tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post4571238664118281677..comments2024-03-18T21:56:06.882+13:00Comments on Karl du Fresne: Getting away from it all (well, almost)Karl du Fresnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05054853925940134404noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-57898137496695543092022-04-26T12:27:10.867+12:002022-04-26T12:27:10.867+12:00 My definition of woke is someone who is recently ... My definition of woke is someone who is recently aware of a perceived or real injustice and is painfully trying to outrage everyone around them with their limited knowledge of it. Or they are bending over backwards to treat this group as extra special. Terry Brosnahan Country-Wide magazine<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-66541466694718354312022-04-08T18:45:23.215+12:002022-04-08T18:45:23.215+12:00The BBC made a movie in the 80's called Bad Bl...The BBC made a movie in the 80's called Bad Blood. All shot on scene on a road 1km being where the real events took place. All the locals played extras, including my father who was at primary school across from the Graham house when the police first turned up to take the guns (for the war effort). All turned pear shaped after that.Stuart Havillnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-37860183193352730372022-04-08T18:39:27.666+12:002022-04-08T18:39:27.666+12:00Hope you enjoyed your visit to Kowhitirangi and th...Hope you enjoyed your visit to Kowhitirangi and the scenic Hokitika Gorge. Many a day as a youngster spent playing hide and seek in gorge when it was just the 1 swing bridge, and carparking for 3.Stuart Havillnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-25682313450983552402022-04-08T08:18:20.173+12:002022-04-08T08:18:20.173+12:00The Bowalley Road commentators Tom? Gee there'...The Bowalley Road commentators Tom? Gee there's some cases there - one in particular is a complete psychopath - unreasonable, unstable and vindictive. It's like the cloak of compassion is a cover that excuses the worst. Reminds me of the Tarantula poem from Fredrick Nietzsche:<br /><br /> "The tarantulas, of course, would have it otherwise. “What justice means to us is precisely that the world be filled with the storms of our revenge”—thus they speak to each other. “We shall wreak vengeance and abuse on all whose equals we are not”—thus do the tarantula-hearts vow. “And ‘will to equality’ shall henceforth be the name for virtue; and against all that has power we want to raise our clamor!”<br /><br />You preachers of equality, the tyrannomania of impotence clamors thus out of you for equality: your most secret ambitions to be tyrants thus shroud themselves in words of virtue. Aggrieved conceit, repressed envy—perhaps the conceit and envy of your fathers—erupt from you as a flame and as the frenzy of revenge."<br /><br />Full reading by Jordan Peterson: https://youtu.be/yG99nHY8IK4David Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04883628159193125307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-6895241236323771522022-04-08T06:45:38.072+12:002022-04-08T06:45:38.072+12:00Thank you Hiko but credit where it's due: http...Thank you Hiko but credit where it's due: https://quillette.com/2020/08/16/the-challenge-of-marxism/<br /><br />Andrew Sullivan:<br />"Claims to truth are merely claims to power. That’s what people are asked to become “awake” to: that liberalism is a lie. As are its purported values. Free speech is therefore not always a way to figure out the truth; it is just another way in which power is exercised — to harm the marginalized. The idea that a theory can be proven or disproven by the empirical process is itself a white supremacist argument, denying the “lived experience” of members of identity groups that is definitionally true, whatever the “objective” facts say. And our minds and souls and institutions have been so marinated in white supremacist culture for so long, critical theorists argue, that the system can only be dismantled rather than reformed. The West’s idea of individual freedom — the very foundation of the American experiment — is, in their view, a way merely to ensure the permanent slavery of the non-white.........<br />Critical theory is therefore always the cuckoo in the academic nest. Over time, it throws out its competitors — and not in open free debate. It does so by ending that debate, by insisting that the liberal “reasonable person” standard of debate is, in fact, rigged in favor of the oppressors, that speech is a form of harm, even violent harm, rather than a way to seek the truth. It insists that what matters is the identity of the participants in a debate, not the arguments themselves."<br />https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/removing-the-bedrock-of-liberalism-826?s=r<br /> <br />David Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04883628159193125307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-21923293265034431242022-04-07T13:16:48.927+12:002022-04-07T13:16:48.927+12:00David George
Thank you for your clear summing up o...David George<br />Thank you for your clear summing up of the problem before us <br />Closet MarxismHikohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17655371667067421078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-16750149475360234512022-04-07T13:05:39.577+12:002022-04-07T13:05:39.577+12:00By characterising users of terms such as “woke” an...<i>By characterising users of terms such as “woke” and “political correctness” as out of touch and jumping at their own shadows, the neo-Marxist Left seeks to minimise the implications of its radical agenda.</i><br /><br />Heh. Over on Chris Trotter's Bowalley Road blog there have been numerous attempts by his commentators to pull that stunt, of which the following is a classic that fits Karl's description of the tactic to a tee:<br /><br /><i>And anything but "woke" a word which if used by anyone but a black teenager makes the user look stupid.</i><br /><br />What this response tells us is that a word that the Far Left were immensely proud of quite recently - because it sounded hip, cool and was the perfect attack word for their ideological enemies as being old, square conservatives out of touch with the real world (and yada, yada, yada) - has now turned into something toxic that's hurting the cause because of the shit being pulled under the title.<br /><br />The result is that it's time to backpedal away from the term, and the more their enemies use it as a rebounding attack word the harder they fight to pretend that it's meaningless or even created by the Right. Sort of like all those US "Progressives" who rapidly re-branded themselves as "Liberal" in the wake of the horrific Presidency of Progressive Woodrow Wilson.<br /><br />But there are honest Lefties who are not letting them off the hook on this crap, or on CRT. Like US comedian and political/cultural commentator Bill Maher. As a <i>pot-smoking, childless, libertine</i> he's no friend of the Right, but when the latest youthful hero of the US Left, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, pulled the same stunt on old-time Democrat, James Carville, Maher did not hold back:<br /><br /><i>What?!' Maher said, reacting to Ocasio-Cortez's criticism of Carville.<br /><br />'This is a term folks like you brought out very recently, had been proudly displaying it every march since.<br /><br />'Just last year, The Guardian declared "woke" the "word of our era."<br /><br />'I guess they didn't get the memo from the Mean Girls Club.'<br /><br />'What a great strategy, never missing an opportunity to remind voters how lame and clueless and hopelessly uncool they are, especially since those are the ones who actually vote.<br /><br />'But OK, fine. What word would you like us to use for the plainly insane excesses of the left that are not liberalism but something completely different?<br /><br />'Because you can't have that word "liberal" from us and think it should cover things like canceling Lincoln.<br /><br />'And teaching third-graders they're oppressors. That's all your new-think.'</i><br /><br />Heh. The Mean Girls Club. Perfect description actually.Tom Hunterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17840988228699338463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-13357856151819335492022-04-07T10:40:52.106+12:002022-04-07T10:40:52.106+12:00"the "woke" in NZ aren't neo-Ma..."the "woke" in NZ aren't neo-Marxistst's" <br />It's sometimes hard to pin down what they are exactly, R Singers, that article I linked above covers the definition dilemma nicely. He decided, in the end, to stick with "Marxist":<br /><br /><br />"The best way to escape this trap is to recognize the movement presently seeking to overthrow liberalism for what it is: an updated version of Marxism. I do not say this to disparage anyone. I say this because it is true. And because recognizing this truth will help us understand what we are facing.<br /><br />The new Marxists do not use the technical jargon that was devised by 19th-century Communists. They don’t talk about the bourgeoisie, proletariat, class struggle, alienation of labor, commodity fetishism, and the rest, and in fact they have developed their own jargon tailored to present circumstances in America, Britain, and elsewhere. Nevertheless, their politics are based on Marx’s framework for critiquing liberalism (what Marx calls the “ideology of the bourgeoisie”) and overthrowing it. We can describe Marx’s political framework as follows:"<br />He goes on to describe the Marxist critique, it's attractions and fatal flaws and ends with a chilling warning:<br /><br />"I know that many liberals are confused, and that they still suppose there are various alternatives before them. But it isn’t true. At this point, most of the alternatives that existed a few years ago are gone. Liberals will have to choose between two alternatives: either they will submit to the Marxists, and help them bring democracy in America to an end. Or they will assemble a pro-democracy alliance with conservatives. There aren’t any other choices."<br /> David Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04883628159193125307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-51809107748873495972022-04-06T22:06:26.949+12:002022-04-06T22:06:26.949+12:00Everyone knows what Woke means these days. It i...Everyone knows what Woke means these days. It includes indoctrination of children on gender ideology, the promotion of racism as a replacement for democracy, and shutting down free speech. We faced a similar challenge 80 years ago in Europe and the Pacific and we won, narrowly.<br /><br /><br />Trev1https://www.blogger.com/profile/00271717267778957672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-79592338438852133082022-04-06T20:39:38.796+12:002022-04-06T20:39:38.796+12:00George Orwell wrote about all this all those years...George Orwell wrote about all this all those years ago and here we areHikohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17655371667067421078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-2742978012749894142022-04-06T13:53:24.604+12:002022-04-06T13:53:24.604+12:00It's an interesting point about terminology an...It's an interesting point about terminology and the left. In 2022 to demand equal treatment regardless of ethnicity is "racist", and to treat people differently based on race is to embrace equality. Equality is racism and racism is equality. If the left can so thoroughly confound the basic terms it makes common sense discussions very hard to have and opens the door to all kinds of madness.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-13679883654240550242022-04-06T11:28:27.288+12:002022-04-06T11:28:27.288+12:00I'd argue that the "woke" in NZ aren...I'd argue that the "woke" in NZ aren't neo-Marxists. Any shade of Marxist is going to recognize a class struggle, let alone one that is being live streamed by all major media outlets live from our seat of democracy.<br /><br />The "woke" are exactly what Sir Lloyd Geering warned about in the late '60s. They're secular Calvinists.R Singershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13688410341414457249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-60406561138526231252022-04-06T10:03:55.358+12:002022-04-06T10:03:55.358+12:00Interesting to learn here the origin of "woke...Interesting to learn here the origin of "woke. It has since gathered a new layer of meaning and I think is becoming just another lazy term of abuse. I've never liked 'politically correct'. It makes it sound as if there is one eternal truth. What's considered 'politically correct' has varied considerably over centuries and cultures and depends very much on where you're socially placed.Don Frankshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17801999410940938418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-38088399130081874972022-04-06T09:54:06.339+12:002022-04-06T09:54:06.339+12:00It's strange how things stick in one's min...It's strange how things stick in one's mind.<br /><br />I associate Jacksons with the worst cup of coffee I've ever encountered, Hokitika with the best.<br /><br />Greymouth has always been the depressing spot best driven past on a trip up/down the picturesque West Coast.<br /><br />I lived there for a short time and can confirm that impression.<br /><br />Nowdays I stop at Hokitika and Westport and always meet friendly people.<br /><br />Further South places like Bruce Bay have been completely destroyed by halfwits determined to make enjoying New Zealand's natural beauty without strenuous exercise impossible.Tinmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02749937729383913466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-51556728552379522802022-04-06T09:42:01.839+12:002022-04-06T09:42:01.839+12:00Obviously I didn't look closely enough. I was ...Obviously I didn't look closely enough. I was focused on my whitebait.Karl du Fresnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05054853925940134404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-29001685100262722792022-04-06T09:17:49.405+12:002022-04-06T09:17:49.405+12:00You may be interested to know Karl that the Craypo...You may be interested to know Karl that the Craypot at Jacksons Bay was not in its previous life a shipping container but a piecart in Timaru .Simon Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10087627062059971842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-51194872167393065982022-04-05T22:34:04.264+12:002022-04-05T22:34:04.264+12:00Welcome back and thanks for a very interesting ac...Welcome back and thanks for a very interesting account of things in the South. But there's no rest for the wicked! We live in very perilous times, both externally and domestically where Ardern is vigorously promoting racial separatism and Maori supremacism. Nationalistic evil in the streets of Bucha, Ukraine, also stalks the meeting rooms of the Rotorua and Lakes Council it seems. As Tamati Coffey might say, quoting Bob Dylan, you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.<br /><br /><br /><br />Trev1https://www.blogger.com/profile/00271717267778957672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-6042745437525864262022-04-05T20:42:00.522+12:002022-04-05T20:42:00.522+12:00Interesting Karl. Ngaire and I did the West Coast ...Interesting Karl. Ngaire and I did the West Coast late April/early May last year. We thought Hokitika was the opposite to how you described it plus could not find a motel with vacancies so went on to Greymouth which we thoroughly enjoyed.<br /><br />Closest we got to Reefton was Westport or Inangahua on our way to Collingwood.<br /><br />Stayed at Fox Glacier and ran into possibly the most friendly if somewhat eccentric motellier ever and his Black Labrador. Highly recommended just a couple of doors from what was the Tourist Corporation Hotel which was closed due to Covid.pdmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13011861811163633347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-69345657027965660492022-04-05T17:36:30.467+12:002022-04-05T17:36:30.467+12:00You can discover a lot about a radio host by the f...You can discover a lot about a radio host by the feedback they get, or at least the feedback they tell you about.<br />At the end of his hour, Rarere often relates two or three feedback messages he has received over the hour. It is inevitably supportive of Labour and/or dismissive of National/Act.<br />Were I Rarere I might wonder why all the feedback I get is from the Left. Do I have a diverse audience ? Why not ?<br />And why do I use Pam Corkery as my Australian correspondent ?Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14974821210221902007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-35574550162209972802022-04-05T15:52:43.452+12:002022-04-05T15:52:43.452+12:00Name-calling the enemy has always been a central c...Name-calling the enemy has always been a central component of the left's toolkit. They hate it when it's used against them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-83724098895527798062022-04-05T15:42:08.548+12:002022-04-05T15:42:08.548+12:00I for one dislike the term woke. While it might g...I for one dislike the term woke. While it might get the general gist of some of the idiocy we are around, it is lacking as a reply to the idiocy. Far better to unpack the flaws in logic of many ideas that are spouted,i.e. rather than calling supporters of Three Waters woke, outline the fallacies of argument or premises inherent in these propositions. That might make for a more persuasive response thst might, just might, make others understand your viewpoint. Resorting to woke seems an ineffective response and hardly encourages debate. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-72559724740882052882022-04-05T15:31:53.380+12:002022-04-05T15:31:53.380+12:00The denigration of terminology (as per this Rarer ...The denigration of terminology (as per this Rarer character) is a deliperate ploy, a weapon against the user. <br /><br />Yoram Hazoay has it sussed. Part of his excellent essay The Challenge of Marxism:<br /><br />"Anti-Marxist liberals have labored under numerous disadvantages in the recent struggles to maintain control of liberal organizations. One is that they are often not confident they can use the term “Marxist” in good faith to describe those seeking to overthrow them. This is because their tormentors do not follow the precedent of the Communist Party, the Nazis, and various other political movements that branded themselves using a particular party name and issued an explicit manifesto to define it. Instead, they disorient their opponents by referring to their beliefs with a shifting vocabulary of terms, including “the Left,” “Progressivism,” “Social Justice,” “Anti-Racism,” “Anti-Fascism,” “Black Lives Matter,” “Critical Race Theory,” “Identity Politics,” “Political Correctness,” “Wokeness,” and more. When liberals try to use these terms they often find themselves deplored for not using them correctly, and this itself becomes a weapon in the hands of those who wish to humiliate and ultimately destroy them."<br /><br />https://quillette.com/2020/08/16/the-challenge-of-marxism/David Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04883628159193125307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-56883933388417071472022-04-05T14:21:19.175+12:002022-04-05T14:21:19.175+12:00By characterising users of terms such as “woke” an...<i> By characterising users of terms such as “woke” and “political correctness” as out of touch and jumping at their own shadows, the neo-Marxist Left seeks to minimise the implications of its radical agenda.</i> <br /><br />The term "woke" came out of African-American English in the US last century, possibly pre-dating WWII, and initially was similar to "awake" or "awoken" or "woken," and meant someone was awake to racial prejudice. It gradually entered the wider English language from about 2010 and is IMO a handy word, as like PC, everyone knows what it means.<br /><br />As for "politically correct," I have always been proudly politically correct. I supported and support equality and respect for women, racial minorities, gays and lesbians and people of all religions and none. I marched against the Springbok tour and took court cases in support of refugees. I have good friends of many nationalities, ethnicities and religions, including friends who are gay men, lesbians and transgender women.<br /><br />But because I also support freedom of expression and its related freedoms -- something people from the Left like me have long supported -- I am certainly not woke. The woke might be from the Left but if they have one dominant feature, it is their opposition to any views other than what they deem allowed, and their determination by the power of the (Twitter) mob to silence such views.<br /><br />I will of course always support the freedom of the woke to oppose my freedoms including my freedom of expression, but, mein gott, I will damn well fight until my last breath for those freedoms.David McLoughlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07572242600889192661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-41122592377004574152022-04-05T13:48:16.918+12:002022-04-05T13:48:16.918+12:00Good to see you're back Jarl and poised over y...Good to see you're back Jarl and poised over your keyboard ready to execute more great articles.<br />I must say I always enjoy your ability to observe the world around you and make a well judged comment. <br />Keep it up.<br />Regards <br />Rowen Greatbatch Zoroforeverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07586573715609292897noreply@blogger.com