Eduard Limonov, not one of Barbara Walters' 10 most fascinating people of 2010, rants about the West in the following terms:
"Europeans are so timid they remind me of sick and elderly people," he begins. "And Europe is like one big old people's home. There is so much political correctness and conformity there that you can't open your mouth. It's worse than prison. That's why there is no culture in the west anymore. Just dying screams.
"In Russia, fortunately, the people still have some barbarian spirit. But Europeans and Americans are just dying, sick invalids."
A recent example of the conformist mindset Limonov describes recently emerged in my native Canada. As the National Post reports:
City councillor Mike Layton (Trinity-Spadina) enters his first full city council meeting Thursday with a motion asking council to censure Maclean’s magazine for “negative stereotyping of the Asian-Canadian Community.”
And members of an Asian Canadian group gathered at City Hall Wednesday to put their support behind the rookie politician.
Mr. Layton, the son of Jack Layton, the federal NDP leader, represents Toronto’s Chinatown, and his stepmother, MP Olivia Chow, comes from China. He told reporters and members of the Chinese Canadian National Council at City Hall Wednesday that the Nov. 10 article in Maclean’s, “Too Asian?” is “offensive to my neighbours. It is offensive to me personally.” . . .
He said his motion, “Reaffirms our commitment to the city’s motto, ‘Diversity Our Strength.’ We are living in the cradle of global diversity.”
Censuring public mention of facts uncomfortable to your worldview (i.e. that cultural differences have consequences beyond culinary diversity) does not eliminate those facts, or prevent private conversation of those facts. Intimidating mainstream publications into not discussing controversial issues only pushes those issues into the ideological quiver of extremists (see rise of the anti-immigrant far-right in Europe). It also leads to the banalization of public discourse, so that the "10 Most Fascinating People" includes the hopelessly inane cast of the Jersey Shore and all politicians must be lawyers both professionally and spiritually - i.e. dead inside.
"Diversity Our Strength" only makes sense as a slogan if the diverse parties bring unique strengths to the table. If Asians are indistinguishable from whites, why is diversity a strength? Can't "Diversity Our Strength" accommodate the unspoken assumption held by nearly everyone that Asians are better (or work harder) at math and science than their non-Asian peers? If "Diversity Our Strength" means I don't have to specialize in math, I support it. If "Diversity Our Strength" means I can't talk about what is in front of my nose, I agree with Limonov - there is no culture in the west anymore, just dying screams of "I'm offended!"
|