the Klan signs? Well, I can think of a way to convince me to stop approving them.'
I guess that "Town in Georgia Has Two Bad People" wasn't enough of a headline to justify flying somebody down here, though, so they put in 24 paragraphs of 'atmosphere' in front of it, and what looks like another hundred paragraphs of '...and people were really upset' behind it.
But it's not a story, not really. It's just these two very old people, only one of whom actually cares about the Klan in the slightest degree. The other one only cares about herself.
They actually did figure out the real story, if you read far enough -- they just put it in paragraph twenty-five.
By evening, though, people had found out who was really responsible: It was one of their own, an 84-year-old white woman named Roberta Green-Garrett, the owner of the building in question who lives in a brick mansion with four white columns on a hill overlooking the town.That's basically the whole story. There's forever been this one a guy who runs a booth in one of the antique/thrift stores who is a Klan fan -- in addition to ordinary antiques and Confederate flags it used to be you could buy old copies of Song of the South from him, because Disney wouldn't sell them to you any more.
Offering no explanation and declining to speak with reporters, she had told town officials that she had allowed the banner to go up and might try to put it up again. She had been seeking permission to build a hotel on the square, and people speculated that it was all an audacious ploy to embarrass the town into approving her plans.
Then there's this one 84 year old woman, who would like to be even richer than she is, but the town won't go along with her hotel plans. So, here's a way she can pressure the town government. 'Don't like the Klan signs? Well, I can think of a way to convince me to stop approving them.'
I guess that "Town in Georgia Has Two Bad People" wasn't enough of a headline to justify flying somebody down here, though, so they put in 24 paragraphs of 'atmosphere' in front of it, and what looks like another hundred paragraphs of '...and people were really upset' behind it.
But it's not a story, not really. It's just these two very old people, only one of whom actually cares about the Klan in the slightest degree. The other one only cares about herself.
Crusaders
In World War One, a group of Crusaders in chain mail appeared to ask how to join the war. It happened in Georgia, of course.
Say it Ain't So
Another federal judge has scalded the unprofessional conduct of Justice Department lawyers inside the Civil Rights Division.... Now it's unprofessional behavior and bigotry toward the South[.]Why, I can't imagine. Well, frankly, what I can't imagine is them doing anything else.
...
"[T]hey entered these proceedings with arrogance and condescension. One of the Department’s lawyers even exhibited her contempt for Texas and its representatives and her disdain for these proceedings by regularly rolling her eyes at State witnesses’ answers that she did not like, and she amused herself by chewing gum while court was in session.
It was obvious, from the start, that the DoJ attorneys viewed state officials and the legislative majority and their staffs as a bunch of backwoods hayseed bigots who bemoan the abolition of the poll tax and pine for the days of literacy tests and lynchings.
I've Been Chewed Out Before
The Navy punished the SEALs who flew the Trump flag from their Humvee.
According to the documents, the commanding Seals officer directed a teamwide remedial training on safe convoy operations and partisan political activity.Yeah, I've seen that movie.
Jury Rules on Malheur Militia
A jury refused to convict on any Federal charges in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge case last year. This year, on a different set of charges, the jury came to a split decision. The decision is a little strange, but at least one felony conviction came back against each participant -- even though the minor players seem to have gotten off worse than the leaders, and people who plainly did the same things were sometimes convicted and sometimes not.
Njardarheimr
A Viking re-enactment society in Norway is building a Viking village in a truly beautiful setting.
DB: "Black Hawk Down" Reboot
Changes to the original story include adding a number of LGBTQI+ soldiers to the cast who try to make friends with enemy fighters instead of shooting them, while Medal of Honor recipients Master Sgt. Gordon and Sgt. 1st Class Shugart will be played by Chinese actors....I imagine it'll do as well as the Ghostbusters reboot.
Still, the film will include nods to the original film [including] a version of the compelling speech given by the character "Hoot," who explains why he serves in the Army at a time of war.
"When I go back home, people ask me, 'why do you do it, man? Why? Are you some kind of war junkie?'" the character says in the new film. "I just tell them no. War is a terrible thing and nothing good ever comes from violence."
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