Postmodernism - Spiraling down the sink hole
"There is a school of thought that postmodernism is the most significant threat to civilisation."
I'm on a journey of discovery. I'm seeking to understand why a polarised world has emerged recently. Many of the conventions that underpin society face rejection or disdain. It's a slow process, but I'm beginning to understand why this confused state has arisen.
One possibility, and it's disturbing, is the pernicious nature of postmodernism. What I find most troubling is that this may happen before our eyes as we sleepwalk into it. You may argue these are Ivory Tower issues confined to college campuses. And yet, we know what happens in colleges spills into broader society within ten years. Many folks don't understand how it arises, but they will have seen its consequences. In this article, I seek to unpick these issues.
There is a school of thought that postmodernism is the most significant threat to civilisation. Professor Jordon B Peterson, a clinical psychologist, is at the forefront of warning us. Noam Chomsky, Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins go with him. We'd better sit up and take note when such esteemed thinkers are pointing out the peril. As postmodernism creeps into all aspects of life, it profoundly impacts evolved cultural norms, primarily as the law enforces its precepts.
We already see the consequence of postmodernism in the gender debate. The postmodernists have driven this one hard to enact laws in some jurisdictions. Today, in Canada, criticising someone's fashion choices is a hate crime. That's a result of the misappropriation of the legal system to prevent people from feeling offended. This development is so dangerous. Harnessing the legal system to support subjective opinions that have no basis in evidence is wrong.
How did this come about? Postmodernism has its origins in the failure of Marxism. Doctor Stephen Hicks, an American philosopher, makes the case in his book "Explaining Postmodernism." In many ways, the postmodern philosophy is a lineal descendant of Marxist theory. It arose as the left sought to reconfigure their ideas as the awful truth of the Soviet Union's disastrous Marxist experiment emerged.
In short, the revolution failed. It left millions dead from torture and starvation. For example, collectivisation wiped out the productive farmers in Ukraine, plunging millions into poverty. Enforced doctrine rather than pragmatic evolved systems prevailed.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the leftists realised their narrative was no longer sellable. At the same time, capitalism improved the lives of the working man in the West. As Marxism floundered, the Chinese dropped the principles, opened their economy, and stood back. The human capital released from doctrine then transformed the country.
Scrambling to keep some credibility, the European leftist philosophers pulled a trick. They switched the 'control of economic issues' that underpins Marxism for 'power-oppression.' But for that to work, you need an oppressor. The white man fitted the illegitimate mould the postmodernists created from nothing.
Jacques Derrida, the French philosopher, partly drove this process. His 'destruction' theory challenged everything without considering the consequences, leading to the collection of ideas now known as 'postmodernism.'
The belief that the world is a battleground between identity groups is central to these ideas. Race, gender, and ethnic lines define these groups. The postmodernists assert that the 'white man' sits at the pinnacle of society. He directs all actions and controls policy to maintain his dominance. Further, they contend there is no truth, just personal narrative.
Postmodernists seek to dethrone this mythical 'white man' and push him to the margins. They will then claim the centre, although exactly who, when, or how this works has yet to be stated. Given the view that all that matters is race, gender, or ethnic grouping, they will likely replace one power group with another. It's lost on them that these absurd ideas achieve nothing. Noam Chomsky asserts it's all meaningless. He notes it adds zero to human knowledge or experience.
Of course, the fact that postmodernists focus on one group as the enemy is racist. In their minds, all white men are responsible for the evils committed down the aeons. It is of no consequence to them that you were not born at that time, only that you are guilty of being white and a man. This statement captures the evil at the heart of postmodernism. Group guilt is the central pillar.
A grave concern is that legal systems support the postmodernist agenda. By stealth and in support of real causes, the postmodernists hijacked judicial systems. In Canada and parts of the United States, they gained laws that impose minority views on the majority.
But don't expect the postmodernist to debate their ideas. They reject such debate as useless. Language and words are the creations of the white man, used to dominate those at the margins.
Even a child can invent thought experiments that erode postmodernist ideas. When you point out that in Japan, it's Asian men who dominate, the postmodernists remain mute. In some Pacific island nations, women dominate society; hence, postmodernism crashes and burns when measured against these cultures. This comparison exposes the falsehood and deceit of postmodernism. After all, using skin colour and gender to define your nemesis means postmodernism is a snake eating its tail.
Over time, postmodernism has morphed into a philosophy of victimhood. The rants of social justice warriors echo the lament of self-appointed victims.
At the extreme of the postmodernist movement are those who reject science. Again, all evidence-based ideas and even human progress are artificial constructs. For instance, we know that biology determines gender.
Overwhelming DNA evidence supports this assertion. The postmodernists argue that science is just one version of the truth. To that, there is only one response - their ideas are foolish. Science works, planes fly, and magic carpets don't. Gravity is not a version of the truth; it's a fact. If the postmodernists doubt it, you should invite them to jump off a building.
In rejecting biology, the postmodernists have decided that gender is a choice. This approach has spiralled into a multitude of invented sexes. I have no issue with what folks wish to call themselves. But you can't use the law to impose these ideas on the rest of us. That is unacceptable.
Moreover, history tells us that the outcomes can be awful when you use the law to change values. The Soviet Union sought to use laws to create a utopian world. It was all done with noble intent. In no time, the consequences unfolded as mass detentions, death camps and pogroms. Millions suffered terrible deaths as a result.
We must guard against the nasty, bleak nature of the postmodernist. They seek to overturn the Enlightenment, science, and evidence-based debate. Surprisingly, these ideas spread from university campuses, usually from soft subjects such as the social sciences and 'gender studies.' Meanwhile, in craven capitulation, university administrators have surrendered to this nonsense.
Students at US universities sought exemption from exams, citing their ethnicity. Asserting themselves as victims, they pushed colleges to give them degrees without sitting exams. That's how postmodernism is spreading.
While the primary focus attack for the postmodernists is the 'white man', that's not the only target. For example, they had no qualms about going after Germaine Greer, a leading feminist. When she dared to challenge the postmodernist view on transgender people, she earned their wrath. They banned her from universities, shutting down free speech in the process. This incident highlights their perfidious intent. No debate, no questions allowed.
This action is not because they cannot debate or fear shame. The underlying motive is much more sinister. The radical postmodernists don't believe a consensus between different identity groups is possible. Thus, discussion or debate is irrelevant. For them, the only option is conflict.
Studying these issues, you begin to get a perspective on the bizarre mindset of the postmodernists. Their distorted ideas are emerging into the public domain with gender issues, safe spaces and laws imposed on the majority. At its core, postmodernism is anti-science, anti-reasons and anti-logic. Unless we stop this nonsense, an insane, tyrannical postmodernist world awaits.
January 2018
One possibility, and it's disturbing, is the pernicious nature of postmodernism. What I find most troubling is that this may happen before our eyes as we sleepwalk into it. You may argue these are Ivory Tower issues confined to college campuses. And yet, we know what happens in colleges spills into broader society within ten years. Many folks don't understand how it arises, but they will have seen its consequences. In this article, I seek to unpick these issues.
There is a school of thought that postmodernism is the most significant threat to civilisation. Professor Jordon B Peterson, a clinical psychologist, is at the forefront of warning us. Noam Chomsky, Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins go with him. We'd better sit up and take note when such esteemed thinkers are pointing out the peril. As postmodernism creeps into all aspects of life, it profoundly impacts evolved cultural norms, primarily as the law enforces its precepts.
We already see the consequence of postmodernism in the gender debate. The postmodernists have driven this one hard to enact laws in some jurisdictions. Today, in Canada, criticising someone's fashion choices is a hate crime. That's a result of the misappropriation of the legal system to prevent people from feeling offended. This development is so dangerous. Harnessing the legal system to support subjective opinions that have no basis in evidence is wrong.
How did this come about? Postmodernism has its origins in the failure of Marxism. Doctor Stephen Hicks, an American philosopher, makes the case in his book "Explaining Postmodernism." In many ways, the postmodern philosophy is a lineal descendant of Marxist theory. It arose as the left sought to reconfigure their ideas as the awful truth of the Soviet Union's disastrous Marxist experiment emerged.
In short, the revolution failed. It left millions dead from torture and starvation. For example, collectivisation wiped out the productive farmers in Ukraine, plunging millions into poverty. Enforced doctrine rather than pragmatic evolved systems prevailed.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the leftists realised their narrative was no longer sellable. At the same time, capitalism improved the lives of the working man in the West. As Marxism floundered, the Chinese dropped the principles, opened their economy, and stood back. The human capital released from doctrine then transformed the country.
Scrambling to keep some credibility, the European leftist philosophers pulled a trick. They switched the 'control of economic issues' that underpins Marxism for 'power-oppression.' But for that to work, you need an oppressor. The white man fitted the illegitimate mould the postmodernists created from nothing.
Jacques Derrida, the French philosopher, partly drove this process. His 'destruction' theory challenged everything without considering the consequences, leading to the collection of ideas now known as 'postmodernism.'
The belief that the world is a battleground between identity groups is central to these ideas. Race, gender, and ethnic lines define these groups. The postmodernists assert that the 'white man' sits at the pinnacle of society. He directs all actions and controls policy to maintain his dominance. Further, they contend there is no truth, just personal narrative.
Postmodernists seek to dethrone this mythical 'white man' and push him to the margins. They will then claim the centre, although exactly who, when, or how this works has yet to be stated. Given the view that all that matters is race, gender, or ethnic grouping, they will likely replace one power group with another. It's lost on them that these absurd ideas achieve nothing. Noam Chomsky asserts it's all meaningless. He notes it adds zero to human knowledge or experience.
Of course, the fact that postmodernists focus on one group as the enemy is racist. In their minds, all white men are responsible for the evils committed down the aeons. It is of no consequence to them that you were not born at that time, only that you are guilty of being white and a man. This statement captures the evil at the heart of postmodernism. Group guilt is the central pillar.
A grave concern is that legal systems support the postmodernist agenda. By stealth and in support of real causes, the postmodernists hijacked judicial systems. In Canada and parts of the United States, they gained laws that impose minority views on the majority.
But don't expect the postmodernist to debate their ideas. They reject such debate as useless. Language and words are the creations of the white man, used to dominate those at the margins.
Even a child can invent thought experiments that erode postmodernist ideas. When you point out that in Japan, it's Asian men who dominate, the postmodernists remain mute. In some Pacific island nations, women dominate society; hence, postmodernism crashes and burns when measured against these cultures. This comparison exposes the falsehood and deceit of postmodernism. After all, using skin colour and gender to define your nemesis means postmodernism is a snake eating its tail.
Over time, postmodernism has morphed into a philosophy of victimhood. The rants of social justice warriors echo the lament of self-appointed victims.
At the extreme of the postmodernist movement are those who reject science. Again, all evidence-based ideas and even human progress are artificial constructs. For instance, we know that biology determines gender.
Overwhelming DNA evidence supports this assertion. The postmodernists argue that science is just one version of the truth. To that, there is only one response - their ideas are foolish. Science works, planes fly, and magic carpets don't. Gravity is not a version of the truth; it's a fact. If the postmodernists doubt it, you should invite them to jump off a building.
In rejecting biology, the postmodernists have decided that gender is a choice. This approach has spiralled into a multitude of invented sexes. I have no issue with what folks wish to call themselves. But you can't use the law to impose these ideas on the rest of us. That is unacceptable.
Moreover, history tells us that the outcomes can be awful when you use the law to change values. The Soviet Union sought to use laws to create a utopian world. It was all done with noble intent. In no time, the consequences unfolded as mass detentions, death camps and pogroms. Millions suffered terrible deaths as a result.
We must guard against the nasty, bleak nature of the postmodernist. They seek to overturn the Enlightenment, science, and evidence-based debate. Surprisingly, these ideas spread from university campuses, usually from soft subjects such as the social sciences and 'gender studies.' Meanwhile, in craven capitulation, university administrators have surrendered to this nonsense.
Students at US universities sought exemption from exams, citing their ethnicity. Asserting themselves as victims, they pushed colleges to give them degrees without sitting exams. That's how postmodernism is spreading.
While the primary focus attack for the postmodernists is the 'white man', that's not the only target. For example, they had no qualms about going after Germaine Greer, a leading feminist. When she dared to challenge the postmodernist view on transgender people, she earned their wrath. They banned her from universities, shutting down free speech in the process. This incident highlights their perfidious intent. No debate, no questions allowed.
This action is not because they cannot debate or fear shame. The underlying motive is much more sinister. The radical postmodernists don't believe a consensus between different identity groups is possible. Thus, discussion or debate is irrelevant. For them, the only option is conflict.
Studying these issues, you begin to get a perspective on the bizarre mindset of the postmodernists. Their distorted ideas are emerging into the public domain with gender issues, safe spaces and laws imposed on the majority. At its core, postmodernism is anti-science, anti-reasons and anti-logic. Unless we stop this nonsense, an insane, tyrannical postmodernist world awaits.
January 2018
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