Shatner took a rambling, incoherent speech and made it comprehensible. More proof why he's awesome.
Shatner Does Palin
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
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Really? I get that Republicans (and I'll be honest: myself) are worried that white people are dying out*, what with all the wonderful things we have to share with the heathens and the inferior races on the earth.**. A reference to this Trig seems pretty straightforward, though..Cheeze_Pavilion said:
I see what you're saying, but I'm not convinced that Sarah Palin is really thinking, or speaking, that deeply into these things. To put it politely, I just don't believe she's really thought about the problem you mention (if it turns out to be) - and certainly not put much thought into how to express it so covertly. It seems more likely (especially after such a bizarre speech - how much subtlety can we ascribe to it?) she was just trying to express her views on Trig.
*Demographically, it's true.
** To put it nicer, I think anglo-saxons at least have some valuable cultural...values - certainly more than what they've been credited with. Though the world won't cease to exist without us, I think the jury's still out on how well it will exist without all those lovey dovey views on freedom, democracy, rights and justice we spent so long clumsily staggering towards. Not to say that no one from any other culture ever had a bright idea along those lines, but it'd be nice if we white people, who have messed things up long enough before we came to our current kinda-enlightenment, could avert a similarly bloody process of learning bypassing along such ideas to those who haven't.
We've had some real dust-ups before, so I'll say it now: this isn't meant so much as an argument, but rather a question and expression of disbelief.
Anglo-Saxons was a bad call I'll admit. The better phrase would have been "West", as you've said. The French have contributed a lot to our political thought and they would chafe at the label "Anglo-Saxon". The Scottish Enlightenment (Adam Smith for example) is also a fascinating event that wasn't really Anglo-Saxon - at least not in terms of who did Enlighten (though how they enlightened and how it was sparked is something I'd like to study).Cheeze_Pavilion said:
And the worst ideological contributions of the west are undeniable, though I'd forgotten them at the time. Though some of Marx's sentiments are understandable, it's amazing how much damage the spread of his more literal teachings have done. And while we're on the subject: nationalism. What an idea to spread to people who weren't really into it at the time.
And Rousseau was Swiss? Geez, here I was thinking he was a frog through and through.
I think the line between philosophical ideas and cultural values blurs a bit over time though. An idea begins as simply that, but if taken up it can morph into a thing that I would say is more cultural than philosophical - it's bone-deep, no longer intellectual.
...And now I don't even know what we're talking about anymore. The overall value of Western culture to the world? That's deep man. Far beyond my pay-grade. Though please continue. I'm learning.
I'd also agree with you here.Cheeze_Pavilion said:
However, I still think there's an important demographic feature to what ideas win through: when there are more of group X than group Y, largely the views of group Y will tend to win through.* There are other factors, but pure numbers come into play. Unfortunately, as you say, those who hold many of the West's better values also tend to value having children less.
*Which isn't to say that this group Y doesn't have worthwhile values either. The West ain't the be-all-end-all.
Well, becoming a citizen takes work, meanwhile you have no money, half an art degree and it's the start of winter. You'll freeze in the streets.superdance14 said:
Don't you get it? If you die in Canada, you die in real life!
/reference.
Cookie to everyone who gets it. If you don't, be ashamed.
