Civilization Envy

National Review Online ^

[x]

Supposedly the diners at a McDonald's in Lebanon cheered on the terrorists. I don't know if it's true, or just another wild rumor of war, but it should give Jonah something to think about.

We are a great country. Just between you and me, the Western Culture of today is better than the current Near Eastern culture and Christianity is better than Islam. But keep that under your hat for now. There's no point in needlessly antagonizing or embarassing people.

What troubles me about Jonah is the desire to reduce everything to sameness. Maybe it's not so evident in this particular piece, but it seems to be an undercurrent in his work and in the new National Review. Everything is to be levelled down and forced into the form of McDonald's, Star Trek and the Goldberg File. I find things to like about all three, but I certainly wouldn't like it if everyone had the same tastes, desires, or beliefs.

Just between you and me again: that world of mass consumption, mass culture and global corporations has as little use for Christian Middle America has it does for any minority that wants to preserve its own culture. That brave new world has already detached itself from roots in America or loyalty to it. The global market has become too big and too autonomous.

When people go to war to remake or reform or save the world, often it's not their own values that triumph, but rather those of the managerial apparatus or the elites that call the shots. Get the terrorists and make them pay. Make them suffer. But be wary of trying to remake the world. You may be surprised at what that will mean.

[independentmind]

Just between you and me again: that world of mass consumption, mass culture and global corporations has as little use for Christian Middle America has it does for any minority that wants to preserve its own culture. That brave new world has already detached itself from roots in America or loyalty to it. The global market has become too big and too autonomous.

I hope every Christian realizes this.

[VinnyTex]

I don't think anyone wants to remake the world. But markets are here and can't be stopped... The internet is the great satan to these people..

[Clinton's a rapist]

Bang on. Of course, envy makes the world go around. Envy accounts for almost everything. Any attempt to explain human relationships, society, morality and politics which fails to take that into account is doomed at the outset.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

I think the problem is that with the levelling of secular mass culture, PC ideology, liberalism, the hastening decline of Christianity, and near universal bad taste , many Americans have forgotten that there is a distinction between civilized Christians and pirates and barbarians. To get technical about it, Bill Clinton, Bill Maher, Geraldo, and the others are already in the barbaric dimension of that comparison.

All you have to do is look at the pictures of the hijackers. If you don't feel an immediate visceral aversion, well...

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

A great deal of the motivation of the terrorists and of the "jihad" Muslims in general is self-loathing. They know Western civilization is better, cleaner, more hygienic,more sophisticated, etc. They hate themselves and they hate us for making them see their inferiority and barbarism. It's a little in the order of a Mark David Chapman type, the John Lennon psycho-killer. He envied Lennon and hated that he could not be his pop ideal. So he lashed out at the source of his own problem - the image causing his self-loathing and discomfort. All of these guys were losers, most likely with homosexual tendencies, and deep personal anxiety.

[goldstategop]

The Arabs remind me of a bunch of spoiled children kicking and screaming in rage at Big Daddy - US --- because we get to whip their ass when they misbehave. And our size and power infuriates them to the point of frenzy and makes them hate us even more. I don't think any one doubts religion is a factor but I think the real answer is these people have a state of arrested development and when they look at how far we have come and compare their lot with ours they can't figure out what the secret of our success is. Its obvious for every one to see but for the Arabs rather than try to work hard to get to where we are they have this attitude of entitlement like they expect everything to be handed to them on a platter with no questions asked. When they don't get what they demand they lash out in a fit of deadly rage. Simple. The people over there need to grow up and become responsible adults.

[SkyPilot]

When I was shopping in the blast furnace called the UAE, I noticed a lot of people driving white Chevy Surburbans. I asked why, and a local man told me they have 2 Air Conditioners.

He said, "America makes these things, but they did it on the sweat of our backs!"

OK.

[mike2246]

thanks for your article i agree with the italian premier,look at any muslim country all you find is corruption poverty and poor treatment of women,mike

[Podkayne]

They are all afraid of women, any women. Why else would they mutilate, castrate, and hid the faces of their wives, children and mothers?

[Coyote]

The Islamic world has a self-esteem problem.

Man, DO they EVER.

While they have had a glorious and productive past, delivering wonderful science to the west 1000 years ago, their best invention for the last 100 years is largely strapping TNT all over themselves and blowing themselves up with the nearest person they have a quarrel with. THAT'LL show them!

And the lead sled dog analogy is perfect. The game of "king of the mountain" is an institutionalized part of the religion in the ME. And I think that's what this all boils down to. They just can't stand ANYONE else leading the global pack. Otherwise, they'd use all that cultural intellegence to partner in with us and take up their share of the world, rather than kill themselves just because they cant claw themselves to the lead of a 21st century world with a fifth century culture.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Yeah. There is an Oedipal aspect not just to terrorism but to other forms of political behavior and ideological radicalism, gnosticism, etc. The U.S. represents "authority." It is the "bad father" in psychological terms. Just as many criminals grew up fatherless, it should come as no surprise that the Taliban grew out of orphan refugee camps in Pakistan. Charles Manson was a similar type. I recommend the book Faith of the Fatherless. We're dealing with a psycho criminal element among low castes in Islamic countries. The absurd 7th-century theology is just a veneer for other pathologies.

[Dumb_Ox]

What troubles me about Jonah is the desire to reduce everything to sameness.

The word "decultured" comes to mind. Most disingenuous about Mr. Goldberg's article is his representation that the Atlantic article makes the case for "envy" when in fact it does not. A quote:

What is truly evil and unacceptable is the domination of infidels over true believers. For true believers to rule misbelievers is proper and natural, since this provides for the maintenance of the holy law, and gives the misbelievers both the opportunity and the incentive to embrace the true faith. But for misbelievers to rule over true believers is blasphemous and unnatural, since it leads to the corruption of religion and morality in society, and to the flouting or even the abrogation of God's law.

For certain forms of Islam, Jihad is a way to protect its culture from the seductive American Pimp, and restore true Islam to secularized or occupied areas of the Islamic world. There's no need to adduce questionable psychological motives, when one can more easily claim that these people are simply acting out of self-defense and self-conviction.

[Cultural Jihad]

A good find, and one that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for posting.

[madrussian]

An apropos joke.

First some background. There is an old Russian saying that an unwelcome guest is worse than a Tartar. The Tartars demanded a change, so the saying now should read "An unwelcome guest is better than a Tartar".

[Askel5]

Hey ... where have you been?

Are you familiar with "Reading the Muslim Mind" by Hassan Hathout?

I'm going to make some posts from it and would love your input.

[Clinton's a rapist]

You've found a soul-mate, at last. How charming.

[Askel5]

Listen, more than a few are of the opinion you ought to be yanked for what you said last night. I myself hate to ruin a good thread by having Jim pull it just because a moron like yourself couldn't resist displaying for all what a hateful person you are.

However, if you're going to follow me around making stupid comments, I may have to rethink that and perhaps alert the moderators to the fact you've finally shown your true colors and really have no business posting here.

Your choice.