Maggie's Farm

Well, I know that isn't hot news. I think we may have already linked Dr. Dalrymple's speech on Cultural Confidence but, if not, we should. It confirms my long-held opinion that the Western "intelligensia" in general isn't very intelligent when it comes to the real world. A quote from a quote on the speech at Thompson:

If you believe that the history of your culture is nothing but a catalogue of horror, massacre and the oppression of others, then you will not be very assiduous in its defence once it comes under concerted attack. Among intellectuals, at any rate, the history of crimes and catastrophes is more popular than that of achievement; and this view eventually communicates itself to society at large, to the point when it is not even realized that there is any achievement to record. In any case, there is a natural tendency, at least in the modern world, to take progress for granted the moment it is made, but never to accept problems as being an inevitable part of human life…