Quick Roundup 493

Monday, December 21, 2009

Worse than Ellsworth Toohey, Actually

A secular conservative commentator calls a recent column by George Monbiot "environmentalism's real-life equivalent of Toohey's confession," because Monbiot essentially admits to wanting to crush mankind.

That much is true, but I think that pushing such an agenda by appealing to reason and self-interest as Monbiot does makes him worse in an important sense: At least it was hard to mistake Toohey for a champion of reason.

There are legitimate scientific questions pertaining to whether anthropogenic global warming is occurring. However, anyone who falls into Monbiot's trap of squabbling over scientific minutiae when upholding objective political principles is in order is helping him get away with his ruse.

This is not to dismiss science as unimportant, but to reaffirm its proper place in the philosophic hierarchy.

Sales of TOS Prompt Wider Distribution

Good news for anyone who needs it: The Objective Standard is now slated to appear in more newsstands thanks to strong sales.

I needed some good news after this weekend, and this hit the spot.

Monument Builder Gets a Pass

Oscar Niemeyer, a man whose professed aesthetic could pass as the inspiration for Nippopolis in SouthPark's "Major Boobage" episode, recently turned 102. His comment?

Turning 102 is crap, and there is nothing to commemorate.
And yet the very same article goes on to praise his, "love of life," even citing his habit of smoking cigars as evidence for such love.

Actually, I could see that, although I find it debatable in this particular case. However, I have to admit that if I did not already know what a symbol of towering genius this guy is to leftists, I would be flabbergasted that the media could report any indulgence in tobacco products sympathetically.

On the other hand, perhaps this admission so stunned the reporter that any thoughts of soliciting the usually obligatory health-advice-from-a-centenarian questions were stopped dead in their tracks.

There's no lefty like an old lefty.

The "Invention" of the Jewish People Revisited

I missed this, although he actually beat me to the story by a day, but in November SB also discussed the premise of the book, The Invention of the Jewish People, although from a slightly different angle than I:
Without even knowing (never mind evaluating) Professor Sand's specific claims, which the Times describes as a mixture of "respected scholarship with dubious theories," I dismiss his theory out of hand because of the blatant irrationality of its thesis. There should be no claims to property because of one's racial makeup.
That, plus what I said about the Israeli's leaving themselves open to Sand's charges by accepting his premise.

Quote of the Day

"And yes. We do have glass display heads in stock. Doesn't everyone?" -- LB

-- CAV

4 comments:

Steve D said...

“think that pushing such an agenda by appealing to reason and self-interest as Monbiot does makes him worse in an important sense”

I’ve brought this up previously but there is a lot of nonsense that has been pushed by appealing to both self interest AND altruism. I’ve wondered since it is a complete contraction but at least in Monbiot’s case it’s probably due to self deception; he may not realize it is a contraction.

It may be as I said that this type of double justification is sometimes a conscious attempt to appeal to both impulses but after thinking about this more carefully, I think the more likely reason is that people are just mixed up.

Toohey was definitely more honest at least in the directly observable sense. However, we got to hear some of his private conversations - it was a private confession after all. He didn’t say anything like that publicly. I wonder what Monbiot confesses privately?

Gus Van Horn said...

Steve,

You are correct that most people are pretty mixed up, but I think that given Monbiot's intellect and commitment to political activism, you could make a strong case that he is beyond mixed-up.

Gus

Snedcat said...

Yo, Gus, you write: "However, I have to admit that if I did not already know what a symbol of towering genius this guy is to leftists, I would be flabbergasted that the media could report any indulgence in tobacco products sympathetically."

Ah, but it's okay--he doesn't inhale.

Gus Van Horn said...

Hmmm. What DO lefties think about blunts?
Tobacco, being intrinsically evil, shouldn't be inhaled, and yet marijuana, being intrinsically good, should.

Maybe that reporter assumed Niemayer was talking about blunts and was reeling in the face of that moral dilemma...