Mark Steyn: 'Events' Don't Just Happen

The Jerusalem Post ^ | January 6, 2004 | Mark Steyn

[quidnunc]

One of the most tediously over-venerated bits of political wisdom comes from the late British prime minister Harold MacMillan. It was his characteristically laconic Edwardian response as to what he feared most in the months ahead: "Events, dear boy, events."

It turns up in a gazillion books of quotations and 1,000 Fleet Street columns as if it's some brilliant insight.

It's not. It's an urbane banality. Even events come, so to speak, politically predetermined. If, for example, you have powerful public sector unions, you will be at the mercy of potentially crippling strikes. The quasi-Eastern European Britain of the 1970s was brought to a halt by a miners' strike in a way that would have been impossible in the United States.

A strike, of course, is man-made. But the best test of the political character of "events" is supposedly natural phenomena.

Six years ago this week an ice storm devastated my corner of the Eastern Seaboard. On the Vermont/New Hampshire side of the border folks were without power for a couple of days. On the Quebec side of the border some were without power for the best part of a couple of months.

Did God spot the frontier posts on His GPS monitor and decide to afflict Quebecers more? Doesn't seem likely. It's true the pictures of Montreal on the morning of the ice storm look much worse than those of Burlington, Vermont. But that's because in Montreal the streets were still clogged with uncleared snow from the previous week, thanks to the unionized municipal government's desultory approach to winter maintenance.

Here's a starker example: The two images that for me sum up the aftermath of September 11 — on the one hand, the New York firemen pounding up the stairs of the World Trade Center to rescue those in the towers; and, on the other, a fire in Mecca a few months later.

Some young Saudi girls were trying to flee a blazing school, but they were prevented from doing so by the mutaween — the religious police — who beat them with sticks and drove them back inside the building to perish in the flames. Why would they do such a thing? Because the girls, in their haste to escape the inferno, had neglected to put on their head scarves. Fifteen of them died.

It really is as basic as that: There are cultures that create civic institutions to rescue you from the fire, and there are cultures which create civic institutions to push you back in and be consumed.

Last year provided some especially salutary lessons in the political nature of "events:"

-snip-

[altura]

I am in awe of how Steyn is able to put out so many columns and all high quality.

Hope he doesn't burn out.

[mylife]

Do you think we can have a "Mark Steyn" forum

I love the idea!!

[solitas]

Some young Saudi girls were trying to flee a blazing school, but they were prevented from doing so by the mutaween — the religious police — who beat them with sticks and drove them back inside the building to perish in the flames. ...[b]ecause the girls, in their haste to escape the inferno, had neglected to put on their head scarves. Fifteen of them died.

mutaween = filthy animals

[quidnunc]

You're blathering.

[GeronL]

How about a Totally Unused and Unnecessary Ping List?The TUUPL? we'll never pingya!

[sarasmom]

psst...
You mean there are other venues available, aside from this one?
LOL!

[AmishDude]

1. He posts an awful lot here. I mean, who has the time?
2. Seriously, what could possibly beat FR?

[Roscoe Karns]

Thanks

[AmishDude]

What was the point of that link?

[quidnunc]

seamole wrote: You're flamebaiting me, calling the moderators, and timing their response. Well, I won't call you anything rude, except maybe "lawyer".

What in the world are you taslking about?

The only time I ever hit the abuse button is to get the moderator's attention to ask him to correct some typo in the headlines of my threads that slip past me when I do my usual wretched jot of typing.

I'm perfectly capable of fighting my own battles when it's inportant enough to do so — which this little shivaree isn't.

[quidnunc]

AmishDude wrote: What was the point of that link?

I'm a retired cop.

[ConservativeConvert]

It's just too unbelievable that Steyn can be so consistently scathing, cutting right to the bone in the most satirically entertaining way almost DAILY.

[GeronL]

You've been on it for the past three years

LOL... I'm honored. really.

[Tunehead54]

I hate excerpting! Having said that I must say that there should be a comprehensive list on the "posting" page to tell you whose sites/rags we cannot post full articles from. Just remember - never end a sentence with a preposition and don't post entire articles from the LAT, WP, NBC, MSNBC and who knows how many newspapers owned by these "free speech" enthusiast commie rags ... :-(

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SM: Please keep me on the list - Thanks!

[upchuck]

Stop unnecessary excerpting ping list.

Hey, I'm with you on this. Damned unnecessary excerpting drives me crazy. If you want to post the article then POST the article. Don't be lazy and do a half-assed job. Do it right or don't do it at all.

I rant about this because I'm stuck with a 56K dialup connection. No DSL or cable modem available where I live. So one of the things I like most about FR is the relative lack of graphics. When a FReeper unnecessarily excerpts an article I have to go to the source to read it. And the source is usually loaded down with graphics that take forever to load, pop-up ads, etc. So I endure it all the while cussing under my breath 'cause some lazy FReeper couldn't take the time to post the entire article.

Oh and while I'm ranting... those of you w/ DSL and/or cable, please have pity on us poor 56K dialup guyz. If you do have to excerpt, please link to the "printer friendly" version of the article. This version doesn't have near the graphics as the web version. Thanks!!

</rant>