It would be absurd to appraise a man's worth by the race to which he belongs and at the same time to make war against the Marxist principle, that all men are equal, without being determined to pursue our own principle to its ultimate consequences. If we admit the significance of blood, that is to say, if we recognize the race as the fundamental element on which all life is based, we shall have to apply to the individual the logical consequences of this principle. In general I must estimate the worth of nations differently, on the basis of the different races from which they spring, and I must also differentiate in estimating the worth of the individual within his own race. The principle, that one people is not the same as another, applies also to the individual members of a national community. No one brain, for instance, is equal to another; because the constituent elements belonging to the same blood vary in a thousand subtle details, though they are fundamentally of the same quality.The first consequence of this fact is comparatively simple. It demands that those elements within the folk-community which show the best racial qualities ought to be encouraged more than the others and especially they should be encouraged to increase and multiply.
This task is comparatively simple because it can be recognized and carried out almost mechanically. It is much more difficult to select from among a whole multitude of people all those who actually possess the highest intellectual and spiritual characteristics and assign them to that sphere of influence which not only corresponds to their outstanding talents but in which their activities will above all things be of benefit to the nation. This selection according to capacity and efficiency cannot be effected in a mechanical way. It is a work which can be accomplished only through the permanent struggle of everyday life itself.
From My Struggle, by an obscure Austrian painter.
Eric Olsen updates the script for the 21st Century:
Many people wish the subject of race would go away. But wishing doesn't make it so. We have been told for some time now that race is a "biologically meaningless" concept. A report last week in the NY Times asserts that isn't so:[. . .] It seems clear to me that if there are identifiable genetic differences between groups, then race does exist as a biological concept:
[. . .] So race exists at the genetic level: it is a real biological concept. What does this mean for human relations?
[. . .] The key would appear to accept objective differences between groups without yielding to the temptation to stigmatize "difference" as inherently inferior - a tall order for hearts and heads alike.
That's the last paragraph. Before that, he writes:
Surely the ideology expressed by Islamofascists and Palestinian terrorists is hopelessly anti-Semitic and racist. . .
The audio for last weekend's This American Life is up at their site. There's a short -- not interview, really, no questioner interrupts her -- a young Israeli woman speaks about the people she technically shares a country with. I'd like to say I found it chilling, or shocking, or even just disappointing.
Not much point feigning reactions for rhetorical effect, though. I leave that to others.
I don't think they realize how they sound to anyone who doesn't think like them, and they refuse to acknowledge the possibility that any reasonable person could disagree. So any objections are, by definition, unreasonable, irrational or just plain incoherent.
Well, I wish all sides the very best of luck in their Holy Crusade to eradicate the Hated, Evil Enemy, and look forward to meeting you in the enlightened paradise you're so passionately committed to building on this earth.
Not that there's room for the likes of me any of your paradises, but maybe I can get a temp job somewhere.
Update 8/7: Quote/link from Eric Olsen, not Alterman, as I'd previously written. The latter does the Altercation blog at MSNBC. Odd mistake, given their diametrically opposed political views, and that in Minnesota you can't fling a cat without hitting someone named some variant of Olsen.
Look, I'll prove it to you. Where's a cat?
Excellent post. More like this, please.
Ahem- there's always London Below. You know I've suggested it as a future career-option for you before.
But I don't wanna be a minor deity. . .
So be a major one. The incence might make you sneeze, but the virgins are ample compensation.
Plus you get to smite things. Think of the possibilities, (wo)man!!
I think you mean Olsen, rather then Alterman.
Good post.
BTW.
I gave, it hurt, where's my t-shirt?
You do have t-shirts, don't you?
Thanks for the catch, Martin. Fixed, and stupidity noted on the front page for all to see.
T-shirt? Um. . . (looks around), how about a slightly used copy of "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" instead?
Sorry. First thing I spotted.
Garrity, I think the maidens aspiring to godhead, and vice versa, belongs in the R&DAD discussion.
The Hindu pantheon looks cool, though. Androgynous, more than the usual number of arms, the majority of which are holding something sharp, hanging with Kali. . .