tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post3220801109445074256..comments2024-03-26T06:17:49.527-07:00Comments on Had Enough Therapy?: A Culture of False HonorStuart Schneidermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-729517673681551612014-08-06T07:16:15.841-07:002014-08-06T07:16:15.841-07:00By the by, I forgot to give attribution to instapu...By the by, I forgot to give attribution to instapundit site for the two quotes. ...to keep putting people who want power and control over us...into positions of authority. <br />Tip,<br /><br />Could not agree more.Dennishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14962996070458991675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-82077158231059178242014-08-06T07:00:24.175-07:002014-08-06T07:00:24.175-07:00There is nothing strange about the world we live i...There is nothing strange about the world we live in. <br /><br />"In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of The Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior: “A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover That they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship.”<br /><br />Tyler went on to suggest that democracies tended to go through the following sequence:<br /><br />From bondage to spiritual faith;<br />From spiritual faith to great courage;<br />From courage to liberty;<br />From liberty to abundance;<br />From abundance to complacency;<br />From complacency to apathy;<br />From apathy to dependence;<br />From dependence back into bondage."<br />"Sir John Glubb's essay on the "Fate of Empires" also follows a similar track, where the length of a prominent nation is about 10 generations from his study of Empires over the last 3000 years. Here is brief summary:<br />"(d) The stages of the rise and fall of great<br />nations seem to be:<br />The Age of Pioneers (outburst)<br />The Age of Conquests<br />The Age of Commerce<br />The Age of Affluence<br />The Age of Intellect<br />The Age of Decadence.<br />(e) Decadence is marked by:<br />Defensiveness<br />Pessimism<br />Materialism<br />Frivolity<br />An influx of foreigners<br />The Welfare State<br />A weakening of religion."<br /><br />Note the similarities. We seem incapable of learning from the past which makes us destined to repeat the errors of the past.<br />People do not change only the technology available to them does. There is nothing that is strange about it other than our ability to keep putting people who want power and control over us. We are our worst enemy .Dennishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14962996070458991675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-40176422853716350942014-08-05T18:54:34.084-07:002014-08-05T18:54:34.084-07:00Ares, have you published a book?
It's a stran...Ares, have you published a book?<br /><br />It's a strange world we live in, where those who are not in the arena criticize those who place themselves there by choice, and expose themselves to insult and idiocy.<br /><br />Spit.<br /><br />Stuart, I'll purchase a full-price copy of "Saving Face," if you have any on hand. You know where to reach me. Send an address where I should send the (full price) check.<br /><br />Good grief, Ares. How small. <br /><br />TipAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-77490989864552533652014-08-05T12:02:35.660-07:002014-08-05T12:02:35.660-07:00Good news, "Saving Face: America and the Poli...Good news, "Saving Face: America and the Politics of Shame" is selling used on Amazon for $0.01+$3.99 shipping, so I made my order today, 8 more copies still online! <br /><br />It's a strange world we live in, but somehow the economics of book selling makes sense. Maybe they're just trying to raise their "positive review" status? Even my local thrift store charges $1 for hardcopies, unless you get lucky on half price Tuesdays.<br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0679409696/ref=sr_1_5_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1407264828&sr=8-5&keywords=Stuart+Schneiderman&condition=usedAres Olympushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09726811306826601686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-32668094457452956972014-08-05T10:09:38.621-07:002014-08-05T10:09:38.621-07:00"They have not understood that by undermining..."They have not understood that by undermining Israel they are undermining the values that they hold dear." Being Progressives, they don't care.Sam L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00996809377798862214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-22943591365075602512014-08-05T10:02:23.278-07:002014-08-05T10:02:23.278-07:00Alas, no Stuart, I haven't read your books, an...Alas, no Stuart, I haven't read your books, and I know I show off my ignorance at every step. I understand that must be frustrating to you, desiring knowledgeable feedback. I do search your blog archives.<br /><br />Ares Olympushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09726811306826601686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-54046765948100148442014-08-05T09:29:42.077-07:002014-08-05T09:29:42.077-07:00Apparently, you haven't read either of the two...Apparently, you haven't read either of the two books I have written about this topic.Stuart Schneidermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-39897526465577811062014-08-05T09:21:47.805-07:002014-08-05T09:21:47.805-07:00David Gutmann's article is from 2003?
http://a...David Gutmann's article is from 2003?<br />http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=15759<br /><br />Myself, I can't judge Arab or Muslim culture's shame/honor basis, or not, or whether the actions of Hamas are representative of the wider culture.<br /><br />You might consider the American South is more of a Shame/honor society compared to the Protestant North's Guilt society. At least that generalization might be something we can discuss with some personal knowledge.<br /><br />Does anyone talk about that? Let's see, here's an article:<br />http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/shame-honor-and-the-south/<br />The cultural anthropologist Paul G. Hiebert has written: "Shame is a reaction to other people’s criticism, an acute personal chagrin at our failure to live up to our obligations and the expectations others have of us. In true shame oriented cultures, every person has a place and a duty in the society. One maintains self-respect, not by choosing what is good rather than what is evil, but by choosing what is expected of one."<br /><br />I don't know if that definition agrees or not, but, I do wonder about what LOOKS LIKE irrationality in southern politics, and wonder about the "humiliation" from the Civil War, ending in segregation, and from the 1960's resistance to Civil Rights to break segregation, and I understand the anger against the federal government's interference in local politics.<br /><br />And the abortion debate also perhaps could be judged from this divide, one side content to judge abortion as an issue of personal conscience (guilt society?), and another side that sees it as a moral position (shame society?)<br /><br />Anyway, if these divides exist within our country, who can say what divides exist in the Muslim and Arab cultures which are surely at least as diverse as we are.<br /><br />Hamas's tactics and is a monstrosity to be sure, and one that is perhaps fed by politics as culture.<br /><br />Its so easy to judge, and righteous to judge violence, and you wonder how it escalated, and each side is somehow convinced of its own list of grievances and tactics.<br /><br />I don't even know anything where Jews fit as a shame/honor or guilt society?<br /><br />Lastly, "false honor" is a troublesome claim to me, at least judging the sincerity of another culture's pain and response seems to be dangerous.<br /><br />If there's false honor in the Muslims of Hamas, perhaps there's equal false honor in the Jews of Israel? You might as well say "trauma" creates false honor in everyone trying to find meaning in their pain, but at least it would be admitting there's a hidden need unmet, and a psychopathic persona who has dehumanized someone else to justify what can never be justified.Ares Olympushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09726811306826601686noreply@blogger.com