A central tenet of enlightened progressivism
Noah Pollak explains how the New York Times decides what goes on the front page: The reason, I think, is because the Times is a left-wing paper and adheres to one of the central tenets of enlightened progressivism: people who can be identified as Third World, or who are not members of the Judeo-Christian/European world, must not be held to the same standards to which white, First World people are held. This double-standard — it is the racism of the enlightened — pervades the treatment of different cultures and religions in the strongholds of Western liberalism, that is, in the media, academia, and the “human rights” community.More here.
The fact of the matter is that the most violent and genocidal kinds of anti-Semitic (and anti-Christian, and anti-American) hate speech are commonplace in the Muslim Middle East, yet are covered in the West only by boutique outlets such as MEMRI and Palestinian Media Watch. But when a white, Christian, European makes a statement that really is far more insensitive and dumb than it is anti-Semitic, not only does it land on the front page of the New York Times, but it is given sensational media coverage throughout the western world. The key factor is not the offense itself — it is the religious or cultural identity of the person who has committed the offense.
The picture is Hamas strongman Mahmoud al-Zahar.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:18 AM
2 Comments:
At various times, people like the Brits have asserted that people deserve better. That a higher standard (stopping machete people and slavery is a worthy effort) is attainable. Of course, having humans involved, the improvement efforts are never stainless. I recently found the most amazing website, with lots of public domain books read by really great, regular people. Free. Right now I'm about halfway through listening to Winston Churchill's early book about the Sudan, where you find out that the Brits tried to disrupt the slave trade in the late 1800s and things regarding the south and west (e.g., Darfur) seem never to change:
http://www.archive.org/details/riverwar_1003_librivox
The West has lost the ability to distinguish between good and evil. No - it didn't really learn anything from the last World War.
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