Zinnlandia is in Amerikka – that racist, capitalist land of injustice, sexism, specieism, lookism, theism, militarism and homophobia. As a material and cultural Marxist, and skillful propagandist, Zinn – a master of sieving American history for its worst nuggets – is the perfect avatar for the self-flagellating white inhabitant of this land.
A Zinnlandian I met on this trip, a WASP physician endowed with the best education much money can buy, told me that he does not celebrate July 4th because the Declaration of Independence had been written by a slave owner and signed by other slave owners. He was just as hotly critical of the “racism” of Americans in dealing with the growing Muslim immigrant minority. The conversation unfolded over a bottle of Oregon Vino Pinko, with the likeness of a notorious Cuban mass murderer on the label.
Sounds like Noam Chomsky. Yeah – the U.S. may seem bad, until you look at all the other countries.
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wow, you’ve got stuff like this…
who really needs drugs?
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At last this form of insanity has a name!!! No longer will I wonder what those that hate Western Democracies with a vengance, call themselves.
Zinnlandians!! I can sleep now.
Strange Brew
in the last few paragraphs it comes to this…
“43% of violent crime in Great Britain is committed by members of a demographic group comprising 3.5% of the population”
well, as stated, “we’re on to something”
it’s too bad this cannot be stated without bringing a piling on.
what’s the figure like in Saskatchewan? is anyone allowed to say?
This Zinn dude sounds eerily like Warren Kinsella…
The world has no shortage of mentally-disordered, hopelessly myopic, closed-minded, delusional people.
Thanks for posting this. The “gap” between Canadian writing and American\European writing is getting a little hard to ignore.
More than one Canadian has gone to jail for writing the kinds of things in this (excellent) article, and the resulting chill is pretty obvious. Remember how quickly Kate got thrown under the Sask Party bus for…what was it again, criticizing bingo?
I’d like to see more discussion of Native matters, and all kinds of touchy matters, among bloggers and my fellow citizens, but all things considered it’s understandable that they find a safer topic to discuss and leave the scary stuff to the…Belgians? Hrmph.
OT, but does anyone know why the Blogging Tories feed seems to be offline? The page hasn’t refreshed for 2 days now, even though bloggers are still posting.
CS… I would connect Howard Zinn more with the America-bashers at CBC…especially those who have ‘progressed’ to Al Jazeera.
I doubt Kinsella has reached those extremes, and his world is smaller.
Call that liberal? Feh! These guys take LESSONS from us!
Canada has progressed on beyond all this “voluntary dhimmitude” twaddle the author goes on about, by making dhimmitude MANDATORY here in the Demented Dominion. CHRC, you know. Truth is no protection.
Here’s an experiment for the adventurous (and well muscled). Get a T-shirt printed up that says “Mohamed married an 8 year old.” Maybe include a nice, tasteful picture of some grizzly old geezer holding a little kid by the hand.
Wear it in Toronto. See how long it takes before a cop tells you to take it off.
If you can even find a cop, anyway. Try Queen’s Park, they usually have one or two there guarding the politicians.
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“sdc asks… OT, but does anyone know why the
Blogging Tories feed seems to be offline?”
it’s back up now.
just heard from stephen taylor, who is on the
other side of the world.
problem with the code, apparently.
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Good links in the linked article (indirection for the propeller heads among us)…
How can you tell if a society is progressive or regressive? By the capacity of its population to question, debate, analyze and, if needed, change itself.
The US is constantly questioning, debating, analyzing and, when needed, changing itself. Therefore, the BEST example of a progressive society is that a slave-owner, living in an economic and social era where slavery was valid, wrote a Declaration of the Equality of all Men.
The best example of a society that is regressive, is any of the Islamic Fascist ideologies, which reject questions, debate, analysis and change and instead, consider that a Pure and Perfect Society did exist and can re-exist only if unquestionable Rules that cannot-be-debated or changed, are put in place.
That said, I disagree with the theme of the article, if I understand it correctly, which is that ‘race’ defines behaviour. Since I don’t accept the opinion of there being more than one human race, I’ll define these differences as ethnicity and cultural. And there are indeed differences in these realms.
So, the issue is ethno-cultural, and people immigrating to the developed world, who are primarily from societies operating within a tribal mentality, have to be integrated. Not tolerated in their tribalism. But this tribalism has to be totally, completely, rejected.
A tribal worldview considers that the only people worthy of life are those within your tribe. Anyone else is fair game for theft and killing. The basic premise of ‘tolerance’ and ‘multiculturalism’ has to be rejected.
As long as we permit it, the tribal view that defines Others as ‘non-human peoples to be preyed upon’ will continue.
Obviously the wine they drank was Zinn-fandel.
“Tribe” being more or less a gene-pool, superimposed on a geographic region circumscribing an area having sufficient resources to support the gene-pool, a mode of human organization now supplanted by the concept of the nation state, which is enabled by diversification of resources through multilateral trade. Culture imposes a set of behaviors that signal ‘trust’, which facilitates trade (trade cannot take place without trust), exchange and co-operation among members. I agree ET, race has little to do with it. Adhering to an deprecated organizational pattern has everything to do with it.
alright
some of you are trying to say USA keep made mistake because they are analyse teh mistake by new reserach and by asking question and now we can say they are ok to do mistake and keep moving forward by fix the mistake and say sorry or just simple change thier politic that is good execuse they can sayd that was George Bush for sep 11 and sorry that was Clinton for Monica lusinki or etc…
but how many time they USA must made the mistake and keep change from one president to new president and always it was stop when matter of Isreal is come did you notice Jewish Isrealy play of game all people are change Sadam are gone and Osmaba Ben Ladner or all king dies or thier son like Jordon come how about Isreal as soon as Isreal mater is come up new presidnet come to do new show right there matter of Isreal is never ended story we need new cartoon for children watch that just blame to Muslim and fire them all no problmes made cartoon of Mohamad p.b.u.h.
If you belive god while some people who are not bleiving god not able to agree with my view if you believe god who create human being the God also showe the right path and example and sign for belivers and if we bleive that then we can say the solution is already is given you do not need to made so many mistake just ask teacher tell you 1 plus 1 is 2 but if you ask some who blame all the Islam religion because they are ignornace and deny all facts of god that god is not even exist while you do not need to read so much just look around yourslef you will find teh god and god’s signs every where
Muslim belive they already know solution for major problmes you do not need to rub the bank to know bank rubbery is mistake and go and fix yourself and anlsyis and say sorry to all you need to have brian or follow peopl who have brain therefore Muslim for basic stuff for how to live in socity already belive prophet Mohamad give them all the lesson to follow while also islam belive we need leadership some problmes is comes because of growth in socity and need to made some adjustment with new technology
Muslim do not need to draw humuliation cartoon of Mohamad p.b.u.h to spend two years wast the tiem in hrc to proof that was not funny you put blow up head of all Muslim and theri prophet that is hate crime if you are nto stop that
If you put any politic picture and put bomb to theri head to blow up I can gurantee you if we were muslim to draw similar shape for politicaly party Rcmpp will arrest us to question us
the matter is justice is so obvious and live under equlity does nto remain any question to ask but teach law to all is necessary
there is also so many racist belive Muslim level of wealth or job or understand is C and if you work harder the mark is not going to higer they are not like to see Muslim population are grow as we facing book of Mark Styen they do not like Muslim idea they are comem from different planet
I bleive there is true question exist and people get curious about Islma but stil Canadain are nto know Islam well they may think it take at least 1 to 2 years that canadian understand true Islam and we hope so many view get change by then
Moss, go away. I know what Islam is – its a neandertalic belief system stuck a thousand years in the past, in which its adherents throw reason and morality away in the blind worship of a false prophet.
The Brussels Journal is one of my favorite blogs. I don’t visit there anywhere near enough.
And speakiong of the bigot’s bigot, Warren K, one of his latest bigoblogs contains the following:
“There, in the pouring rain, is a string of white, plump, middle-aged guys, sitting on the sidewalk – some of them under umbrellas, some of them just sitting there. They are waiting for something.
Then I remember.
Today’s the day the iPhone gets released in Canada – and these guys have stepped out of their Mom’s basement to line up to buy one! When Roger’s miniscule initial promotion is over next month, the most expensive iPhone on the planet will be right here in the Great White North. Thanks to Rogers.
And thanks to Team Loser, camped out on the sidewalk, in the rain.”
Way to go Warren. You’re such a Liberal role model.
I read this excellent article and only one thing comes to mind:
Obama is an extremely dangerous man.
shaken – ‘tribe’ may have begun with a gene-pool but can expand beyond those limitations. Usually, however, a tribe did try to control that gene-pool by a strict outline of whom you could or could not marry.
Essentially, tribalism is a socioeconomic and political mode of organization. Found in pre-industrial societies of small to medium size populations. Its economic structure was focused around the well-being of the tribe; economic interactions are carried out by ‘hereditary’ guidelines. It’s dysfunctional in a large multimillion size population and totally incapable of operating in an industrial economy.
Islam is tribal; it began in tribalism, its axioms are tribal – and Islamic fascism arose because of that dysfunctionality between a tribal organizational mode and an industrial economy. The industrial economy requires a middle class, and tribalism has no middle class. It also requires individualism – ie, free thinkers who question, explore, analyze, innovate. Islam rejects Reason, rejects the role of the individual, rejects democracy.
So- traditional Islam simply can’t function in a modern economy.
Islamic fascism’s solution is to Return To The Original Way. Heh. Can you imagine, a society whose members can’t think and all they can do is obey an ancient text – with no science, no technology? Remember, the Saudis and the whole ME couldn’t get their oil out of the ground themselves. They didn’t have the technology. And they still don’t. They ignore science.
Can Islam change? I think that Muslims, as human beings, can most certainly change their ideology. After all – since it was generated by humans, then it can be changed by humans. Will they? That’s another question.
ET, then would the nation state be a more developed (“better”) socioeconomic organization than tribalism? Through less reliance on the local conditions through multilateral trading, and diversification of sources of resource, it has a higher degree of success – an individual is more likely to succeed (survive, reproduce) than an individual in a tribal setting. Why, then, should nation states intervene to prevent the failure of an inferior system of organization (tribalism)? To embrace multiculturalism in the form of tribalism is to deny the advantages of nation state organization – which is paradoxical. If there is no advantage to the nation state organizational model, why continue with it and attempt to evolve it further?
Kate would you be so kind as to move the commentors name to the top of there posts so I can just scroll past the trolls.
Thanks
Can Islam change?
What’s it matter, the process of reform as with Christianity from the Middle Ages to the Ages of Enlightenment/Reason to Vatican II would take a thousand years. There aren’t any short cuts to the process. Islam is far too dangerous and anti-human in its present form to make it that far without some horrific incident.
All that matters is that Islam ends as a danger to us. I suspect that will only happen when it’s trounced militarily and pushed back and sealed into its natural borders.
I doubt that in the tribal macho male cultures that Islam thrives in that it will ever go away. Look at sub-Saharan Africa, nothing sticks that changes their pathetic cultural script.
shaken – I don’t define the ‘nation-state’ as ‘better’ in the sense of ‘universally better’ than a tribal system. Each type works within a specific size population. And the population size is directly related to its economy, ie, how many people can that economy support.
What many people don’t understand is that the tribal mode is ‘right’ for a small no-growth population (around 100,000) functioning in a sustenance agriculture. Note: NO-GROWTH. This system can’t support a larger population. It is extremely stable which is why it has lasted for thousands of years.
The tribal system is group rather than individual based. It doesn’t ‘think’; it doesn’t encourage individual dissent, debate, questions. It cannot adapt to environmental problems; it has no capacity to adapt because it rejects thinking and questioning and science. So, it has to keep its population small.
When in economic trouble, in times where food is a problem, a tribe will either move – and it might do this by warfare with another tribe living in a better area, or it might take over another tribe to obtain their sustenance. But it can’t do anything technological to increase its capacity to support its population.
It is important to realize that – a tribal system is disastrous when used to organized a LARGE population in the multi-millions, which can only be supported by an industrial (not agricultural) economy and which requires a mobile and flexible middle class.
Nation-states should NOT intervene to maintain a tribal systems. Absolutely not. The populations of the world are far too large for tribal organizations to function.
The US, for example, was right to intervene to remove Saddam Hussein’s tribal system and enable the Iraqi people there to establish a civic mode, which will enable them to develop a robust middle class and a democracy. Democracy, by the way, empowers the middle class.
Islam is a tribal system. It was developed as such and remains that way. It rejects democracy because it rejects Reason, the Individual, Science, discovery etc. On its own Islam as a sociopolitical mode can’t support a multimillion size population.
As for multiculturalism within a nation-state, that’s not the same as a whole nation or society being run within a tribal economic and political system. When the whole nation is run within a tribal system, you get one tribe as rulers and the rest as ruled. No middle class.
Multiculturalism in, eg, Canada, isn’t tribalism. The people in these varied ethnic groups are living in an industrial economy. Multiculturalism in Canada is a strategy of ‘divide-and-rule’ by the Liberals. This was a tactic of isolating immigrants by ‘hereditary identity’ (ethnic, religion, language) and putting them into closed ‘blocs’ and encouraging them with massive funding, to retain their old ways and not integrate or collaborate with any other ‘identity groups’ or become Canadian.
This divide-and-rule strategy guaranteed the Liberals the bloc votes of these immigrant groups; a major source of keeping the Liberals in power.
But it has greatly harmed the immigrant groups who are isolated from everyone else. And prevented Canada from maturing as a nation.
Hey FREE, it is easy to recognize now, moss, uri or whatever nom de plume he is using just by reading the first sentence that is written with bad grammar and punctuation to make a pathetic attempt to come across as a Muslim (or a CHRC agent). I agree he is annoying. Hopefully his mommy will catch him and take away his ipod privileges for the week.
I would argue, ET, that nation-state formation, aggregating multiple tribes, is a risk mitigation strategy for those tribes that embrace it – that dissipate the tribalism and embrace the aggregation. The mitigation is through diversification of resources – trade, which is enabled by the development of the cultural cues of trust. What divides one culture from another is the inability to read these subtle cues from one another – thus inhibiting trust. Trust is essential in trade, and money (currency) is a concrete manifistation of trust. So, I would say that nation state is more advanced, in general, because, as long as the culture develops to permit establishment of trust between previously disparate groups, resources can be sourced from outside the previous geographic boundaries.
My belief is that multiculturalism fails within a nation state organization because the inhibitions against synthesis of new culture, and therefore trust signals, prevents the realization of benefits advanced trade. This leads to ‘social injustice’ – ironically, the very thing that the multiculturalists thought they were solving with their agenda. They have it exactly backwards.
shaken – the nation-state isn’t an aggregation of multiple tribes. The nation-state and the tribal modes of societal, economic and political organization are completely different. They don’t co-exist; it’s one OR the other.
A nation-state isn’t simply a number of tribes that trade with each other. They are two different modes of societal organization.
My view is that each is functional; I don’t say that the nation-state is ‘more advanced’ or ‘more progressive’ than the tribal. That’s assuming a linear scale of societal development and I don’t agree with that.
The variable that defines which mode is ‘right’ is basic: it’s population size. The tribal mode does not increase its population. That’s an important thing to note; it doesn’t and must not increase its population.
The tribal mode cannot function in a situation where its population is growing; it cannot function in large size population. It cannot handle change.
Equally, the structure of a nation-state with its flexible middle class doesn’t work in a no-change, no-growth economy that doesn’t REQUIRE change and therefore, that must INHIBIT change.
Tribal societies, with their small populations, don’t require or want change; they set up modes of social behaviour that inhibit questions, dissent, change. Islam is an example of such an ideology.
But tribes DO engage in trade; one tribe might exchange meat for grain, for example.
But, if your population is very large, then it requires a flexible and large middle class that moves out of a basic sustenance agriculture and develops new technology to permit surplus. A lot of surplus.
The nation-state most certainly provides freedom for the individual; it requires freedom, for it requires a constant advancement of technology. The nation-state developed in the West because the West has the richest biomes on the planet. This rich ecology enabled that area to produce more food, and sustain larger populations. Eventually, the West had to itself move out of tribalism, and into a civic mode of governance.
The ME has been moved into industrialism by virtue of its oil. The problem is that it hasn’t changed its societal infrastructure from tribalism to a civic mode. And radical Islam has kept it back from making these reforms.
Well, ET, we can take the discussion offline if you wish – I do enjoy reading what you have to say and am always keen to learn what I can from you.
In the meantime, isn’t a pity that it seems that some Islamic peoples were historically such vigorous participants in the slave trade? Would that be because of racism, do you suppose? I’ve just read an article about slavery in the Ivory Trade, and it seems that those poor chained souls that collapsed while porting the ivory were beheaded. Could what I have read be misinformation I wonder?
This rolling stone gathers no moss or jibberish of any sort.
** A Zinnlandian I met on this trip, a WASP physician endowed with the best education much money can buy, told me that he does not celebrate July 4th because . . . . **
And the reasoning is too foolish to repeat here. Kind of reminds me of the best education much money can buy guy Dion, who keeps stumbling into multi-Million$ lawsuits. = TG
Great article. The problem with it is that ITS TRUE. Especially the crime stats.
As for the crime rate in Sask the majority of prison inmates ate indians BECAUSE almost 1/2 the population are indians.
Horny Toad
For another view on ‘tribes’, I recommend reading Bill Whittle at Eject!Eject!Eject!. His take on Tribes is still one of the best I’ve ever read, and I still go to it from time to time.
To put the article in its proper context, he wrote it a few days after hurricane Katrina blew over New Orleans. Here is the url:
http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000129.html
“However, the message was loud and clear, a cyclical global warming trend may be coming to an end for a variety of reasons, and a new cooling cycle could impact the energy markets in a big way.”
Global cooling certainly will have a big impact on energy…it will reduce demand in the United States and some parts of Canada. The US, Ontario and Quebec are all what are known as “summer-peaking” regimes for electricity, because of demand for air-conditioning. (There are exceptions in the US, like Maine and Alaska). Cooler summers will mean less AC is required, while colder winters will increase demand for natural gas for home heating. This would be a net benefit as gas used at “the burner tip” (i.e. in your furnace, your stove or your dryer) is the most efficient way to burn gas. The most efficient combined-cycle NG generators convert gas to electricity at about 42% efficiency. For home use, the efficiency rates rise above 90%.
But, of course, that would spoil a good scare story…so never mind.
Oops…wrong subject…my bad.