Week 29, 2020
MONDAY, 13 JULY 2020
There is a fascinating trend in public discourse. Something is true and correct. Then someone who is classified as on the political “right” points out that the thing is true and correct. Then it becomes a “right-wing talking point” that this something is true and correct. Is the thing then true and correct or not?
Or, something is a good idea, such as drinking enough water, or not consuming too much sugar. Then someone labelled as “conservative” expresses agreement with the idea. Then it becomes a “conservative point of view” that the idea is good. Is the idea now good or not?
TUESDAY, 14 JULY 2020
Telling blacks in poverty that they are victims of capitalism and racism makes it more likely that they remain in poverty.
— Larry Elder (@larryelder) July 12, 2020
(In case the tweet disappears, click here for a snapshot.)
Suppose a young adult man has been a victim of capitalism – say the guy worked for a business where the owner decided labour costs were too high and his profits were too low to make the business worthwhile for him, and he let some workers go. One could argue then that the man was a victim of capitalism. But will it help him to tell him that? Will it help him to put food on the table by hammering it into him and letting the sense of injustice simmer in him until it reaches boiling point? Or would it be better to teach him how to improve himself, how to expand and sharpen his skills, and how he too can thrive in a free-market capitalist system?
A similar argument can be made about a young adult man who has experienced prejudice over an aspect of his person over which he had no choice, such as skin colour or ethnicity. Would it be constructive to cultivate a sense of grievance in him? Would it help him to be successful? Would it help his children to thrive on their own as adults if this grievance is also programmed into them? Or would it be better if he taught his children that some people treat other people badly, but that they are in the minority, and that there are many more people in the world – of all races and ethnicities, and of different cultures and beliefs – who want to see them succeed?
* * *
And this:
KKK: Whites are the superior race, and we pride ourselves in accepting it.
CRT: Whites are the superior race, and we hate ourselves for accepting it.
— James Lindsay, knows kung fu (@ConceptualJames) July 14, 2020
(In case the tweet disappears, click here for a snapshot.)
Isn’t there some truth in this? After all, disciples of Critical Race Theory believe that regardless of the talent, intelligence, entrepreneurial ability, creativity, and support of friends and family, no black person in a society where they are in the minority can ever rise above a certain level of success. Why not? According to CRT disciples, because white people are simply too powerful, and all who are not white are oppressed in a white-dominated system because … Why exactly? Because it’s somehow bad if everyone hustles and makes money and finds happiness and success?
WEDNESDAY, 15 JULY 2020
The central idea of Mark Douglas’ book, Trading in the Zone, is that powerful thoughts, including beliefs and phobias, are like bundles of electricity are in your brain – almost like charged batteries. Every time a certain thing happens, or when someone says something, it’s as if someone connects the wires to the battery, and it then “shocks” you into a particular response or behaviour.
Everyone gets programmed from an early age with certain beliefs, or it is made clear to you that you have to react in a certain way to certain stimuli, or you are exposed to things that scare you, which drives home the association that this particular thing is dangerous and wants to harm you. All of these beliefs, fears, and behavioural associations are, according to Mark Douglas, like bundles of electricity in your brain.
Here’s the important thing: It is possible to deactivate these bundles of electricity, to flatten the “battery”, as it were. It will always be in your brain, but as with any flat battery, if you reconnect the wires, the shock will become lighter and lighter, until you finally don’t even feel it anymore. This is how fears become tame. This is how beliefs become less important. And this is how bad behaviour that has become a habit can be changed, with the expected positive results.
What used to be a bad influence on you is still there, but the effect is virtually zero.
THURSDAY, 16 JULY 2020
According to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and a PDF linked to from their website, these are some “Common characteristics of most U.S. White people most of the time”:
• Rugged individualism
• The nuclear family
• Emphasis on scientific method
• Hard work is key to success
• Planning for the future
• Delayed gratification
• Action orientation
• Decision-making
• Written tradition
• Politeness
I came across a similar list some months ago, and I was reluctant to believe it was an actual document used by people hoping to be taken seriously. When a nicely done infographic started doing the rounds on social media this week, I again found myself wondering: Can this possibly be for real?
I followed a link … and there it was: a full explanation with the infamous graphic on the page, at the website for the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
It has some other items that I would honestly consider too ridiculous to post on a public forum – that “most white people believe most of the time” things like the wife is subordinate to the husband; that white people have a preference for steak and potatoes because “bland is best”; that white people’s sense of female beauty is “Barbie” – blond and thin; that emotion shouldn’t be shown, and that personal life shouldn’t be discussed. And most white people display “aggressiveness and extroversion”? Seriously?
Then there are the things where you would say, “So what?” before remembering that “whiteness” is supposed to be bad, and that people are expected to distance themselves from these things:
• White people’s holidays are based on the Christian religion … Why wouldn’t it? White people originated from Europe, where this religion held sway for two thousand years!
• Individuals are assumed to be in control of their environment. Aren’t we to a large extent? Is it politically wrong to think a clean, tidy environment might be conducive to better performance? I mean, nobody controls weather systems or earthquakes, but are you not at least in control of the kitchen, the fridge, the living room, and your bedroom?
• Apparently most white people believe they must always “do something” about a situation. Some people – of all races, colours, and creeds – certainly have this tendency, but most white people? How the heck did they establish this? This is, after all, a very particular personality trait!
• Justice is based on English common law, and aesthetics is based on European culture? Why wouldn’t justice in societies developed originally by European people, specifically from England, not be based on English common law, and why wouldn’t their aesthetics be based on European culture?
I have been living in Northeast Asia for half my life, and many of the characteristics ascribed to white people I recognise in the Taiwanese people I work with, and socialise with, and that I converse with for hours at a time in my job. The people who write this asinine propaganda for a cultural revolution that has zero chance of succeeding on the long-term must really look beyond their tiny little worlds!
UPDATE:
It seems someone at the National Museum of African American History and Culture was alerted that people outside their inner circle have been looking at the infographic, and that the consensus was not positive. The above-mentioned link to the PDF has also been removed (the PDF is still available at the website of Cascadia College). One Twitter user posted a copy of the graphic, and if that is eventually removed, I’m sure more copies can be found in other corners of the Internet.
We have listened to public sentiment and have removed a chart that does not contribute to the productive discussion we had intended.
The site’s intent and purpose are to foster and cultivate conversations that are respectful and constructive and provide increased understanding.
— Smithsonian NMAAHC (@NMAAHC) July 16, 2020
FRIDAY, 17 JULY 2020
I am considering suspending this project I started thirteen weeks ago. Reasons include the following:
• I thought I was going to write about a variety of topics, but since the beginning of June I’ve been writing almost exclusively about politics – important to be sure, but it’s becoming monotonous.
• The political opinions I express are seen by short-sighted commentators as “conservative” or “right-wing”, despite the fact that one of the high priests of Woke, Don Lemon of CNN, expressed exactly the same type of sentiments seven years ago, with his characteristic “Listen to me, I know …” attitude. Was it wrong then, or has the view of “left” and “right” dramatically shifted over the past few years? In any case, I prefer a position above political divides. In the current electrified atmosphere, I’m being grouped into a political tribe by people who seemingly cannot see past tribes.
• I’ve been focusing almost exclusively on short pieces. I’d like to again write a piece of longer than three paragraphs. Not only the subject of my writing these days, but also the format is becoming monotonous.
• I have other projects I want to work on – probably still have a dozen or more pieces from last year and early this year I still have to edit. And then there are two more volumes in my series from three years ago that I have to finish.
• The experience of forcing myself to write something every day was enlightening. I’d be curious to see what I would conjure up if I could spend an hour a day on something that is not so limited in format or topic.
What have I learned in the last thirteen weeks?
• I didn’t know how long I would be able to sustain such a project. I now have the answer.
• If you force yourself to publish something every day, you think of stuff to write about. Time and time again, I found myself threading a few thoughts together for my own entertainment on the way to buy dinner, or on the way back from the supermarket, only to remember that I was still looking for something to write about that day. Like the idea of coming up with ten things to be thankful for every day that focuses your brain on noticing exactly such things, so your brain grasps for topics if you need to write something.
What am I going to do now?
I’m going to make sure all the pieces of Bundle 8: On writing and the writer have had a last read through, then I’m going to put together the documents that will become the physical and digital books. Then there are a few more paragraphs I want to review in Thirteen Minutes – Notes, half-truths and a few incidents – which I already published in 2013 (still struggling to let things go). And who knows, maybe I’ll write a little more about politics.
Here are links to all the pieces in the project that will end today:
New project, taking risks, Chinese identity, rhymes and dreams
Groceries, annoying characters, books, being slow, and a model of an old town
Too dumb or too smart, arguments, old cities, heavy lyrics, and the virus reading list
Simulation, things change, two brothers, self-confidence, and a peasant war
Favourite shop, the Ngo brothers, war documentaries, and some other thoughts
Protests and riots, dutiful adults, Taiwanese independence, buying and selling
Fashion, nonsense, groceries, facts and science, and skills
Submission, ideological viruses, and programming of the psyche
Racist movements, identity, questions, and reasons
Important days, modern anti-racism, promised lunch, and a visit to Taipei
Helplessness – avoid the plague – be a good person
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