Posted on 09/25/2007 7:39:57 PM PDT by bs9021
Political correctness which has been invading academia with a vengeance has a new target- Anthropology.
An ad-hoc group calling themselves the Network of Concerned Anthropologists is now circulating a petition on the internet called the Pledge of Non-Participation in Counterinsurgency whose central theme says that "Anthropologists should not engage in research and other activities that contribute to counterinsurgency operations in Iraq or in related theaters in the 'war on terror.'"In other words it's an anti-war declaration for anthropologists.
The organizers, two of whom are at George Mason University, feel that anthropologists who cooperate with the military damage the relationship of openness and trust anthropologists have throughout the world and that the U.S. military's presence in Iraq is illegitimate. Sounds like something from a MoveOn.org brochure.
(Excerpt) Read more at campusreportonline.net ...
Oh, how can the struggle go on without anthropological studies? Why they’re as necessary to the cause as rubber and scrap iron drives, or bacon grease, or....
a cluster of colour-blind hedgehogs ...in a bag?
sorry i’ve had too much coffee
Now THAT'S funny!! :-)
Mmmm...how about how the average Middle Easterner has an IQ somewhere around 80 (thanks to backward social customs). How about that area of the world basically ruled by savagery and cruelty thanks to a theocratic dictatorship that suppresses individual advancement for a herd mentality.
Anthropology is the worst profession to pursue in a world dedicated to pushing lies over what can plainly be seen.
Anthropology ping!
Is Al Qaeda recruiting from the Neanderthals? Did I miss something?
This could be hugh.
Yes I suppose researchers can’t be expected to make rational decisions on which side they should be on in matters of liberty and oppression. Who are they to take sides?
I mean, how can anyone judge the actions of a person who tosses a grenade into a public marketplace or blows himself up at an ice cream stand? How can we possibly understand the things going through such an individuals mind right before it is blown apart? Until we have experienced the desire of how it feels to want to be blown apart we can not judge.
We should be sensitive to the feelings of the insurgents and withhold judgment because even though we may not like their actions we must accept responsibility for provoking them by not allowing these individuals to feel powerful in their own country.
Who are we to say they can not control their own women?
We should not allow our values or principles to color our opinion of them. They are fathers and mothers too.
Speaking as one who has a degree in anthropology (archaeology); this applies only if looking at things with a liberal world view. Anthropology profs, like most in the social sciences area of academe, teach from a liberal world view, unfortunately. Some of us, however, think for ourselves.
Not all of us are liberal, you know.
Mind you, I am not an anthropologist - I'm in another profession - but I learned a great deal and, seeing things from a conservative point of view adds a better and far more balanced perspective, I think.
Let me trash myself now and save a lot of time by stating I found little to argue with in “The Bell Curve”.
Gene pools are what they are.
What did you decide to pursue? I commend that decision.
I would have sworn Anthropology, back around 1970, is where the nonsense began, what with the "all cultures are equal" and "observe and record, but do NOT make 'value judgements'".
OK, that’s it then. The Iraq war is officially lost. We cannot go on without anthropologists.
Those were the operative phrases when I got my anthro degree in 1967. I enjoyed much of the coursework, but I never bought the program. The best antidote was reading the books of Harry
Franck, who wrote at least forty of them, beginning with “A Vagabond Journey Around the World” in 1912. He traveled mostly on foot throughout the civilized and uncivilized world, with a keen interest in all the varieties of humankind and their habits, but never any doubt in his mind that American civilization was superior to all others.
Is any anthropology not PC anymore?
I think it only exists now to demean western civilization.
I double-majored in history and anthro. I am now a records manager for local govt. I am more involved in saving the records than researching them, though that is part of my job as well. At my age, I’m too old for the back-breaking work of archaeology, and I’m not inclined to pursue a higher degree. And I don’t have the patience to teach history to the little darlings who populate our middle schools. My conservative ideas would get me fired anyway! lol! Heaven knows I should teach REAL American history. You know - those dangerous Founding Fathers and all that!
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That said, I also read the most successful guy at this game is an old military hand with no formal training in anthropology.
Sounds about right. :’) When dealing with a tribe- and clan-based society, all it generally takes is talking with each of the local leaders and getting them onboard — and wiping off the map anyone who doesn’t wanna.
while i am appauled at this group, anthropology is basically what told us to drop the bomb on japan, read ruth benedict’s “the sword and the crysantheum sp?) the cia uses anthropological techniques in any ethnography that it creates. actually a call for anthropologists to stop helping counterinsurgencies would be an indicator that anthropologists are actually helping the cause as much if not more than bacon grease.
Our University Professors deserve a good spanking - all of them. Unfortunately, they would probably enjoy it.
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