[MD] The Trouble With Wilber

[pholden at davtv.com]

Quoting Arlo Bensinger <ajb102 at psu.edu>:

> [Platt]
> Typical. You don't like what libertarians say. Call them deceptive "nuts."
> 
> [Arlo]
> I am fond of much Libertarian philosophy. "Ain't Nobodys Business If 
> You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in a Free Society" is a 
> favorite book of mine. Just because I find your incessant use of 
> deceptive and distortive talk-show rhetoric deplorable hardly means I 
> find nothing of value in larger philosophical camps. I think Limbaugh 
> is about as vile as they come, but I have many close friends who are 
> "conservatives". Life ain't the "all or nothing" you make it out to be.

Typical. Talk-show rhetoric is deceptive and distortive, and Limbaugh is
vile. 
 
> [Arlo had said]
> The whole "bash the Academy" crowd, which pretty much defines 
> right-wing politics, uses the same rhetoric generation in and 
> generation out. They labeled Pirsig a "radical professor" fifty years 
> ago, and still use that tired phrase with each new round of nonsense.
> 
> [Platt]
> Typical. You don't like what capitalists say. Call it "nonsense."
> 
> [Arlo]
> It was "capitalists" who branded Pirsig a "radical professor"? At any 
> rate, yes, the perennial nonsense that brands "radical professors" I 
> do find, as Pirsig did, "just right-wing politics".

Typical. What capitalists say is "nonsense." (Talk about "all or nothing.")
 
> [Arlo had said]
> "Dumbing down our schools" is just another old, worn-out cliche, and 
> every time you hear it you are justified to roll your eyes and tread 
> with caution. More often than not, it is used to masquerade attacks 
> against non-white, non-European cultural information. Its the damned 
> liberals and foreigners who are ruining the country, destroying the 
> schools, blah blah blah.
> 
> [Platt]
> Typical. You don't like what conservatives say. Call them "racists."
> 
> [Arlo]
> Hey, you make your fear-bed, you lie in it. Give me some examples of 
> "dumbing down" that aren't "catering to liberals" or "catering to 
> foreigners". And heaven forbid someone speaks another language!

I gave examples of dumbing down in previous posts that don't cater to
anybody -- just the facts.

> "... there will be unintended consequences [of the Immigration Bill] 
> all over the place. The new census report says America's now 
> one-third minority. And in four states -- California, New Mexico, 
> Texas, and Hawaii -- whites are the minority." (Bill O'Reilly)
> 
> Whites as the minority?!?! Oh my god! Run for the hills! We are doomed!

Which is good reason why you should study the Western canon.






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