Friday, December 10, 2010

Angry, But No Longer Alone

As part of an excellent comment on last night’s post about the EDL, Nilk left a link to an article about a small skirmish in the War Against Christmas in Australia.

I’ll talk about Nilk’s comment, but first take a look at these excerpts from a story in The Herald-Sun:

Saint Nick sacked from Victorian pre-school so not to offend religious groups

THERE’S no holly in the halls, and Santa has been sacked.

Christmas is out at a Victorian kindergarten, which is tiptoeing around any mention of the religious holiday.

Santa and his sleigh don’t get a look in at Montessori Marvels Preschool in Greenvale which is striving to be everything to everybody.

Children celebrate with an end-of-year party rather than a Christmas party and will part for the holidays wishing each other “Happy New Year”.

Premier Ted Baillieu has warned Victorians not to let political correctness ruin Christmas with some schools and community groups imposing yuletide bans in recent years.

But the centre is not budging, saying it is abiding by Montessori’s philosophy to be inclusive of all religious and cultural groups.

“We are just trying to take an open approach to the holiday season,” said spokeswoman Marlene Guclu, herself a Christian.

“We run a non-denominational, non-religious program.”

One parent is upset by what she said was effectively a Christmas ban.

The woman, called Anna, rang up radio station 3AW to complain about a kinder in Greenvale, which she did not name.

“My son is getting really frustrated because I’m singing one song, and he’s singing the other,” she said.

“They sing carols but they change the words.

[…]

Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria chairman Sam Afra said it could be a positive move if they were seeking to include all faiths in celebrating the festive season.

“If they are trying to do the right thing for everyone, we don’t want to take that out of context,” he said.

“Different people coming around the table now saying maybe we should look at interfaith. I would like to encourage more debate, and to be more mature about our debate, where we are more understanding and respect each other.”

Notice that in order to be “inclusive”, a particular group of people — believing Christians — has to excluded from celebrating its own particular branch of diversity. That’s the way it works in our multicultural Brave New World — it’s truly Orwellian, if I may mix my literary references.

War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery.

But Nilk is not giving an inch to the PC/MC forces in her corner of Melbournistan. Here’s what she said:
The middle classes are waking up, but are often paralysed by fear.

Fear of the government, fear of those who are prepared to fight, and fear of the enemy.

They are especially frightened to even speak aloud.

This evening, my girl and I had a brief walk around out neighbourhood looking at the Christmas lights. A woman on a pushbike spoke up and said, “I don’t care if the Muslims get offended by Christmas, I’m glad people are celebrating it.”

She was upset after this news item [the article excerpted above] as well as the local swimming pool (Dandenong Oasis) having Muslim only sessions.

She was angry, but alone. What can one person do?

I gave her my card, and my email, and let her know she’s not alone, and she’s not imagining things, and it’s okay to be angry.

She may be one person, but so am I, so are the readers here, and so are many, many others who don’t read blogs but still read the signs.

Anybody who can read the signs should take his cue from Nilk.

The horrors that have been imposed upon us will not be changed by our corrupt and cowardly political leaders.

Change will not originate with the release of a white paper by some think tank or university study group.

The mainstream media will not be a force for change, and will not report any news about change when it finally begins to appear.

The world can only be changed one mind at a time. Real change comes slowly and quietly, a barely visible swell in the ocean of political events, which grows imperceptibly, unnoticed until the tsunami comes ashore.

Real change comes about through people like Nilk, ordinary folk acting in their own neighborhoods against an oppression that is being imposed upon them from above. People with small children, who perhaps pause for a moment to become aware of the nature of the world their descendants will inherit if they fail to act.

And thousands of people, perhaps millions, are changing their minds. It just doesn’t make the evening news.

It all begins — exactly as it did in the Communist Bloc — when ordinary citizens cease believing the official lies.

Then they start to communicate with each other. If they display their heretical opinions publicly, they face ostracism, humiliation, legal action, and financial ruin. Thus their ideas have to travel by word of mouth and through pseudonymous internet contacts, the Western samizdat of the 21st century.

Next they act. Then the real transformation begins.

You will know changes soon.

24 comments:

Professor L said...

Notice that in order to be “inclusive”, a particular group of people — believing Christians — has to excluded from celebrating its own particular branch of diversity.

This is exactly what I thought, and exactly what needs to be publicised.

A brighter spot I can report though is that, as I was on the train home yesterday, I saw the carriage I was in was decorated with tinsel and balloons. I somehow doubt it was New Year decorations.

Professor L said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Richard said...

For a long time I have been saying that the left has been attacking Christianity because real Christianity rather then the liberation theology of Christianity lite doesn't agree with Marxism. This is just another example of that attack, and the Moslems are taking advantage of the weakening what should be one of our strongest shields against the Islamic conquest.

Michael Servetus said...

Reason and experience dictate that in order to be inclusive and tolerant, to teach it or be an example of it, you must be exposed and expose others to that which is to be included, not ban it. How does preventing exposure build tolerance?

Just like drinking more builds up tolerance levels to alcohol and not drinking anything means you will not be able to handle any strong drink.

What is the reasoning behind thinking first of all that Muslims or anybody will not tolerate these celebrations or simply comemorations? It is actually a duty for us and for our governemnt to let them know there are other people here who they must get along with otherwise they are setting us up for a wave of intolerance and a spoiled alien culture that is imbued with a sense of entitlement.
It is simply absurd and outrageous for the gazillionth time. This is our culture and they are here as guests. But with the subversive left any foreign culture and minority group is given instant equality with the host culture and native citizens thereby devaluing our citienship and making it worthless. Any weirdo is given special status and priveleges and leftist subversives in our country in effect try to say that America, in order to be true to its principles and foundation must be incluisive and there MUST NOT be any dominant culture, but that is faulty thinking. It is true that we are set up so that no one will be discriminated against unfairly or subjected to undue pressures but that is not equal to saying that every person is entitled to the right to be free of anythihg that is offensive or simpy different, in fact that goes directly against the spirit of equality as conceived by Americans. Equality doesn't mean suppressing one tradition for anothers sake. How is that equality or diversity or inclusiveness in any healthy sane sense? Only a messed up mind would think so. A mind that is truly incapable of understanindg or processing these great and noble ideas. A leftist is a person who has problems understanidng subtleties of thought in this area. i am convinced of it because as a person who has studied various reliiogns and poltical philosophies both in private and in school, I recognize the seduction that some ideas have , such as Marx's social critique. But there is something in me whcih saves me from it, that finds the error and corrects my thinking. I can fully recognize some truths and powerful statments and interesting ideas in a work of philosophy and still not be utterly seduced and taken in. There is a seduction to race politics and class warfare rhetoric but a truthful person who loves truth and honor and has self respect and pride does not go down that path. One can recognize a benefit to it, a easy way out by blaming others etc, but something prevents a conservative from going there, the lie detector always goes off. Conservative are not satisfied with just so stories and easy answers and explanations or the appearances of apparent truths. We don't take a homeless man's word for it as to why he is homeless implicitly becaue we know people can be deceived and deceive others. Anyway , it seems a leftist lacks this critical apparatus, they must, for there is no other explanation, no other way that they can let themselves go down the path they are on. It is a separate question , which questions whether they are wilfully ignorant or truly blind. Also whether this blindness comes naturally from abusing oneself and loving a lie or if its a judgment of God upon them for the same reason.

Zilla said...

I take heart in the second half of this post, it is what real hope looks like. Thank you for this. We ARE making a difference.

Michael Servetus said...

I left out one other possible alternative reason for leftist subversion and that is because they are extremely intelligent, knowing what they do but are disloyal and have no sense of belonging to the group they are screwing. Either way whether by ignorance and judicial blindness or knowingly and cunningly they are subversives and deserve what subversives deserve and they need to be stopped.

Anonymous said...

LAW, why the heck would you want to be inclusive and all that to begin with? The real answer is that we need separate schools for our children and theirs, not that we should do the inclusiveness nonsense.

And if I was that middle class parent, I'd be glad they have Muslim only times for pools. I'd have the grounds to ask for whatever my ethnic group is only hours at the pool or threaten to sue for discrimination. This is how things should be done. I hate people who dislike Islam because it's not tolerant, equal and all that crap. Those are the problems we have, what, we're mad because others are not as insane?

Van Grungy said...

The root of the betrayal is Baha'i... Esperanto speaking Baha'i...

If we really want to get to the root of the problem, we must expand our spiritual view...

Look beyond marx to the people who want apocalypse to happen..

just sayin..

Anonymous said...

@RV,

[quote] "I hate people who dislike Islam because it's not tolerant, equal and all that crap"

Right. But do you like Islam for vehemently disliking all that crap?
You do like Islam for its doctrinary dislike of Jews don't you?

Kind regs from Amsterdam,
Sag.

Anonymous said...

Sagunto, not really, not that you really cared to do anything besides smearing me. So tell me, do you still beat your wife?

goethechosemercy said...

Quote:
"I hate people who dislike Islam because it's not tolerant, equal and all that crap"
end quote.

There's a response that's a mile wide and a millimeter deep.
Western Civilization faces genocide, the suppression of its content and history and all you can think about is "people who dislike Islam because it's not tolerant, equal and all that crap."
Islam is worse than intolerant.
It is destructive to all culture not its own.
To refuse to dislike or despise it is to embrace destruction.

Anonymous said...

@RV,

Poor antisemite boy, got smeared.

"You saw that didn't you? Did you see him smearing me? Help.. help.. I'm being smeared!"

As for your question. I deserved that, so I tell you: yes sir, I still do beat my wife intermittently when I'm not "smearing" antisemites, and if and when she's not available, I just beat the crap out of Hillary, my tiny little poodle.

Had I wished to enter into serious discussion, I would have said what commenter @goethechosemercy did, so I won't repeat his excellent point.

Kind regs from Amsterdam,
Sag.

Anonymous said...

Sagunto,

"Poor antisemite boy, got smeared."

Actually, that should read:

"Poor antisemite GIRL, got smeared."

RV is a female.

Anonymous said...

@Spackle,

Thnx for the correction, that changes everything. @RV sorry for the unwarranted smearing, that's no way to treat an antisemitic lady.

Kind regs from Amsterdam,
Sag.

Hesperado said...

Michael Servetus wrote:

It is simply absurd and outrageous for the gazillionth time. This is our culture and they are here as guests. But with the subversive left any foreign culture and minority group is given instant equality with the host culture and native citizens thereby devaluing our citienship and making it worthless.

While Michael Servetus is correct in general terms and his frustration entirely reasonable, I note yet again -- for the gazillionth time -- an anti-Islam person identifying and delimiting the problem of the problem (i.e., the problem of the West's myopia to the primary problem of Islam) to those dastardly "Leftists" which perforce compromise a dastardly cabal of "Elites".

I have analyzed the problem with this reductionistic view of the problem of the problem in my essay Elitistics. It's a complex issue. Generally speaking, the point is that the problem of Western myopia is obviously not limited to a minority of "elites", because we see signs of such myopia among ordinary people around us. And all these ordinary people cannot all be "Leftists", much less are they "Elites". I dare say that some anti-Islam people sound like they never get out much and haven't talked to ordinary people much, if they haven't experienced the massive fact that most people really in Western societies are more or less PC MC. This indicates the fact that PC MC is not a sinister ideology imposed upon The People from above; it reflects rather a sea change in consciousness the West has undergone over the last half century or so: a paradigm shift in worldview that affects the hearts and minds of millions of ordinary people. And it is a curious insult to those millions of ordinary people to claim, as many in anti-Islam people do claim, that all them are stupid enough to be sheep manipulated by an evil cabal of "Gramscian" elites. Not only does this insult one's fellow Westerners, it betrays a quasi-Gnostic alienation from the structures of Western authority.

Back to the topic of this news story: One manifestation out of thousands one could adduce of the process of PC MC and the psychological, sociological and political effects it has had, may be articulated thusly:

The process by which Australians learned to be 'ashamed' of the way they treated aborigines, is the same process by which most Australians remain myopic to the danger of Muslims -- which myopia includes a reflex vilification of those who try to sound the alert about Muslims.

Note: This process in Australia to which I refer has occurred in every Western society. None remains unaffected by PC MC, though some show signs of being more, or less, affected (e.g., Australia does seem to be slightly more rational in this regard than, say, Sweden).

This process more generally refers to the 'shame' Westerners feel about their own history of Colonialism and all its attendant sins and evils. Since the vast majority of Muslims look 'ethnic' and arouse associations of '3rd world culture', they instantly trigger the complex mechanisms of that PC MC 'shame' and excessive self-criticism which the West has, unique among all cultures in the history of the world, developed with such remarkably feverish, intelligently industrious, and perversely masochistic enthusiasm.

Nilk said...

Hesperado, regarding the "shame" Australians feel about the treatment of aboriginals, I can assure you that there are more that don't feel it than do.

It's just not something to be spoken of in a loud voice.

If you know anyone out in the rural areas, the general view is that we're pretty much just all people, although if you've got black blood then you can get a swagful of extra benefits, and this angers the skips (anglos).

I never went to university, but I would have been ripe for the picking if I had have. When I was a teenager I thought that socialism sounded like a great idea and wanted to learn Russian.

The shift has come via the education of the masses, and in most cases, the masses don't have the tools to deconstruct what they are being taught.

Especially today, which is why it appears to be a grassroots myopia.

Critical theory is taught - not critical thinking.

Nilk said...

And a quick note to RV before I head out for church.

I stopped taking my daughter for swimming lessons at that pool, and if you'd gone there you would too.

I'm not the only parent to do so, and it's offensive that a council swimming pool should provide segregated sessions for a noisy minority.

While my little pocket in the area is a lovely place to live, 10 minutes down the road in the heart of Greater Dandenong is somewhere I avoid like the plague.

I guess that would make me a h8r, but my care factor on that is pretty low these days.

Anonymous said...

@Hesperado,

Nice to disagree with you once again (though I genuinely value your perspective):

[quote] "This process [of PC MC'ing the West, Sag.] more generally refers to the 'shame' Westerners feel about their own history of Colonialism and all its attendant sins and evils"

Minor point, but take Norway. As a country it has more than its fair share of MC, yet its inhabitants can't possibly consider themselves to have been past overseas masters in today's Third World countries, can they?

Also, in the light of what you contend about the non-elitist, widespread nature of PC MC, what is your view on the work done by Bat Ye'Or to expose the EUrabia-project? You offer a "paradigm change" by way of explanation for the existence of PC MC, but that's just a word, isn't it? Where did this - indeed widespread - change originate?

Moreover, and my main point of contention, you call it "an insult" to fellow-Westerners when the dominant role of elites (not just Gramscian, I'd add) in advocating PC MC is pointed at. But is it really? Because just as easily it could be viewed from another perspective which attributes a more "public-friendly" motive behind it: the general public is considered to be more easily won over to the counter-jihad viewpoint compared to the elites who have a vested interest in multiculturalism. The general public doesn't, not really.

This point is, at least in my country, sufficiently illustrated by the large numbers of ordinary people from the general public who first voted for Fortuyn some years ago and have now voted for Geert Wilders, sometimes even at great personal cost of possibly losing friends (but making new ones), jobs, whatever.

And here's the point: the PVV of Geert Wilders is the anti-elitist party par excellence, and guess what? It is rewarded for that by a large segment of the Dutch voting public.
So yes, I agree PC MC is still widespread, but no, anti-elitism is not necessarily viewed as an insult, at least not by many ordinary folk in the Netherlands. Don't know about other countries of course..

Kind regs from Amsterdam,
Sag.

Ex-Dissident said...

Baron, I love your summaries at the end of the posts but in the case of Soviet collapse (change) we disagree. People in Soviet Union have been forced to communicate through word of mouth; who wants an arrest for speaking against the state. This was the case for decades. Collapse of the Soviet Union didn't occur because of ordinary people no longer believed in the state ideology and spoke secretly to each other. It occurred because the state had become so looted that it simply couldn't continue to suppress its population. The average ex-soviet didn't emerge from this as a victor filled with pride over his triumph over state oppression and ready to defend individual freedom. Russians fill the brothels in Islamic countries and have come to Western countries hoping to find another powerful state that will take possession of their lives and care for them. Years of living under Soviet rules has created a large population of sheep.

Gregory said...

I hope that, quickly, all of the 'viking' blood in the "skanda-hovian" people brings the vikings to life! Get rid of the trash in your countries Vikings! Start NOW! Your government will not protect you ! So, you must protect yourselves!
Aside: Someone noted that I had some 'Scandinavian in me...but, I'm taking pills for it!..:)

Hesperado said...

Sagunto,

"take Norway."

Yes, the Scandinavian countries probably didn't do much colonizing in the 3rd world, but they have inherited and participated in the general Western paradigm shift of shame. Even if Norwegians never had a history of African colonization, they nevertheless "share" in the general guilt and shame about it, and all the attendant ideas that go with that. It's ironic that a pan-Western solidarity seems to thrive when Westerners want to feel ashamed about their past, but suddenly vanishes when they want to feel proud.

"You offer a "paradigm change" by way of explanation for the existence of PC MC, but that's just a word, isn't it? Where did this - indeed widespread - change originate?"

It's a long and complex process. It goes back to the Enlightenment, and even further back we can see signs of it. I analyzed the opinions of the great French essayist Montaigne, who wrote in the 16th century, and I found PC MC ideas in the way he wrote about the cultures of South America, in his essay "On Cannibals". I was surprised to find PC MC that far back. PC MC didn't just fall from the blue sky in the 1960s (nor was it cobbled together by sinister "Gramscians" in the 1920s or 1890s). It has deep roots in Western processes going back centuries, and many of those roots are good ideas -- that's precisely why PC MC has such broad influence: it reflects many good ideas of progress, mixed together with unhealthy emotional and intellectual excess.

"...you call it "an insult" to fellow-Westerners when the dominant role of elites (not just Gramscian, I'd add) in advocating PC MC is pointed at. But is it really? Because just as easily it could be viewed from another perspective which attributes a more "public-friendly" motive behind it: the general public is considered to be more easily won over to the counter-jihad viewpoint compared to the elites who have a vested interest in multiculturalism. The general public doesn't, not really."

What you point out is one half of an incoherent view, I think. The general populace is simultaneously conceived to be smarter than the Elites on the one hand, then as sheep easily manipulated by the Elites. If the general Western populace are not sheep, then how can Elites wield such power? The only way out of this paradox is to assume that the West is not democratic, but is really a crypto-tyranny. I find this view strangely alienated, and potentially dangerous. The more reasonable explanation is that in fact the majority of ordinary people really do share the worldview, more or less, with PC MC. There are many points of disagreement, of course, but overall, the general idea that underpins the granting of a benefit of the doubt to most Muslims tends to be held by ordinary Westerners, and if they do grudgingly begin to entertain alarm about Islam, it has to be in terms of a "Tiny Minority of Extremists". The thought that in fact most, or all, Muslims are beholden to a hostile alien paradigm just pushes the envelope too much and the modern Westerner, for the most part, can't handle thinking about that.

Yes, high votes for Fortuyn and Wilders is a good sign. But if the people were really on our side the way that anti-Islam people boast about it, there would be no contest: we would already have leaders in nearly every Western country solidly anti-Islam. Obviously, it's a struggle, and the anti-Islam public must be less than 50% -- far less, I'd say. They are only a percentage barely sufficient to give Wilders and Fortuyn and other similar politicians a ghost of a chance: i.e., at best a significant minority. That is dismal. By now, 90% of Western people should be anti-Islam, and clamoring for change.

Anonymous said...

I find it very rewarding @Hesp,

to have these exchanges and I can only hope you also take something of value out of it. Since this thread will soon be covered by spades of urgent newsflashes, I plan to continue our discussion (that seems to revolve around a few core issues) at your blog if you don't mind.

Can you therefore point me towards a specific topic I can graft this discussion onto, so we can explore the genesis of PC MC a bit further?

Take care and as always..
Kind regs from Amsterdam,
Sag.

Hesperado said...

Hi Sagunto,

I'm glad to find someone interested in engaging in and pursuing these issues. I just looked over the most recent 100 essays on my blog and one would have to dip down to about #50 to find a relevant one -- so I don't mind if you wish to append a continuation of this discussion at the most recent essay (it happens to be one about Lawrence Auster).

http://hesperado.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Sagunto, you think I really care about being called the modern version of witch or heretic?

Hesperado, it's the inevitable conclusion of the beliefs born in the Enlightenment and since most people are educated in those values, they will obviously have a myopic view of the world. BTW, I largely agree with what you see about the West - that PC MC is far older, for example. IT all goes down to concepts from Christianity that were 'secularized'. Where you are wrong is where you think that votes change anything - there are tons of studies that show that 90%+ of people support political beliefs that they subjectively associate with something that makes them feel better. This is why the left is winning - it makes Europeans and white people in general, feel better about themselves.


Ex-Dissident, you are spot, spot on.