Posted on 04/29/2002 3:20:21 PM PDT by RaceBannon
home > this article
Dinesh comes to Amherst By Isabel Lyman Multiculturalists, wearing hijabs and keffiyehs, in earnest anxiety, attended Dinesh D'Souza's speech on "The Superiority of Western Civilization" at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst on April 24. So, if you thought that a topic like this would be a d'snooza on a campus where bored students elevator surf for fun, you would be wrong. The multicultis showed up - not to listen and learn - but to protest. A South Asian (anti-) American named Sonny Suchev said he came "to show my resistance to this bigoted man." Ignorance, as the leftists say, is no excuse for bigotry, sonny boy. A heckler clad in a Teamsters jacket shouted that he was "going to be extremely disruptive," because he was opposed to "this man's racist lies." Ever try reading the UMass code of conduct, pal? Even the libertines who run this university have standards. The code says: "No student shall intentionally and substantially interfere with the freedom of expression of another person on University premises." The Republican Club members, who organized the event, were prepared to manhandle this drama king to the door, but he shut up, and the presentation began. Dinesh posed this question to the audience: Why has the West been able to accumulate so much economic, political, and military power? Slavery, colonialism, and imperialism, by the way, are not the correct responses. "There is nothing particularly western about either slavery or colonialism," began Dinesh. "Every known civilization has had slavery. The Chinese had it; the Indians had it; the Greeks and Romans, of course, had it. Slavery was common all over Africa. American Indians had slaves long before Columbus put one foot on this continent." He continued, "If you want to know what is exclusively and uniquely western, it is not slavery, but emancipation. Never in the history of the world, outside the West, has a group of people, who are eligible not to be slaves but to be slave owners, mobilized against slavery." Game, Western Civ. He then offered the three reasons why western civilization has become rich and powerful: science, democracy and capitalism. "Science, by which I mean, experimentation and verification and checking and laboratories ... and the scientific method. It explains why 95 per cent of all the major inventions of the last 200 years have occurred in the West," he said. He defined capitalism as property rights and contracts, and the courts to enforce them. Democracy is equated with free elections, peaceful transitions of power, and the separation of powers. "Science, democracy, and capitalism acting together are the real internal source of western affluence and western success," he noted. Set, Western Civ. Finally, Dinesh, who is the author of What's So Great About America, shared this paradox: The best ideals of western civilization have been implemented in the United States. Consequently, while many foreigners are resentful, even hateful, of America and America's success, she never ceases to attract hordes of immigrants across her borders. Why? He noted that we are a nation in which construction workers spend four dollars for a non-fat latte at Starbucks and "where the poor people," as one of Dinesh's countrymen from India has observed, "are fat." "More than any other country, America gives a very good life to the ordinary guy," he noted. But the material affluence, while important, pales in comparison to the ability for any newcomer or young person to be "the architect of your own destiny." It is this "subversive" idea of freedom that caused the jihad against Miss America. "The Islamic view is that you cannot selectively import the West. If you take some of it, you are going to get most, if not all, of it. And, if you get all of it, the effects of it would be disastrous. It would be to undermine people's faith in Allah, and it would be to capsize political and religious hierarchies. It would create a moral revolution in society," explained Dinesh. And we will never forget the horror that resulted when our enemies tried to halt this revolution. They came, they saw, and they bombed ... but they didn't conquer. Match, Western Civ. The end of Dinesh's powerful speech signaled the beginning of the audience participation time - a low moment for both higher education and western civilization. International students criticized Mr. D'Souza for the Americanized pronunciation of his name and for not displaying enough loyalty to his native country. One coed chastised him for calling women "girls" and for using the term "third world." Another airhead complained that the Shah had required Iranian women to wear mini-skirts. What?! English isn't the first language of Zohreh Rastegar - the Iranian television journalist who was sitting in front of me - but the two adjectives she chose to describe Dinesh's young critics were fitting: immature and brainwashed. I would add, desagradecidos. That's multicultural for 'ungrateful.' Izzy Lyman, author of The Homeschooling Revolution and operator of Icky's Blog, can be reached at ilyman7449@aol.com. Buy Dinesh D'Souza's What's So Great About America at Amazon.com for only $19.57 (30% off)
|
Get weekly updates about new issues of ESR! Subscribe Unsubscribe
|
||||||
© 1996-2002, Enter Stage Right and/or its creators. All rights reserved.
BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Mr. McReynolds gave a brief description of socialism and it's goals, but failed to mention how they would reach these goals. Some of the major ones were of course, no major private property such as land, a bank, factory, or a T.V. station, the last was especially important because if THE T.V. station is owned publically, then it will be able to tell the truth, whereas this free market stuff is contolled by the corprate conspiracy???. Makes sense to me, NOT.
After his less than informational speech, he moved on to question/answer. The student asked how we would defend ourselves if we more than half our military budeget (an idea proposed by Mr. McReynolds, his response was that we really are not threatened by other countries because we are seperated from our enemies by vast seas! The student then asked about nuclear weapons, which stymied him for a second. He proposed that through the UN, we would rid the Middle East of nuclear weapons with inspections. I then asked how we would be able to carry out these inspections or inforce any international laws, if we were no longer a military superpower (due to his proposed cutbacks). He had no answer.
The topic shifted twords evil corporations and how they determine everything from forigen policy to what kind of car we purchase (apparently my parents were forced to by a SUV). I asked how exactley did corporations determine our wants and purchases, since I believed that consumer choice and action were the forces that drove the market. His response was that I needed help because I was disillusioned, and went on about a story about the Model A Ford, and how great it was, but Ford started making bigger cars, eventhough people still wanted the Model A, this definatley change my views on free market capitalism. He described how oil companies alone got us into Vietnam, Desert Storm, and the current situation. He was furious that these "dumb" CEO's make millions of dollars while the workers starve.
A student asked about small buisnesses and when they would no longer be considered small, and therefore taxed to oblivion.McReynolds response was that 4-5 employees was fine, but beyond that they would be considered too large and would be taxed to death or become public property. This notion, in his mind, would help the small buisnesses flourish. Sounds to me like that is discouraging and eliminating the sucessfull and productive.
He finished up with by noting that Socialism means a better set of values, personal freedom, greater meaning of work, and a general bliss for all. I was pretty happy with the event in general, because of the conservative turnout and that we dominated the topics and didn't let him slide on all the B.S. that he was slinging. The good ole farmboys helped keep him in check.
A final note that i find very scary, McReynolds mentioned how the core group of socialists at KSU was larger than what he experinced at his alma mater UCLA in the 40's, which was a center for the socialist movement. I have to believe this, because the campus has seen a major shift twords the left. When i started schoool in 95', there were no protest, marches, gender identity, or sexual inequality issues, KSU was a good conservative school withou all of this activism. Now the school is rife with lefty topics and weirdos. I have tried contacting the campus Republican group, but I get no reply. I think the student body is still mostly conservative, but it is changing fast, and the left is organized.
Please Freep my school. We need some conservative organization here.
KSU general info or drop me a line grazeyi@ksu.edu
So it is 20 whackos at KSU versus the 10 whackos at UCLA in the 40's?
Of course, the only place they can lead the good life is in a University teaching. It is ironic and I would find it amusing if it was not so dangerous a situation.
Ah, Dinesh. One of my favorites. I am surprised that more here have not heard of him. If you read National Review Online, he should be well known to you.
It cracks me up that the commies heckled him about his name. Are they not all about personal liberty? Yeah right! The guy has the right to call himself WHATEVER he wants!
My small rant is finished.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.