tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post6806969224502202778..comments2024-03-29T07:38:17.008-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: Cultural HegemonyBryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-74385206986752706132015-07-11T15:12:01.984-05:002015-07-11T15:12:01.984-05:00Heh, no, Social Justice Warriors are not likely to...Heh, no, Social Justice Warriors are not likely to be thick on the ground on that path!<br /><br />Rickard, I think that the everlasting popularity of Marxism, communism and socialism is that, whether there is any truth to them or not, this way of looking at things is ENORMOUSLY USEFUL to all politicians, especially the unscrupulous ones. They can always get up and tell people that their identity group is oppressed by someone and that they, the politicians, are there to help. Some people tend to believe this stuff.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-52253856359114120432015-07-11T14:54:53.116-05:002015-07-11T14:54:53.116-05:00Rickard Dahl, Very interesting to read your commen...Rickard Dahl, Very interesting to read your comment. Just one random observation, as I get ready to go out: I looked up the Bohusleden online and it looks to be a wonderful series of hikes, an adventure. :-) One of my own long term projects is making the pilgrimage from the south of France to Santiago de Compostella, the Camino de Santiago, as it's called: should be able to do this within the next couple of years. I think I won't meet any SJWs on the way. :-)Marc in Eugenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04331547981498637474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-77432897316347747642015-07-11T12:10:50.289-05:002015-07-11T12:10:50.289-05:00Interesting insights into the Marxist ideology. Th...Interesting insights into the Marxist ideology. The Marxist push in Western societies makes no sense from a purely logical/intuitive perspective. One would think that equality of opportunity that is present for the most part in the West would be enough. Everyone has the same opportunity regardless of their identity. Of course true equality of opportunity doesn't exist since everyone is different (different genetics, different talents, different interests etc.) and there are various life circumstances that prevent certain opportunities but it's as a concept the best we can do. Basically equal rights, equal responsibilities and equal opportunities is what works best for each individual. For the most part we have those things. However the Marxist view is that somehow there should be equality of outcome. Of course that is far less possible than equality of opportunities because people are different and you can't force equal outcome unless you push the better people down to the level of the worse people (better and worse basically refers to skill level at something). That way you drag everyone down and lower the societal standard overall rather than striving for the best societal standard through competition. After all if the geniuses can innovate, create art or whatever else then everyone else will benefit. For instance Bill Gates is amongst the richest people ever and it might seem unfair on the surface. However Bill Gates has increased the standard of living for billions of people. Of course Bill Gates isn't the only one that should receive credit but rather the whole computer and software industry should. It could be argued that people would still innovate in a Marxist system but the reality is that the incentive would be lost for the most part.<br /><br />A big feature of modern Marxism as practiced by feminists, by academia etc. is that their issues really aren't "issues" when looking at the big picture. They might state that there aren't enough female conductors for instance but the natural follow-up question is: "So what?" What if females don't want to work as that? Should they be forced? The same thing goes for politics, STEM fields etc. On the flip side I don't see anyone asking why there aren't more male nurses, which of course would also be a stupid question. However it goes far beyond that. Nowadays if a for instance teacher "offends" a student there's a big outrage and there are students who demand safe spaces or demand that certain persons shouldn't speak at universities due to their views. They also keep pushing for censorship in various art forms including video games, movies, comic books etc. I have heard a theory which I think is probably correct: Basically, the safer society gets the more of these people (often referred to as Social Justice Warriors (SJWs)) we get and the more extreme they get (they demand more and more safety for instance, i.e. safety from being exposed to views they don't like etc.). If we had wars or threats of war or if we had worse living standards no one would take these people seriously. I doubt people in Africa for instance care about whether their universities have safe spaces or not for instance. They have bigger issues to worry about. Ironically the West isn't worry-free either. The debt for instance is incredibly high in the US. Another example is the EU having way too much power. In a sense these issues are less visible and more abstract than wars of threats of war so the SJW types get a significant platform to push their politics.Rickardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08084578675339015204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-63640698201025664272015-07-05T07:42:30.007-05:002015-07-05T07:42:30.007-05:00Thanks so much Marc. I was worrying that this post...Thanks so much Marc. I was worrying that this post was just too "out there". But there seemed to be a need to explain a few things. And a happy Independence Day to you as well.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-20822694855546489492015-07-04T22:50:44.666-05:002015-07-04T22:50:44.666-05:00A great pleasure to read on the US's Independe...A great pleasure to read on the US's Independence Day; thank you! and cheers for Canada, too, alas three days late. An earthquake this morning-- magnitude 4.2! most unusual hereabouts-- just before Mass reminded me of the precarious nature of our comparatively liberal societies, which I suspect will continue to flourish in part because of our resolve to do what we can to derail the ongoing Marxist/Gramscian machines.Marc in Eugenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04331547981498637474noreply@blogger.com