[CLUE-Talk] Iraq Stuph

[Sean LeBlanc]

On 04-23 22:41, bill ehlert wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --- Dennis J Perkins <djperkins at americanisp.net>
> wrote:
> 
>     . . .
> 
> > our states as well.)  I think 
> > it's hard for most Americans to accept that
> > other countries don't necessarily 
> > view the world the way we do.
> 
> **  indeed!
> 
>     some time ago my "world view" consisted
>     of the belief that america had the best
>     of everything  -- the declaration of
>     independence, the constitution, the
>     bill of rights, freedom of religion,
>     separation of church and
>     state, three branches of government,
>     checks and balances, the free enter-
>     prise systems --  and that the
>     rest of the countries would someday,
>     perhaps, "catch up".
> 
>     it has taken time and work to realize
>     that there are other peoples in other
>     civilizations in this world whose
>     histories and cultures and ways of 
>     doing things and looking at things
>     are simply not the same as ours, and
>     that they have as much right to do
>     things their way as we have to do
>     things our way.
> 
>     a useful book has been "the clash
>     of civilizations and the remaking
>     of world order"  by samuel p.
>     huntington.
> 
>     there's an interesting quote on
>     page 51.  after several pages
>     of describing the different
>     civilizations and their
>     characteristics, he says:  "The
>     West won the world not by the
>     superiority of its ideas or values
>     or religion (to which few members
>     of other civilizations were
>     converted) but rather by its
>     superiority in applying organized
>     violence.  Westerners often forget
>     this fact; non-Westerners never do."
> 
>     we've just seen a vivid example of
>     our "superiority in applying organized
>     violence".
> 
>     i hope we remember that "non-Westerners
>     never [forget]".

Okay, now I have to read this book. 

Does he give examples of "organized violence"? 

And what I'd *really* like to know is what he thinks qualifies as equal or
superior ideas - especially when it comes to how to organize a government. 

Guess I gotta read the book, but I'm always amazed when people drag out
this "all ideas and cultures are equal, but just different" stuff, and from
the brief bit you gave above, it sounds like more of the same. 

P.S. What sort of wrapping do you have on? Your messages always come through
looking like a newspaper column.
-- 
Sean LeBlanc:seanleblanc at americanisp.net  
http://users.americanisp.net/~seanleblanc/
Get MLAC at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/mlac/