Posted by: Herb London in Untagged on
Apr 28, 2010
In Darwin’s Origin of The Species the theory of evolution through natural selection is made to appear simple and inevitable. Certain biological variants argued Darwin, are more robust than others, i.e. better suited to survive and thrive in the environment in which they find themselves. Over time the robust variants supplant the less robust varieties. In a world of limited resources, the better adapted versions stand a better chance of survival. Darwin assumed that natural selection could transform one species into another and eradicate some species, leaving the field to its tougher competitors.
While social Darwinism attempted to take Darwin’s theory and apply it to social settings (“Root, hog or die”), the lack of compassion and the imposition of human needs sent the social version of Darwinism into the political interstices. However, since evolution ultimately deals with success and failure, survival and disappearance, it may be appropriate to resuscitate Darwinism to explain global conditions of the moment.
Needless to say, there is a logical danger in pushing the analogy too far, but on some level the Darwinian model offers insight, even if the conclusions are not dispositive.
In an effort to appease or comfort America’s foes, the Obama administration is attempting to redefine, perhaps transform, our system of government, law and basic economic assumptions. Presumably Obama adherents would contend that this adaptation is necessary for survival in an evolving global stage. However, the question that emerges is whether this conscious transformation enhances survivability. Is America more robust or less robust as a consequence of the change? Can this nation transform other national variants or will other nations transform the United States?
Posted by: Herb London in Untagged on
Apr 13, 2010
“Aquarius,” the show, is in revival on Broadway and in revival in the Obama administration. The utopian idea of “the zero option,” of eliminating nuclear weapons, of an apollonian globe where lions and lambs live in harmony, is alive and well and evident in the new Start treaty.
Of course it would be wonderful if we had a world without nuclear weapons, but the genie is out of the bottle and weapons of mass destruction offer influence, prestige and power even for nations that cannot adequately feed their people.
While the Start treaty reduces delivery capacity of Russian and the U.S. missiles, planes and submarines using arcane accounting methods, the real issue, as I see it, is that Russia reserves the right to withdraw from the treaty if it deems missile defense deployment in Eastern Europe threatening.
The obvious question is why should the United States Senate ratify a “conditional” arrangement? If the treaty is ratified (a likely prospect) the United States is committing itself to unilateral compliance. In other words, Russia determines on its own whether the treaty remains in effect. This is a truly unprecedented matter, one that may indeed violate national security interests.
Moreover, in an effort to convince other nuclear powers that they should embrace our disarming impulse the president has circumscribed “no first use policy” to only those adversaries employing nuclear weapons and has announced that the U.S. will not develop a new generation of nuclear weapons. I’m sure that this heartfelt gesture has resonated appropriately with Kim Jung Il and Ahmadinejad. It would take a leap of illogical proportions to assume that if the U.S. does not modernize, China, Iran, North Korea and Pakistan will follow suit. (
read more.....)
Posted by: Herb London in Untagged on
Mar 31, 2010
British Islamist Anjem Choudary argues that freedom and democracy are idols that must be destroyed and replaced with obedience to Allah. And to a remarkable degree this totalistic impulse is being implemented in the West.
On February 1, 2010 a group of students at York University, with the permission of university officials, set up a table on campus to discuss with other students the status of Hezbollah kidnapped Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. However, outspoken Palestinian students and sympathizers were unwilling to have these sentiments aired. They surrounded the table, made menacing gestures and spewed anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli slurs at the Jewish students.
This was not the first time such an incident occurred. In fact, a year earlier the police had to be called to usher Jewish students to safety after they were forced to barricade themselves inside the university’s Hillel offices because of physical and verbal threats from radical student groups.
The York Federation of Students Against Israel Apartheid has demonstrated time and again that intellectual debate on campus is little more than an ideologically driven “shout down.” Thuggery is something of a tradition with this student group. When Natan Sharansky was invited to speak in April of 2008 he was jeered at and ultimately prevented from speaking. (
read more.....)
Posted by: Herb London in Untagged on
Mar 23, 2010
The beginning of Spring 2010 marks an historic moment in American history: A nation organized as a republic is being transformed into a tyranny. The healthcare bill that has been bruited over for weeks will be law of the land giving Washington DC control of one-seventh of the national economy.
More significantly, this act violates the Constitution in several critical ways. All Americans will have to obtain healthcare insurance whether they want it or not. The act also forbids repeal even if the Republicans recapture control of one of the houses of Congress in the next election.
By any measure this is a coup d’ etat with the president employing a combination of threats and blandishments to achieve his revolutionary goals.
Supporters will argue, of course, that this act universalizes healthcare and that detractors are exaggerating its effect. But it should be noted that the cost will be at least a trillion dollars and perhaps twice that sum if CBO estimates are relied on. These costs are on top of the accumulated debt that has reached unparalleled proportions in the last year. (read more.........)
Posted by: Herb London in Untagged on
Mar 11, 2010
Writing from his perch at the New York Times (2/8/10) Paul Krugman notes “We’ve always known that America’s reign as the world’s greatest nation would eventually end. But most of us imagined that our downfall, when it came, would be something grand and tragic.”
It isn’t clear who the “we” is in this paragraph, nor is “downfall” as obvious as Mr. Krugman infers. But the position is part of a declinist stance that has insinuated itself into elitist positions. And there is some justification for it.
After all, the Obama administration acts as if the U.S. should engage in withdrawal from all international obligations except those channeled through the United Nations or other international organizations.
With Obama’s 2010 budget, 42 cents of every dollar the federal government spends will have to be borrowed. In the last decade, foreign investors wound up lending the U.S. about half of the federal debt – with China and Japan providing about 50 percent of that sum through the purchase of U.S. Treasury securities. In fact, China is the largest holder of U.S. dollars in the world, a position that might compromise U.S. foreign policy decisions in the Pacific and elsewhere.
Posted by: Herb London in Untagged on
Mar 2, 2010
Jake Witzenfeld, president of Cambridge University’s Israel Society cancelled a talk by Benny Morris, a distinguished Israeli historian, for fear the Israel Society would be portrayed as a mouthpiece for Islamophobia.
The trial of Geert Wilders, in Holland, has received almost no attention from the media panjandrums in the West for fear the issue might lead to Muslim incitement, particularly in cities like Rotterdam where the Islamic population is near a majority.
Yale University Press refused to publish cartoons about the Prophet Mohammed in a book about the cartoons and the aftermath of the original publication, for fear of a possible violent response from Islamic adherents.
Yes, these craven responses all appear with the word “fear” since that word has trampled the meaning of freedom in nations that have fought for its defense over centuries. In one moment, intimidation has trumped free speech and cowardice has subordinated any display of courage.
I find it astonishing that a heralded center of learning, a major university press and a nation that once fought against totalitarian impulses could so easily justify their actions. Whatever happened to a belief in freedom of speech and a faith in the power of debate to reveal the truth that counters censorship?
Posted by: Herb London in Untagged on
Feb 23, 2010
There is a shift occurring in the United States, a tectonic shift that is imposing statism in a land predicated on limited government.
In the past, the not very distant past, mediating structures served as a barrier against managerial despotism. But these structures have been under assault for decades and are showing signs of weakness and decay.
The family has been undermined by divorce and illegitimacy. Schools have eroded rigor and standards. Churches resemble social institutions more than religious centers. And associations like Rotary and Lions are suffering from insufficient enrollment and a lack of interest.
The America Tocqueville described in mid-nineteenth century is largely gone, a testament to the past when national identity was being refined. The New Hampshire slogan “Live free or die” is great for license plates, but not for contemporary politics.
Some would argue that big government is a natural consequence of living in a bigger and more complex nation that was the case a hundred years ago. Needless to say, this is obvious. But what is not so obvious is that incrementally the government has assumed the position of granting rights to citizens instead of having citizens grant rights to the government. During this onset of the recession it was believed by members of both parties that extending government power was essential in dealing with the economic vicissitudes of the moment. In doing so, however, the politics of grievants has emerged. If the government uses its largesse to address social woe how are rights determined and who allocates the benefits? A government insistent on hand-outs will be a government that encourages grievance.
Posted by: Herb London in Untagged on
Feb 4, 2010
The contemporary spokesmen for government, business and the academy have taken a page out of Alice in Wonderland: Words mean whatever you choose to have them mean. At some point, words had meanings detached from the user. They were ideas incarnate that stood on their own buttressed by Webster’s Dictionary. Now, of course, they are unmoored, set adrift by sophists who employ words for advantage or even to change meaning. The Orwellian reversal of language, e.g. “war is peace,” has been taken to a new level of manipulation.
Let me cite examples.
President Obama no longer refers to enemy combatants; they are now “isolated radicals.” This is a blinkered attempt to suggest that it isn’t jihadists we are opposed to, but the most radical elements within this category. Similarly, we are not in a war against terrorists; we are rather in overseas operations.
On the homefront the word “stimulus” has been exhumed from public usage since it doesn’t stimulate and is now effectively “spending.” “No new taxes” – a campaign pledge – has been converted into “new taxes,” albeit all for a good purpose. “Transparency,” as in all government action will be transparent and visible on C-Span, has been transmogrified into secrecy as in this Healthcare bill of 2000 pages that will not be made available for public review.
Posted by: Herb London in Untagged on
Jan 28, 2010
Denial is a powerful influence in public life. It is obviously a major influence in the Obama administration, which may explain why a Republican party and conservatism which were declared dead institutions and philosophies have risen as a phoenix with life and vitality.
In response to Scott Brown’s remarkable Senate victory in Massachusetts, President Obama said, “The same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office. People are angry, and they’re frustrated. Not just because of what’s happened in the last year or two years, but what’s happened over the last eight years.”
Here is the blame George W. Bush gambit yet again, even though Scott Brown is a Republican who ran against Obama’s policies in a state that is overwhelmingly Democratic.
To make matters even more risible, the president went on to say, “If there’s one thing that I regret this year, is that we were so busy just getting stuff done and dealing with the immediate crisis that were in front of us, that I think we lost some of the sense of speaking directly to the American people about what their core values are and why we have to make sure those institutions are matching up with those values.”
Posted by: Herb London in Untagged on
Jan 19, 2010
As George Orwell noted the first duty of intelligent people is “the restatement of the obvious.” It is obvious or should be obvious that the goal of terrorists is terrorism. What that means precisely is not clear based on recent news accounts.
According to reports the United States escaped an enormous tragedy when a Nigerian, Umar Abdulmutallab, was apprehended when he attempted to blow up a KLM flight from Africa to America via Amsterdam. Alas, that is accurate as far as it goes. Overlooked in this calculus is that a terrorist who gains access to a commercial flight has already achieved his goal, i.e. promote the fear of terrorism.
When Richard Reid attempted to blow up a Boeing 767 between Paris and Miami by detonating his sneakers, he too was restrained by fellow passengers, but in the process he promoted fear. The risks of air travel may be miniscule – if one relies on the comments of F.A.A. officials – but for the average person Reid and Abdulmutallab have had a profound effect. The notion that any passenger can be a human time bomb has entered the consciousness of the public.
Moreover, it hardly establishes confidence when Ms. Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, assures the public “the system worked.” Clearly a risk free air flight doesn’t exist, but newly instituted measures like magnetic resonance scans and banning blankets and bathroom visits during the last hour of a flight are not likely to mitigate anxiety about flying.
The Herd
