Culture
Blogs, Democracy, free speech, and The Joker
Recently, I banned a commentator from this blog. It was the first time that I’ve ever had to do this. And I recently boycotted another blog, which I have commented on for several years, and run by a friend of mine,because the same person I banned trolled there to the extant that the posts were monopolized by hatefulness, repeated and unwarranted antisemitism, as well as personal attacks on other frequenters of the blog. I declared that I would no longer comment on the blog until the offender was banned.
Several people who frequent my blog expressed disgust at the offender, who goes by the screen name, apollonian. Some hinted that I should ban him, and another poster stopped posting after apollonian stated he hoped they “suffered”. That’s when I decided to deploy the ban hammer.
I felt badly about boycotting my friend’s blog. First, I like several of the other posters, who also comment on this blog. I learn a lot from them. I do not blog and comment on other blogs because I think I know everything, even though my blog covers a wide variety of topics–more than on which anyone could be called an expert. I blog and comment to learn. Sometimes I will have a growing interest in a topic, and blogging becomes a way to learn by teaching, which is widely considered an excellent way to learn. Mostly I blog to make myself less stupid. Secondly, I felt badly because in some way it could appear that I am trying to force my friend’s hand in banning someone he does not wish to ban (he has a no ban rule). However this is not the case. It is perfectly accepted practice to walk out of public forums in protest to what one party feels is an abuse of the forum itself. All the way from town hall meetings, to UN councils, this is standard practice.
Even in democratic forums, not everyone is welcome. Democracy is not the abolition of common sense in exchange for tolerating all behavior. Democracy is rule of the majority, and to say it is anything else is to expect too much. Democracy is quickly hijacked by forces of idiocy and evil when those on the other side view force as inherently evil. Some people refuse to ban others from blogs out of a “democratic spirit”. In the case of apollonian, this kind of thinking is like Batman letting the Joker run Gotham out of a sense of fairness, while everyone is begging the Dark Knight to take action. The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Rises, are two of my favorite movies of all time, for several reasons. They analyze very well how democracy needs someone who’s going to step up, even when it means they won”t be popular and what can happen when envy takes hold and the mob rules.
And besides, a blog or forum is not a democracy. Allowing people who are disruptive, hateful, or senseless to run rampant out of a sense of ideology just ruins the experience for everyone else. I used to play a lot of table top wargames while growing up. Entire summer days were spent in this manner, and everyone had fun. If someone showed up that lessened the fun for everyone else, that person wouldn’t get invited back. A blog should not be taken so seriously as to equate to the politics of a nation. No one’s freedom is being denied them when they get banned from a blog.
We can see what this attitude of “open mindedness” has wrought for America. For decades now, those who fundamentally opposed what made America so strong, its industrial and military might, its meritocracy, its familial bonds, those people have been allowed to run rampant and spread the propaganda that all ideas and cultures have equal value. But I’m going with Carlyle’s Great Man Theory. Great societies are not created and maintained by the random actions of a directionless populace. At some point, the Imperator is called to do his duty. That man is the one others look to emulate and set the example. America was fortunate enough to have been founded by a quiver full of great men who knew that liberty requires action. I believe the Founding Fathers would be appalled at the level of tolerance we show in America. Even Jefferson, that man of the people, knew when crushing action was needed, just as is recorded when he decided to take a military course against the Barbary Pirates. Jefferson writes:
protect our commerce & chastise their insolence—by sinking, burning or destroying their ships & Vessels wherever you shall find them
Women and attention
Over the years I’ve noticed something about women: they require an incredible amount of attention compared to men. Years ago when I was regularly playing men’s slow pitch softball, several men on my team would not be able to play in weekend tournaments or would say that they got into an argument with their girlfriend or spouse over the games. The woman did not want her man to play. No plans were cancelled because of the tournaments that I can remember. She simply wanted the husband or boyfriend to “be around”. And please know that in Maine where I played, the softball season is quite short and there are not many tournaments, even in the summer.
Even today I see examples of women who get angry at their husbands if their attention wanders from the woman. For instance, if a man plays video games, or wants to read a book, or even just have some coffee with a buddy, many of these women become quite upset.
This is an extraordinary need for control and attention. If the roles were reversed, and a man were telling a woman what she can and can’t do with her time, it’s easy to imagine the cliche’ responses from the woman’s friends. Obviously everyone needs attention, but I have seen cases where a woman will create a need right after her husband becomes distracted by something other than her.
All of this leads me to believe that the feminist movement didn’t in fact make many women independent. It may have made them more powerful, but this is something different than independence.
I believe much of this is the result of the massive changes in our culture over the last 50 years. What is the “role” of a man and woman in the family environment? In Army parlance, what is their lane? Lincoln stated, “A house divided cannot stand.” What for instance, is the mechanism for dispute resolution in many of today’s households? It is separation and divorce. In my grandmother’s day, that was not the answer. When she and my grandfather disagreed on something, my grandfather was the final arbiter on what flew and what didn’t . Today, many disputes result in persistent conflict because there are no cultural rules as to how they are resolved. Divorce rates have skyrocketed in the last 100 years of our county’s history, though they have co0me down a bit in the last couple of decades.
I once heard someone say: “No one knows how to be a parent when their first child is born.” And they are mostly correct. However, people used to know how to be parents, because they were taught how things ought to be from a very early age. Now, we reinvent the wheel with every birth and we’re paying dearly for this. We have witnessed the advent of the adolescent adult. Men don’t grow up until they’re 40 in some cases. And so it is with how women act now. There are no rules. They make it up as they go along.
I meet more and more men who just don’t want to be in relationships anymore. Most of them have come to the conclusion that if the relationship is not going to make their lives better, what’s the point? The result is fewer marriages and fewer children, and more unhappy people in my opinion. Despite everything, women are more unhappy than before the onslaught of Second Wave Feminism.
Militant egalitarianism is making us miserable. No organization can succeed if there are no rules and everyone is in charge.
The Crip Walk at the Olympics
Recently, after winning the gold medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics in tennis, Serena Williams dances the “Crip Walk” in celebration.
Williams defended herself by saying that she didn’t plan the dance, but that the joy from her victory overcame her and she began to spontaneously dance.
For those of you whom like me, didn’t know what the Crip Walk is, it is a dance created by the Crips street gang from Compton, California. The dance is associated with the violent and criminal lifestyles of gang members throughout California and has been banned in Los Angeles schools. MTV will not play videos (does MTV play videos anymore?) that display the Crip Dance.
While many are critical of Williams’ display, others defend her, saying that she should be able to celebrate in any manner she wants. Her defenders appeal to absurdity. Consider the response if a medal winner rendered the Nazi salute in celebration. And then defended themselves by saying it “just happened”. The fact that it happened spontaneously may speak worse of the person, since the act is obviously ingrained in their subconsciousness in some manner.
Others will say that the Crip Dance is “just a dance”, and that no harm was done. Again, ignorance. Perhaps a KKK hood is “just a pillow case”. Clearly symbols mean something. The Nazi swastika communicates a message because we know the world view of those that created it.
Gang violence in some places in America is a scourge. Murder, drugs, robbery, destruction of property are part and parcel for areas infected with gangs. There is nothing to be celebrated there. If people think they are celebrating black culture by celebrating the rituals of violent gangs, well, that ought to tell us something. The fact that Williams pulled this on a world stage is an embarrassment to our people. We all bear the shame.
Television and my return from war
This is my second full day back from Afghanistan, back with my family in Germany. Needless to say, it feels great to be home. Only one thing has marred my return experience: television.
In Afghanistan, I did have access to television, but very little. Sometimes a tv was on in my office, but the sound was usually off. Mostly, though, I didn’t watch any television.
My first night back, my wife was watching tv while I read at the kitchen table. The show airing was a reality show starring Shaquille O’neal’s ex-wife; apparently she feels the need to broadcast her dating habits to the whole world. More than likely, though, she needs more money, as surely the millions she scored in the divorce settlement aren’t enough to support her shopping habits. It was also very important that she repeatedly point out how young the males she’s dating are. Every fourth word or so uttered by the men needed to be beeped out by the television editors; todays 20 year olds’ vocabulary is quite limited and populated mostly by expletives.
After about 10 minutes listening to the destruction of my culture on television, I decided to lay down in bed and continue reading.
The next evening, MSNBC refreshed my memory as to why I feel like throwing a boulder through my television anytime that station shows up on my television. Some far left-winger was carrying on. Again, I chose my bed and a book over the blast radius of television noise.
I’ve decided that I missed very little from missing television for a year. The sensationalization and outright corruption in the media is an abomination. After my return from Afghanistan, I have little patience for such nonsense. Not that I’m against all television; today I fell asleep on my couch with my daughter while watching the Yankees play the Devil Rays.
My grandfather once said that television was going to destroy America. While that was an overstatement, it’s obvious what he was trying to say. And it’s obvious to me that my grandfather was right.