So, apparently …some posters were put up at some University type places around Toronto advertising for a website defending ‘western civilization’.
I’m all for that. We should have a charter… or something.
I’m about as western as they get, unless you count Alberta… they always like to unfairly corner that ‘western’ market.
Turns out though, they are anti-multiculturalism.
Darnit.
And I’m white. I should be able to use that privilege thing to… freely associate with my brethren.
Probably just some loser in his mom’s basement… but still.
If Muslims can have students associations, and Black lives madder, I’m sure I can find a reason…
Ok, you got me. This is beyond stupid. Why are my people so stupid? Is is genetic?
Joe you missed the big one, when you want to associate something like anti-multiculturalism to someone to colour the well, go with the tried and true like the creationists. Hitler is the go to guy when you want to create guilt by association.
Hitler proves evolution is evil, because he was an evolutionist even though he wasn’t.
Hitler proves atheism is evil, because he was an atheist even though he wasn’t.
Ray Comfort could teach you a few things:)
I’m glad we’re both drunk.
Hitler is so interesting because we are constantly asking, “Was Hitler the creator of all that evil or did he just take advantage of the evil that surrounded him?” I’m sure it was mostly the latter. There is an interesting YouTube video of Hitler returning to his hometown, Vienna. He ,in effect, promises the Viennese he will end multiculturalism and return the culture to the “Master Race” Germans. The townsfolk are so enthralled with this promise, effective immediately, that they went out, with tear-filled eyes of joy, and started the killing and looting.
Not something anyone should advocate. The cautionary tale is this: don’t try to subvert the mainstream culture by the adulation or practice of a bunch of foreign cultures. Work to improve the existing culture, otherwise, some angry nutcase will eventually come along and offer to restore our Canadian heritage, whatever it is thought to be, starting tonight.
MMMMM beer
no beer and no TV make billybob do something something
I have no problem with promoting white people, or western civilization. These are very worthy things, and there ought not be any shame in saying so. The slur that a white person is “just some [stupid] loser in his mom’s basement” is pretty weird, but I guess Joe seems to know more about that experience, so I’ll leave it to him to explain. I’ll just ask him not to prejudicially generalize his own failings to all white people.
Where the posters went wrong is that there is no longer a clear link between white people and the western civilization they grew, which now includes people of many races who advance it.
The website suggests that the Students for Western Civilization group is a right-wing group. And I guess that’s fine, but the point of Western democracy is to allow right AND left (and other) groups to compete for votes. They seem a bit confused. But they are right that there should be a diversity of opinion on campus.
So, anyway:
1. The white students union needs to rethink its message. It’s as good to be white as it is to be any other colour. It IS racist to allow other groups to gather and promote themselves, and not to allow white people the same, with pride and celebration.
2. Western civilization is also worth celebrating, for achievements in governance, science, liberty, and equality. Other civilizations, including for example the Muslim Arab civilization, did some great things too (e.g. math, naming the stars). But let’s be honest. Today, this is the best. We need to be saying that.
3. It’s terrible that universities have normalized censorship. Perhaps we need to make it a crime to tear down a group’s posters within minutes of going up. Adults are supposed to respond to speech not with censorship, but with more (not louder) speech. “Safe space” is for the captive audience of high school. When you choose to go to university, you are deciding not to do something safe.
Where the posters went wrong is that there is no longer a clear link between white people and the western civilization they grew…
There’s certainly a clear historical link, which many people among both fans and detractors of Western civilisation take quite seriously. Maybe Students For Western Civilisation (I think I’ll just call them SFWC) are conflating whiteness and Western civilisation to an unreasonable degree, but surely those two things can’t be completely decoupled either. The issue sounds like something a White Students Union could fruitfully discuss at its first meeting, if one were ever successfully organised.
The website suggests that the Students for Western Civilization group is a right-wing group. And I guess that’s fine, but the point of Western democracy is to allow right AND left (and other) groups to compete for votes.
Based on what I can see on the website, SFWC would probably say that the left has become so “culturally Marxist” (kind of a silly term, but the mindset it purports to describe is quite real) that having anything good to say about white people or Western civilisation is a right-wing position. Personally, I wish people would worry less about the political spectrum and just argue for the positions and ideas they believe in.
But let’s be honest. Today, this is the best. We need to be saying that.
I think comparisons like that are close to meaningless because the criteria for being “the best” are so flexible – it all boils down to what people value and what kind of society they want to live in. East Asian civilisation probably works better than Western civilisation for people who prioritise stability and social harmony, and I’m not prepared to dismiss such people as somehow wrong-headed. I think Western civilisation is pretty terrific, but it’s an entirely subjective sort of appreciation.
It’s terrible that universities have normalized censorship. Perhaps we need to make it a crime to tear down a group’s posters within minutes of going up.
I don’t know about making it a crime, but you’d hope that universities themselves would do something to discourage such behaviour. The report in the Star says that both Ryerson and York condemned SFWC’s posters rather than the removal of the posters, which is disappointing to say the least.