If we apply yesterday's abstract conical caper to the herebelow, we can see how it relates to the triangulated war for the future of civilization that is currently taking place between Islam, Western European socialism, and American style classical liberalism, i.e., World War IV (which Petey says is really the dénouement of Cosmic War I).
As such, it would be a mistake to view this tri-light struggle in terms of three competing ideologies on a horizontal plane. Rather, like most important world-historical events, this war is fundamentally taking place in vertical historical space, but just working itself out in the horizontal -- very much like a personal neurosis, which has its source in the timeless "lower vertical" realm of the unconscious, but plays itself out in one's actions, relationships, etc. The horizontal is the vertical "extended," so to speak.
I hope it's obvious to the reader that we are dealing in huge generalities, without which thought is impossible. For example, to say that "Nazi Germany was evil" is not to say that every single German in 1940 was evil.
Likewise, when we talk about socialist Europe, we know full well that a remnant of flinty Coons still survive there with their usual genetic endowment of gravel in the guts and the spit in the eye, such as Johan the Cosmic Swede or Magnus Noorwegenkøønen. And America is overrun with spiritually naughty zeros and zeroines who dream of underminding the robust cardiocerebral principles upon which America was founded.
With that caveat in mind, you may view the United States and its spiritual allies as ideally reflecting a transcendent position above (the "shining city on a hill"), the Western Europeans occupying a fully immanent one on the two dimensional plane in between (the multicultural rainbow of absolute relativism), and the Islamists down below, in a transcendently dark and evil and infrahuman principality. The latter are mere the puppets of the Asura.
Importantly, this infrahuman domain is not to be confused with the animal realm, for there is no animal that would give its life for a transcendently evil cause, as do Islamists. Most of the real wholesale evil in history is caused by groups inhabiting this lower vertical area. Moreover, just as there are messiahs, avatars, and vibhutis who descend to earth and embody the upper transcendent to accomplish a divine mission, there are "avatars of evil" who embody and give voice to the lower vertical: bin Laden, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao, et al. The uncoony and preternatural power of such men is transhuman (even if subhuman), and cannot be explained by recourse to any mere human psychology.
If there is an animal-human realm, then it is actually the purely immanent-horizontal space occupied by Western Europe. Although they think of us as "selfish" because of our low taxes and smaller government, it is actually the other way around. Although superficially socialism may appear to be more humane, Mark Steyn points out that "nothing makes a citizen more selfish than socially equitable communitarianism: Once a fellow enjoys the fruits of government health care and all the rest, he couldn't give a hoot about the broader social interest; he's got his, and if it's going to bankrupt the state a generation hence, well, as long as they can keep the checks coming till he's dead, it's fine by him." In this sense, Social democracy is eventually "explicitly anti-social" (NR, 11-7-05).
There is a further corrosion of the soul that takes place with European style socialism, in that, because it elevates material desires to the highest, it cynically cuts the heart out of any transcendent view of the world, anything beyond the immediate animal senses. Thus, humanism spells the end of the human vocation. As Steyn explains, it perversely elevates secondary priorities such as mandated six week vacations over primary ones such as family, national defense, and spiritual attainment. And change is almost impossible, because the great majority have become dependent on government, which causes a sort of "adherence" to horizontal. You cannot rouse the ideals of a nation that has lost its ideals. Any politician who threatens the entitlement system cannot get elected in Western Europe. The situation is analogous to an addict who has given over his power to the pusher.
By attempting to create the perfect society on earth through government coercion, it actually diminishes our humanity, since it relieves human beings of having to exert the continual moral effort to make the world a better place, as this is only possible by maintaining contact with the realm of transcendent moral ideals. In other words, European socialism is actually a flight from morality, thereby making people less humane, not more. It is a bogus kind of freedom, because it merely frees one from the vertical while condemning one to the horizontal. As Pope Benedict has written,
I am convinced that the destruction of transcendence is the actual amputation of human beings from which all other sicknesses flow. Robbed of their real greatness they can only find escape in illusory hopes.... The loss of transcendence evokes the flight to utopia.
As summarized in Meditations on the Tarot, the human being is always faced with the choice between two basic attitudes or outlooks: that of existential being or that of essential Being. According to the choice he makes, he is either "orphaned" in the purely material, deterministic and horizontal realm with no reality higher than the individual self; or, his individual being is grounded in the more essential, trans-subjective Being which is his true home. The cynical European existentialist lives shackled in the Egyptian "house of bondage," in manacles forged by the deterministic/materialistic outlook, whereby one is imprisoned in a fully material reality, alienated from the spiritual source of our Being. That is, no vertical causes can arise in the closed chain of cause and effect, so that one is truly in bondage as it pertains to the moral/spiritual realm.
From the existential outlook follows a host of disastrous ideas, such as class determines consciousness, poverty causes crime, free will is an illusion, private property is theft, hierarchy is evil, the vertical dimension is a hoax to keep you oppressed, and worst of all, the idea that a coercive state is needed to enforce equality (vs. the American belief in a Creator who endows us with spiritual liberty which it is government's primary job to protect). The freedom of mere animal passion forges the fetters that bind Western Europe to its horizontal wasteland.
And this is why efforts to appease and buy off the Islamists will never succeed, since the Islamists are every bit as idealistic as the United States -- only in the infrahuman realm.
*****
A while back, Yasser Arafat penned these new sophisticated lyrics that he was hoping Diana Krall would incorporate into her version. Turns out he was a big fan. Who knew?
Don't be a brave man, we want you to cave, man
Don’t try to weasel me, just appeasel me
Either you accomodate, or we detonate
I’m getting angry, now give me a state!
Show me you fear me, make sure you hear me
Best way to cheer me, don't let a Jew near me
Hop when I threaten, is that your pants you're wettin'?
I’m getting angry, now give me a state!
Here’s how to be an agreeable Gaul
Love us and leave us with Sharia law
Wine me and dine me, then Palestine me,
I'm getting angry, now give me a state!
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Theme Song
27 comments:
"The uncoony and preternatural power of such men is transhuman (even if subhuman), and cannot be explained by recourse to any mere human psychology."
The collective unconscious, the "we" (not a dominate monad in Whiteheads sense), and intrapsychic confusion.
If I were to write an essay response to this post it would probably look like the above title.
Coonskrit coming in loud and clear today - keen understanding.
From the uncoon, infrahuman realm:
“There’s a beauty to that, because it was the people who decided he was a saint - He represents the belief, power and will of the people.” - Bondage inside the closed chain or cause and effect.
Wow. An anti-saint. Isn't actually having morality a prerequisite for sainthood, i.e, holiness? The twisting is so clear...
Where do India, China, the rest of Asia, Latin America, and Africa fit in this cosmic struggle between American liberalism, European socialism, and Islamic fanaticism?
Also, America, as enlightened as it is (ideally) in promoting the healthy development of the person (once we were able to define "person" beyond land-ownning white male) still treats the rest of the world in less than ideal terms in its drive for empire and natural resources. Liberty at home, tyranny and calumny abroad. It supports truly evil soul-crushing regimes like Saudi Arabia as well an inherently racist/ethnocentric regimes like Israel out of selfish needs for oil and military supremacy. If America were true to its roots, it would value being a republic more than an empire.
Finally, since you do see the tripartite conflict of America/Europe/Islam in cosmic terms rather than geopolitical and historic ones, do you think the solution is cosmic as well? Is the way out of the horizontal to vertical in Europe through the rediscovery of religion and spirituality and dismantling of government social services? Is the solution of Islam's current fanaticism and militancy a genuine re-entry into the immanent mystical nature of its core teachings? Or should they just give up Islam and embrace Christianity or Hinduism (not likely) or become, say, Baha'i in order to redirect their verticality up instead of down?
I'm really interested in your ideas for solutions to this cosmic war.
inherently... racist... ethnocentric... regimes... like... Israel....
{taking deep breath while rummaging around for pliers & blowtorch.... what did Bob teach me? SERENITY NOW! SERENITY NOW!}
Heh. Suddenly, I'm reminded of an astute observation made by Lileks yesterday, in which he links to this motto contest (careful - that link now has over 1100 comments, and may take a while to load, especially if you have a dial-up connection).
cousin dupree:
It would be more useful for you to offer a cogent argument than an adolescent rant. Just a suggestion.
Israel IS inherently racist/ethnocentric. I have many Jewish friends who also think so. It is meant as a homeland for people of a particular ethnic background/religion. so... "If you're Muslim or Christian, please move out because we don't really want you there, though we'll grudgingly tolerate you as a minority. God(Yahweh) forbid that you become more numerous than us! God said this land belongs to us, so there! End of story. Also, we'll put you in a virtual concentration camp in the occupied territories, treating you like animals and denigrating your humanity. This is our subtle way of making you move across the border to Jordan, where you truly belong. Judea and Samaria should not be polluted by your nasty Arab bodies."
Of course, there is obviously much anti-Jewish sentiment on the Arab side, too, but let's call a spade a spade. Both peoples fail to see the divinity of the other as children on the same One God.
You're either sick, evil, or just plain stupid, so there is no point in our responding to you or to commenting here.
MEMO (to sami)
This is an automated reply from the Bullshit Detector at Little Green Footballs.
Your recent post contained troll-like characteristics which resembles the type of message sent by spoiled ISM members on summer holiday, college students who have recently inhaled Noam Chomsky’s foul rantings, Adam Shapiro wannabes, Nazi sympathizers, or genuine Koranimals.
In order to prevent another thread being hijacked, and to send your message to the appropriate department for response (FOAD, GAZE, Go Away Gordon, or The Bus To Rachel Corrie’s Tomb Is Leaving - Be Sure You’re Under It), kindly reply to the following questions:
1. Are you aware that the Disputed Territories never belonged to the “Palestinians” and only came into Israeli possession as a result of the 1967 six day war in which Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon all massed forces at Israel’s border in order to “push the Jews into the sea”. The Arabs lost and Israel took control of the land. Do you agree that if the Koranimals don’t want to lose territory to Israel, then they shouldn’t start wars? Do you agree that there is justice that Israel, who as far back as 1948 has always sought peace with her far larger neighbors, should live in prosperity - making the desert bloom - while the residents of 19 adjacent Arab countries who are blessed with far more land as well as oil wealth live in their own feces?
2. Did you know that the “Palestinians” could have had their own country as far back as 1948 had they accepted the UN sponsored partition plan which gave Israel AND the Palestinians a countries of their own on land which Jews had lived on for thousands of years before Mohammed ever had a wet dream about virgins? The Arabs rejected the UN offer and went to war with the infant Israeli nation. The Arabs lost and have been whining about it ever since. Do you agree this is like a murderer who kills his parents and asks for special treatment since he is now an orphan?
3. Can you tell us ANY Arab country which offers Jews the right to be citizens, vote, own property, businesses, be a part of the government or have ANY of the rights which Israeli Arabs enjoy? Any Arab country which gives those rights to Christians? How about to other Arabs? Wouldn’t you just LOVE to be a citizen of Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iran, or Syria?
4. Since as many Jews (approximately 850,000) were kicked out of Arab countries as were Arabs who left present day Israel (despite being literally begged to stay), why should Arabs be permitted to return to Israel if Jews aren’t allowed to set foot in Arab countries? Can you explain why Arabs can worship freely in Israel but Jews would certainly be hung from street lamps after having their intestines devoured by an Arab mob if they so much as entered an Arab country?
5. Israel resettled and absorbed all of the Jews from Arab countries who wished to become Israelis. Why haven’t any Arab countries offered to resettle Arabs who were displaced from Israel, leaving them to rot for 60 years in squalid refugee camps? And why are those refugee camps still there? Could it be that the billions of dollars that the UNWRA has sent there goes to terrorist groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad, El Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, or Hezbollah? How did Yassir Arafat achieve his $300 million in wealth? Why aren’t these funds distributed for humanitarian use?
6. Did you know that the Arabs in the disputed territories (conquered by Israel in the 1967 war which was started by Arabs) and who are not Israelis already have two countries right now? And that they are called Egypt and Jordan?
7. If your complaint is about the security fence which Israel is finally building in the Disputed Territories, are you aware that it is built solely to keep the “brave” Arab terrorists out so that they can no longer self detonate on busses, in dining halls or pizzerias and kill Jewish grandmothers and schoolchildren? Why are the Arabs so brave when they target unarmed civilians but even when they outnumber their opponents they get their sandy asses kicked all the way to Mecca when they are faced with Jewish soldiers? Why do Arab soldiers make the French look like super heroes?
8. Please explain why you are so concerned about Arabs, who possess 99% of the land in this region and are in control of the world’s greatest natural resource, which literally flows out of the ground? Can’t their brother muslims offer some of the surplus land and nature’s riches to the “Palestinians”? Or is it true that Arabs are willing to die right down to the last “Palestinian”?
9. Why do you not exhibit the same level of concern for say, people in Saudi Arabia who are beheaded, subject to amputation, stoning, honor killing etc.? What about women who are denied any semblance of basic civil rights, including the right not to be treated as property for the entertainment and abuse of her father, brothers, or husbands? What about the Muslims in Sudan and Egypt who are still enslaved, or the women there whose genitalia are barbarically cut off? How about the oppression of Shiites by Sunnis, the gassing of the Kurds by Iraq, or the massacre of “Palestinians” by Jordan (Black September)? Why doesn’t this concern you?
10. Did you ever stop to wonder how much better off everyone in the region would be if Arabs stopped trying to kill Jews and destroy Israel? What would happen if the Israelis gave up their weapons and disarmed? Would they live to see the next day? But what would happen if the Arabs completely disarmed? You know the answer: They would all be AT PEACE! And if there is no war to rile them up, the Arabs would be forced to look at their own repressive, pre-medieval societies. Why would they want to do that when there are Jews to kill?
11. Have you heard “People who define themselves primarily by what they hate, rather than who they love, are doomed to failure and misery”? Can you see the parallels to the Arabs, who are blessed with land and oil, but still gladly train their children to kill themselves in order to kill Jews? Have you heard Golda Meir’s words to the effect of “There will be peace when the Arabs love their children more than they hate ours”? Why do the Arabs hate so much?
Please state your answers to the questions listed above. If you need assistance or require additional
Some of that got cut off. Nekama's Troll Hammer from LGF. (sorry for length)
JWM
Yo, Anonymous,
How about forwarding a copy of the very excellent "Sami Memo" to the National Council of Churches?
Bob F:
I should have made myself a little clearer for the bennefit of those who don't spend a lot of time over at Little Green Footballs. That post, entitled Nekama's Troll Hammer, was such a hit that Charles Johnson placed a permanent link to it in the LGF resources over at the left side bar of the front page of the blog. There is more to it, including a great list of links at the end, but I was a little hasty, and didn't get it all copied.
JWM
gagdad bob:
I'm really disappointed that you would resort to such hateful words and ad hominem attacks. You seem like such a learned person from the book that you wrote. Sadly, all that book learning hasn't made you a spiritually wise person, because spiritually wise people speak with words of understanding and compassion, especially to those with whom they disagree. If you don't wish to engage in a respectful discussion, I will leave you in peace.
anonymous:
Obviously this topic touches a raw nerve with you, as your hatred and contempt are frighteningly clear.
If you re-read my post, I also strongly condemn Saudi Arabia. In fact, I'm very vehement in my opposition to all hateful exclusivist ways of thinking and living. If I came across as too harsh in my assessment of Israel, I apologize for offending your sense of justice. I sincerely believe all of humanity is one family. When we relaize that and start treating each other as brothers and sisters, only then will true peace blossom in our inner and outer lives. Peace be with you.
Sami: I don't hate you, I despise you. Ad hominem is perfectly appropriate when the hominem in question stupid, evil, or sick, which you are.
As for "speaking with words of understanding and compassion, especially to those with whom they disagree," you referred to Israel as "inherently racist," which is a grotesque lie and a disgusting thing to say.
Your bullshit may fly in Teheran, KKK meetings, or the UN, but not here. Please return my book and I'll issue a refund. I don't want your grubby hands near my words.
Much more eloquently put, DL.
Although I think that my comments more accurately matched the sophistication of his original comments.
Amazing. Despite the apparent threat from terrorism, the nutjob right reserves its most deepseated bile for " europe" ....whatever the hell that is !!
And prove... meaning facts and figures... that Americans aren't heavily taxed. Then, add on all the dollars needed for education and health care and you'll find out that you come off second best.
Oh, and by the by, publish on your website the curriculum for French and German schoolchildren, and then explain how they're indoctrinated in materialism.
You might want to add Arabic to the curriculum, so you can communicate with your new overlords.
To: The Palestinian People
From: The People of Israel
Re: Final Notice Before the Termination of Our Relationship
Date: "To Be Determined"
(To be filed in your "Permanent Conduct Record")
AS YOU KNOW from our repeated meetings over many years, we have repeatedly done our best to accommodate your incessant demands regarding employment, compensation, housing allowances, health benefits, and other items of mutual interest as we have endeavored to work together on "Project Peace in the Middle East."
We have, with your agreement and assurances of a better performance, given you time, money, professional help, medication and a more than reasonable offer of land for you to live in while you work out "your issues." In the course of these meetings we feel we have been more than forthcoming in our attendance to your "special needs."
Read the rest.
JWM, Thanks for that post, that save me a lot of hunting.
Cousin Dupree, I've got some wicked cool pliers and a striker, if you've got the torch.
sami-inte - your oily swish polite-light speak and uninformed assumptions expose your ignorant bigotry, describe you to us far better than further description could... but I feel compelled to give it a try.
It is difficult to explain how filthy and disgusting it is to read your words, to realize that a human being can purposefully drag their mind through such willful ignorance and malice, and then attempt to dress it up in faux politeness - thinking that no one will notice their depravity if they toss in some nearly forgotten magic phrases of civility.... the sensation on our end, is sort of like answering a knock on your door in the middle of the night to find a self-made hag of a heroin addict, its scabbed arms and skeletal body thoroughly drenched in its own drying feces and vomit, and preposterously wearing a formal gown that appears to have once been white, while exposing split and rotted teeth with maggots wriggling through the gaps of an imitation smile.
With horror, you realize that the thing at your door thinks that its clothing should guarantee its welcome and invitation into your home, as it attempts to lay claim to your sense of decency and politeness, even though it obviously harbors none within itself - but the sight and smell of such a creature is such that we find ourselves unable to politely turn you away, but must slam the door shut to avoid becoming sick to our stomachs.
Namaste.
“You cannot rouse the ideals of a nation that has lost its ideals. Any politician who threatens the entitlement system cannot get elected in Western Europe. The situation is analogous to an addict who has given over his power to the pusher.”
We’ve all heard that no army can withstand an Idea whose time has come, but we rarely hear that no army can rally around an Idea whose understanding has been lost.
Thank God for homeschoolers and parents who still retain the ideas of America, because they do not exist in our public schools. I can tell you that in watching movies like “The Patriot” and “Pearl Harbor” at our house over the years with my kids friends, the questions and surprise from their friends, a mix of public and homeschoolers, made it clear which was which – it doesn’t matter that the movies might not be thoroughly historically accurate, when you hear questions like “we were attacked?”, and questions and comments that show not only no grasp of when, where, and who were in involved in the wars, but more importantly why there were wars, or who were the good guys (us?!) in them.
“You cannot rouse the ideals of a nation that has lost its ideals”
No you can’t – I hope we’re aware of that, especially with the state of the current political crop, I hope we’re aware of that.
sami - your hate filled, self serving, self congratulatory, hypocrisy is really a astounding. What a maroon!
Well, at least, jwm added a positive aspect to your vile crap and posted Nekama's Troll Hammer. So, I guess I should thank you for posting such hate filled, self serving, self congratulatory, hypocritical drivel.
Sami,
Just in case you're still following this, I think you ought to know that they're right and you're wrong.
You may think it's a matter of opinion, but it's not. Assuming, that is, that you want to call a spade a spade.
Dead on the money with the filthy hag image.
The Left = filth + moral pomposity
Sami - Quite simply now - the Jews are GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE. Get it? Go ahead and mess with them. Seriously, go ahead. I have my goggles on and am waiting for your head to explode. It won't be pretty. You piss-ant.
Hmmm. Was that too subtle? People tell me I can be too subtle at times.
Bob,
Did you do another WIE interview? ;*)
Cuz,
I would exercise my right to choose between a wooden stake or silver bullet…or use both to be certain.
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