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I do not presume to speak for others, but only for myself:

i believe that it is the duty of every civilized man to uphold and defend his nation and culture when they are threatened, whether from within or from without.

I believe that all men are created equal insofar as all are capable of rational action and thought; i do not believe that this moral equality translates into universal rights of all to everything, or for all men to share all things. Socialism, communism, Fascism, and in short anything which constrains the free market is terribly inefficient, does more harm than good, and should be critiqued with both doctoral theses and with bricks.

I have supreme confidence in the superiority of the West's intellectual and cultural traditions over any and all comers, past and present. with that said, my enthusiasm does not extend to unquestioning adherence to a narrow set of beliefs within our tradition.

AS a conservative, zionist Jew who loves america and wouldn't trade my native country (4 generations in the states) for any other, I fear very much that our culture lacks the strength and the will to assert itself and to survive.

I do not think that some "Great Books" program, or "Shakespeare for the troops", or any other wacky, National endowment for the Arts program can do anything other than harm our culture.

I fear very much that our culture lacks the strength and the will to assert itself and to survive.

I disagree. The jihadists poke a stick in middle America at their own risk. We're the generation/nation that trademarked 'shoot, shovel, and shutup'.

You have to be on one of the coasts. You should travel more. See fly-over America. Call one of us a bad name. See what happens. America is strong. Bring an extra pair of eye-glasses. I always carry a spare set.

'a shalom

/john

Here you go again about the 'West's intellectual and cultural traditions' and 'unquestioning adherence to a narrow set of beliefs within our tradition' without naming a single one of them, and again evading my questions.

There is not one iota of doubt in my mind, that you are here to play games with us, and I am usually given to giving the benefit of the doubt to new posters.

Look Epigone, one thing that we do respect here is honesty. If you were to just openly admit that you are of a contrary political persuasion, and you'd like to engage in a civil debate of values, you'd get a lot farther than you will with this hoked-up 'we all hate intellectuals' bogus line of nonsense. We do have a few liberals who post regularly here. They get away without being banned because they are civil, and everybody knows what they are about. No subterfuge, none of this pretense.

Or aren't liberals capable of that much honesty? Why can't you come over from DU or wherever, and post something like, "Hey, I'm a leftist, I disagree with Freepers on a lot of things, but I would like to have an honest and civil discussion about these things upon which we disagree?"

What's wrong with a little honesty?

Ah yes, you are indeed quite aware and an individual for these times. A true rightist. This is an excellent conversation. I'd love to see this conversation injected into a major political forum such as the 2004 GOP Convention. I can see that both you and I want to reorient the Right back onto a path of growth rather than slower Leftward lurch than the Left, and, take the lead in terms of political development. The rhetorical question which must be answered is, what is our differentiated positive program Vs. the Left?