‘From Racism to Culturism’ (updated 18oct19)

George Rebane

[This is the addended transcript of my regular KVMR commentary broadcast on 16 October 2019.]

For some decades now, ‘racism’ and ‘racist’ have become a cachet in the Left’s narrative about the sins of the Right when other such appellations fail them.  Few people using such pejoratives can give a coherent definition of these terms, nevertheless they continue to serve a useful purpose to invoke the ire of their lightly read constituents.  Longtime listeners to these commentaries who have visited my blog know that I have a long history of being accused by my leftwing readers as a racist, among other unsavory things.

The nuance that such accusers of those like me miss is that I am a culturist, and not a racist.  Instead, as the years-long archive of my writings show, I am a child, student, and defender of Western civilization.  Western civilization is united by the formidable intersection of western cultures as practiced in the various countries of what today is known as ‘the west’.  And, absent my making any discriminatory remarks about people based on their DNA or gene set, that makes me and others like me culturists and apologists for culturism.

Yuval Harari, in his chapter ‘From Racism to Culturism’, concurs with and expands on this interpretation in his most recent tome, 21 Lessons for the 21^st Century (2019).  Yuval Noah Harari is a celebrated socio-historian and author of best-selling books on humanity, its history, worldviews, and future portents.  Perhaps some of you have read his Sapiens – A Brief History of Humankind (2014) or Homo Deus – A Brief History of Tomorrow (2017). In the following, the quotes I use come from his ‘21 Lessons …’ published earlier this year.

Totalitarian regimes have always sought to fundamentally transform their nations’ cultures when coming to power.  However, such transformations never succeed.  History shows us this most recently in the recoil of such imposed transformations to their native versions in the liberated Balkans and countries conquered by the former USSR.  The existence of a rich tapestry of cultures around the world has served us well, and their measured and unforced evolution will continue to serve mankind in these tumultuous years of technology paced globalization.

Are some cultures better than others?  Cultural relativists say no, but reality says yes. Harari writes “… few would see witch-burning, infanticide, or slavery as fascinating human idiosyncrasies that should be protected against the encroachments of global capitalism and Coca-Colonialism.”  When people judge others of a different culture on the basis of their display of cultural attributes, then that is NOT a racist judgement or racist behavior.  Such assessments are more accurately known as culturist behavior, and the person so disposed is a culturist, not a racist.  A culturist evaluates the relative worth of another culture based on cultural attributes that may be expressed or carried out by anyone of any race, and not on the basis of an individual’s racial make-up.

Traditional racism was firmly grounded in biological theories, in modern times even incorporating DNA and genes as the basis for attributed differences in such things as intelligence and morality.  This has been shown to have little scientific basis.  In Hariri’s words, “Today, in contrast, while many individuals still make such racist assertions, they have lost all of their scientific backing and most of their political respectability—unless they are rephrased in cultural terms. Saying that black people tend to commit crimes because they have substandard genes is out; saying that they tend to commit crimes because they come from dysfunctional subcultures is very much in.”

For political reasons, today’s progressives reject this understanding of culturism and continue to accuse culturists of being racists in order to serve their emotive narrative targeting the politically unsophisticated.  Describing another nation as a ‘s-hole country’ is definitely not a racist slur, but instead a slur on the country’s culture.  There is nothing inherent in the people of any country, no matter their racial make-up, that prevents them from practicing a more productive and enlightened culture to benefit their citizens.  In sum, “culturism has a much firmer scientific basis than racism, and particularly scholars in the humanities and social sciences cannot deny the existence and importance of cultural differences.”

My name is Rebane, and I also expand on this and related themes on Rebane’s Ruminations where the addended transcript of this commentary is posted with relevant links, and where such issues are debated extensively.  However, my views are not necessarily shared by KVMR.  Thank you for listening.

[Addendum]  I revisit this distinction between racism and (my) culturism because now we have the left-of-center Yuval Hariri, an internationally respected scholar and author of relevant essays for the intelligent reader, who also concurs with what I have argued in these pages for many years.  Followers of Rebane Doctrine know my penchant for more precise and operational definitions, and may recall how my understanding of racist and racism was presented in ‘Who is a Racist?’ and ‘Racism and Racists Revisited’.  The caveat in all this is that with respect to the semantic accuracy of the definitions presented, we are technically all racists if we believe that the racial composition of individuals can now be determined from a detailed examination of their DNA.  To the extent we believe that this technology lets us characterize their aggregated physiological attributes, we are all racists.  But, of course, in the socio-political sense, as Hariri corroborates, that is not true.

As I pointed out above, our irreversibly polarized nation (remember ‘past the tipping point’?) is fastened on two opposing narratives.  The battle between the political parties today is focused on the middle-roaders and those Americans who don’t pay attention to national issues.  The core constituencies of both sides are not large enough to guarantee victory at the polls, so both sides have to attract voters from the politically uncommitted.

The message from the Right is that today’s Democrats have again (as they did in the 1930s) succumbed to the siren song of socialism cum communism, and that ideology has always created misery.  It has never worked as witnessed by the collapse of the Soviet Union, China’s attempt to make state capitalism work, and the Europeans’ retreat from big government control of everything in order to get their economies going again.  The Right’s solution is smaller government, more individual liberty, and promotion of responsible free enterprises that compete in minimally regulated markets.

The message from the Left is that today’s Republicans are made up of deplorable racists who want to return the country to an authoritarian Jim Crow era supported by rapacious free market capitalism that steals wealth from the middle class and the ‘underserved’ segments of our citizenry.  Their solution is a much bigger government which is vigorously involved in controlling and participating in the economy, enforcing massive wealth redistribution through mainly asset-based taxes which they promise will fund a panoply of ‘free’ services and direct payments to favored classes of citizens and illegal aliens.

This contest for the hearts and minds of Americans pits the intellectual arguments of the Right against the emotional arguments of the Left who characterize those of the Right as being fundamentally evil.  Such a tack continues to be supported by confirming national narratives disseminated through our educational, news media, and entertainment industries.  The unchanging focus of the Left’s narrative is the notion that those on the Right are sinister racists who desire to exploit America’s minorities whose votes are critical to the Left’s political power.  To date in this arena the Left has a clear advantage.

If my assessment of our alt-Left progressives is correct, then all these arguments will have the effect of water off a duck's back, or better, a lecture to a 2x4 with a face painted on it.

[18oct19 update]  Patriotism to one’s nation may easily be incorporated as a cultural dimension.  The seminal notion incorporated in patriotism is preservation – the patriot wants his nation to survive and endure/evolve more or less in and from its current state.  In 2003 70% of Americans were ‘extremely proud’ to be Americans; in 2019 only 47% still embrace that sentiment.  And today fewer young people than ever consider patriotism to be a “very important” value.  (I wonder who taught them that.)  Columbia University professor Adam Kirsch writes a thoughtful essay in the 18oct19 WSJ (here) wherein he claims ‘American Patriotism Is Worth Fighting For’.  And I have filched it for those who are thwarted by WSJ’s paywall.  Download American Patriotism Is Worth Fighting For  Thoughts?

Comments

[Bill Tozer]

“The College Fix reports that “[p]osters asking ‘Is Your Costume Racially, Culturally, or Ethnically Based?’ appeared in dorms last week courtesy of the school’s Residence Education and Housing Services. The placards feature examples of ‘costume fails’: a guy dressed like a mariachi, women dressed as a Native American (‘hypersexualized racism’) and in a Japanese kimono, and … a space alien (allegedly represents ‘illegal aliens’?

https://www.dailywire.com/news/happy-halloween-annual-offensive-costume-bans-begin-starting-with-michigan-state-university?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3354696571207959&set=gm.774648576323588&type=3&theater

[Gaetano L B eicore]

Dead on George. Thanks for sharing.
Guy

[Narvedon]

Geo...Great stuff You should get on Real Clear Politics along with Victor Hason Conrad Black etc Sure glad I have Genius friends ..raise mine up,to about 72...

[J. Barron]

There is nothing inherent in the people of any country ,. . .that prevents them from practicing a more productive and enlightened culture to benefit their citizens."

Pretty biased viewpoint when claiming some cultures are better than others. "enlightened and productive" can be measured in an infinite number of ways. Americans may invent more wigits than the French (productive) but does that mean we are a better culture? Is Christianity in any way more "enlightened" than Shamanism or Buddhism? Of course you would think so from your Christian perch, but who are you to judge? Enlightenment and productivity vary greatly depending on the view of the beholder. You would be hard pressed to define "better".

[George Rebane]

JBarron 347pm - Nice repartee Mr Barron, but off the mark. Nevertheless, you get full credit for engaging. There is no bias whatsoever in my statement about the art of the possible for a people to accept any culture they wish, it is an existential truth. And yes definitely, from any "perch" one can judge, and real thinkers do, that not all cultures are of equal worth. As Hariri points out, some are definitely better than others. Were you capable of such mental latitude, you would immediately agree when forced to choose under which culture to spend your life. No one, absolutely no one, would ever be "hard pressed" to define a better culture.

I think the ongoing cause of your train of errors is that you believe there exists a politically correct ivory tower from which ABSOLUTISM rules. Unfortunately for you and yours, such a tower and the Easter Bunny don't exist.

[Scott O]

J Barron - "Is Christianity in any way more "enlightened" than Shamanism or Buddhism?"
Maybe it's just a coincidence that the overwhelming majority of folk in the world that wish to re-locate ALWAYS want to head to nations steeped in Christianity.
More hilarity - "Of course you would think so from your Christian perch, but who are you to judge? Enlightenment and productivity vary greatly depending on the view of the beholder. You would be hard pressed to define "better".
So - it's all the same?
Why does the left tell us we need to be more like the Euros?
How are they better?
Who are you to judge?
George is not allowed to judge, but Barron will be the judge of that.
Just another rock thrower trying to sound intelligent.
Bring it on, Barron.
You haven't got the wit to argue your way out of a wet paper bag.
There is better and there is worse.
Do try to study just a bit of history.

[J. Barron]

Actually Scott, you are so steeped in your own bias that you fail to realize I made no such judgement. I spent many years in Japan which is a country with a culture and religion quite different than ours. It was no better or no worse. Universally they look down on Americans, so apparently from their perch they are the more desirables.

[J. Barron]

My last post was directed to both Scott and George.

From George the American "No one, absolutely no one, would ever be "hard pressed" to define a better culture." In Japan such an Americanized statement would simply be further proof of American buffoonery and arrogance. We are not an admired culture, yet, unfortunately the trappings of Western culture are rampant.

[Bill Tozer]

Re: Update

Dr. Rebane said, “If my assessment of our alt-Left progressives is correct, then all these arguments will have the effect of water off a duck's back, or better, a lecture to a 2x4 with a face painted on it.”

—————————————————
Nazi Youth, Brownshirts, or Stalinists??

“You might think that in the aftermath of such appalling lawlessness, mainstream Democratic politicians would rush to denounce the violence. In fact, to my knowledge, not a single Minnesota Democrat has criticized what you saw in that video. At least one Democratic legislator, Aisha Gomez, participated in the riot, and several others tweeted their support for it. And Ilhan Omar, the darling of Minnesota’s Democratic Party, expressed regret that she wasn’t taking part in the riot along with Rep. Gomez:”

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/10/how-evil-is-the-left-this-evil.php

[Scott O]

J Barron wants to prove my point.
Barron claims - "We are not an admired culture, yet, unfortunately the trappings of Western culture are rampant."
Total bullshit. Where do the vast majority of people in the world wish to re-locate to?
What culture is the most copied and envied, world wide?
Barron is missing one large point.
There is no one 'best' culture, in the ultimate sense, but right now it's our culture and freedom and liberty that most of the world wants.
Baron is confusing George ordering everyone to like our culture and George simply pointing out that most of the world likes our culture more than any other.
There are many in Japan that hate their culture and their extremely high rate of suicide would seem to back up that fact.
Question for Barron - explain why the 'trappings' of American culture are so rampant?
It ain't the trappings, dude - it's the culture, pure and simple.
Most people in the world love it.
Too bad the Nipponese can't accept that the world isn't gaga for their culture.
They can smirk all they want, they are only great in their own eyes.
But the world has voted otherwise.

[J. Barron]

Scott- I can only surmise that you get your news from FOX and haven't actually experienced other cultures except from maybe an American tour guide. Your statement "most of the world likes our culture more than any other. " is simply something you were indoctrinated at school and at political rallies.

The VAST majority of the people in the world are happy with their space and place. "They can smirk all they want, they are only great in their own eyes." is apropos for Americans. We do a lot of things really well, but that doesn't mean we are the only ones who do things really well nor are we even close to the best at many things.

[Scott O]

Barron extends his losing streak - " Your statement "most of the world likes our culture more than any other. " is simply something you were indoctrinated at school and at political rallies. "
No dude - it's fact.
If you were to travel to other parts of the world you would find our culture is far more prevalant than any other in most of the world.
In fact, it's so prevalent that other countries have had protests against those 'trappings' as you call them.
When have American radio stations had to limit the amount of foreign language songs as a matter of law?
France did.
And you keep ducking my questions as most lefties do.
It just sucks to be a leftie and see the rest of the world aping what Americans do.
We have a vibrant, free loving attitude and culture. We freely 'appropriate' from other cultures and apply them at our will.
You might ask women from those other great cultures if they would rather live here.
Better stand back and get out of the way.
We have the best culture as far as most the rest of the world is concerned.
Just ask the millions pouring in.
Or the billions that wish they could.

[Scott O]

Oh yeah - "I can only surmise that you get your news from FOX..."
Once again, you are factually wrong.
But being being factually wrong doesn't bother a leftie.
I haven't watched FOX news very much and haven't watched them at all for years.
Seems like you base your opinions on false info.
Sucks to be you.
The saddest thing is after you are informed you are wrong, you won't change your mind or attitude one bit.
Just keep running your head against the wall - there's nothing there to damage.

[George Rebane]

Just to be clear, other nations (with their cultures) judge American culture to be too inviting for their young people. Because of its attractiveness to so many around the world, it has now its own somewhat pejorative label - CocaColonialism. We Americans do still have a problem in foreign countries when we don't observe their cultural norms; we are then seen as 'the ugly Americans'. Bottom line, they like our goodies and quality of life, but they would rather enjoy all that in the context of their own cultures.

[Jig Wiggly]

GR
Well said.

[Jig Wiggly]

GR
We have hosted three exchange kids (Japan, Norway and Peru) and they ARE drawn to America. They couldn't give a rat's ass about our politics, health care, or GDP. Not many 16 year olds do. They instead, were drawn like moths to a candle to all things entertainment as seen on TV and the internet. They were blown away by the great distances here - somehow America is encapsulated by one zip code, 90210 and beyond that left them speechless and perhaps numb.

These "kids" are now in their late 20's and early 30's. They have families and jobs and communicate fairly regularly. We have visited one of the families in Japan. I think having seen the unwashed Beverly Hills and Anaheim they are cured of their American dream. They like America and American things, but they have no desire to trade our culture for theirs. From their perches, they are better. The idea that the whole world wants to come to America is a belief held only by the brainwashed and ignorant.

[Todd Juvinall]

Jig Wiggly | 18 October 2019 at 07:20 AM
So you destroy lives out of the country as well. You are a one-person wrecking machine troll. I guess the million-plus legal immigrants every year and the 22 million illegal aliens have a different view of coming to America than you trolls.

[Scott O]

"The idea that the whole world wants to come to America is a belief held only by the brainwashed and ignorant."
Jiggy has fun winning arguments against statements that no one has made.
And -
He knows of 3 people that don't want to live here. My goodness, that's quite a large percentage of the world's population.
I know it would involve traveling to a non-whitey-white area, but he might check out America's southern border.
As a further thought about Japanese 'culture'.
About 160 years ago, their culture was very little like it is now. They 'westernized' big time. And the country they decided to adopt most of their new culture from was England!

[Bill Tozer]

Well, China and Japan are the most racist (and homogeneous) countries in the world and they like it that way. Ever look at their immigration policies? It’s their culture, I reckon. I don’t see folks on rafts navigating shark infested waters to leave America or travel thousands of miles on a dangerous trek with just the shirt on their backs (and I-phones) to leave the US. Hmmm. Wonder why that is? A great mystery. And there is no doubt the Chinese feel superior to all other races, creeds, and nations. I have noticed the same attitude of Dutch Flat feeling superior to Colfax and Nevada City to Grass Valley and Progressives and Elites to unwashed masses in fly over country. Again, must be a cultural bubble thang.

I would be all for being a socialist, but I ain’t into eating my dogs.

[Todd Juvinall]

Maybe Jiggy=pooh could try immigrating to Japan and or China. But as BillT states, they are the most racist countries on the planet. White Jiggy is also too fat so that would not help either. But that is what these lefty charlatans think. All on display at the clown car reunion the other night. I personally do not have a racist bone n my body but Jig does. He not on;y hates people with eyes that are different he hates himself.

Trolls like Jiggy are just angry mentally ill people who are probably on the public dole anyway. failures in life, Just like Paul Emery.

[George Rebane]

Clearly, the ‘whole world’ does not want to come to the US. But enough of the world is sufficiently poor and/or live under stifling govts, so that ‘whole world’ communicates a good working approximation when we consider how to manage our borders and redo our immigration policy. But what ALL people know, who have travelled abroad and established personal relationships with foreigners, is that (almost) all culturated humans like to live in the company of those who share their culture. This has been a constant theme in these pages since RR’s launch.

Wanting to ‘live with your own kind’ does not also mean that you automatically reject or despise other cultures. As sociologists and psychologists are again regaining their courage to tell us, the desire to live in a more than less culturally cohesive community is an evolved trait with survival value that humans share with all other critters. And none of this means that a sovereign nation-state has to be mono-cultural as long as its multiple cultures can share sufficient values and mores, support acculturation, and allow the existence of culturally cohesive spaces.

Finally, cultural diversity in promoting the existence and survival of many/most (but not necessarily all) global cultures is beneficial for humankind in the same way that marketplace competition is beneficial to consumers. Monopolies, both commercial and cultural, are bad.

[Robert Cross]

Monopolies, both commercial and cultural, are bad."

Then why all the uproar over immigration?

[George Rebane]

RobertC 1012am - There is no "uproar over immigration". Aculturative immigration has been the most supportive and sustaining demographical dynamic for America's growth and success. The uproar is over the Left's promotion of unassimilating illegal aliens whose unlawful advent and disjointly cultural attitudes promise to rapidly change the cultural landscape of our country. Thanks for the question.

[Jig Wiggly]

Scott 7:58

"You might ask women from those other great cultures if they would rather live here.
Better stand back and get out of the way.
We have the best culture as far as most the rest of the world is concerned."

I'm pretty sure even Mr. Rebane would disagree with these statements.

You are blinded by your FOX news vision of immigrants from failed nations grasping at straws. America happens to be a pretty nice straw, but they are not any less pleased to reach Canada, Greece, France, or Germany. From your point of view muslim women are oppressed and can only hope to escape to a Christian America. Guess what? I have travelled through the Stans and met VERY few women who would trade places with some lady in Nevada City. Women are oppressed if they feel they are oppressed. Most accept and enjoy their position in society. I know that's a hard thing for you to swallow, and of course the women's lib movement in the middle east will bolster your views, but the silent majority is overwhelming.

[Todd Juvinall]

We don't need any more illegals from shithole countries. We need smart people and those with a job and income. Jiggy-pooh can always send an extra amount of money to the government to pay for someone's care if he wants. But like all socialist pigs he just wants someone else to do that.

And having known many legal immigrants I can tell you they are so happy to be here and they love America.

[George Rebane]

Jig 1031am - Are the federal stats on hundreds of thousands illegally crossing our southern border annually a 'blinding Fox News vision'?? But I do believe that CNN, MSNBC, ... fans may be totally oblivious to such things happening. No one here is concerned about how many from s-hole countries reach or want to enter Canada, France, Germany, ..., that is their problem to solve or live with. That you have to erect your own strawmen to put down doesn't bode well for whatever position you're trying establish re America as a desirable destination.

[Bill Tozer]

“America happens to be a pretty nice straw, but they are not any less pleased to reach Canada, Greece, France, or Germany.” -Jiggles

Hmm. All countries listed above are of the Christian-Judeo tradition, aka, Western Civilization.....topics that have greatly fallen out of favor on our universities and, of course, with the Left.

[Todd Juvinall]

Hillary says that Tulsi Gabbert is a Russian agent and in a sleeper cell. Hillary is mentally ill and there cannot be any other conclusion.

[Bill Tozer]

Immigration? My my. The US has an immigration policy that allows in and welcomes the most immigrants in the world. More than fair to those who legally apply and wait in line.

https://dailycaller.com/2019/10/17/mexico-deports-300-indian-nationals/

This link is better. Why are Mexican National Guard and riot police battling with African illegal immigrants in Southern Me-he-co?

[Bill Tozer]

Link

https://townhall.com/columnists/toddbensman/2019/10/10/why-africans-are-protesting-and-fighting-mexican-troops-a-more-fulsome-explanation-n2554455

[Paul Emery]

George

You write:

"Totalitarian regimes have always sought to fundamentally transform their nations’ cultures when coming to power. "

Does that not also apply to imperialistic and colonial cultures that conquer and exploit other "cultures" and their nations for their own profit and power? Also does that also apply to our conquest and destruction of the Native cultures during our quest to actualize "Manifest Destiny"?

[Gregory]

Punchy 358pm

You've been listening to Br'er Ben too much.

[Walt]

But Emery was OK with it when "O" tried.

[Todd Juvinall]

This land is your land, this land is my land.....
We took it because we could. That is the way of life on earth. If the Polish Knights did not stop Khan we all might look like Yao Ming. Just live with it. I have no guilt but only thanks.

[George Rebane]

PaulE 358pm - Correctamundo. As far as the redskins and Indians were concerned, the US and Great Britain were totalitarian regimes; both were conquered peoples and had little/no say in their governance.

[Paul Emery]

Exactly right Todd "We took it because we could"

Defination of Imperialism-Britannica:

Imperialism, state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas. Because it always involves the use of power, whether military force or some subtler form, imperialism has often been considered morally reprehensible, and the term is frequently employed in international propaganda to denounce and discredit an opponent’s foreign policy.

[Paul Emery]

They were conquered by dominate "Cultures" right George?

[Walt]

OK Paul,, you can always go back to Greece. Hand the title of your property over to Tozer. There is always the UK.
Your great at bitching, so do something about it. Deal with your self imposed guilt trip.

[scenes]

From the interwebz.

As someone here said, not all heroes wear capes.

https://twitter.com/tyIerzilla/status/1185278788197896192

[George Rebane]

PaulE 525pm - They were conquered by sovereign nation-states each having more or less cohesive cultures and much more advanced technologies. (Don’t know where you’re going with this Paul, but somewhere along the line you usually blow a tire. Careful!)

[scenes]

"Imperialism, state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas."

Exactly. Otherwise, people like the Navajo would have ever ended up with a great big chunk of land.

[Bill Tozer]

O contraire, Mr. Punch Drunk.

Where are all the White Women? Must be a cultural thang.

“The context of the name-change campaign is the MNHS’s $35 million “revitalization” plan for the fort complex, whose 200th anniversary is in 2020. As at Lake Calhoun, this “new vision” features what one commentator has called a one-dimensional narrative of “villainous whites and victimized minorities.”

“A central theme of the new vision is that whites stole the land around Fort Snelling from the Indians. The fort’s construction marked “a seminal moment in the invasion of Dakota lands,” as the U.S. “fulfill[ed] its colonial aims,” according to the MNHS website.

“In fact, Fort Snelling was built— shortly after the War of 1812—to prevent British intrusion from Canada into the frontier lands of America’s new Louisiana Purchase. Its mission included regulating the fur trade and promoting peace between the constantly feuding Indian tribes.

“Indian agents at the fort regularly supplied the Dakota with traps, axes, guns and knives that helped them survive, and often gave them food and tobacco. Between 1820 and 1831, the U.S. sponsored more than 200 peace councils between the feuding Dakota and Ojibwe. Dakota Chief Little Crow recognized these advantages. In 1819, he told Indian agent Lawrence Taliaferro “he had been looking every year since the sale [of land] for the troops to build a fort, and was now hoping to see [them.]”

The Dakota War was a tragic episode in Minnesota history. In the summer of 1862, the Indians faced a food shortage, their federal land payment was late, and tensions were running high among the Dakota, the traders and Indian Agent Thomas Galbraith. In response, in August, Dakota warriors massacred more than 600 Southwest Minnesota settlers— mostly defenseless women and children.

The massacre sent shock waves through the state. It represented the largest number of whites killed in a war with the Indians in United States history. If the war occurred today and the same proportion of the state’s population was killed, the dead would number 15,000, according to Minnesota historian Stephen Osman. That’s five times the death toll of September 11, 2001. The victims included almost 100 children aged 10 or under, of whom 40 were babies of two or under. Twenty thousand refugees fled their homes and hundreds of children were orphaned.

Minnesotans were particularly outraged by the appallingly cruel and brutal way many were slain. Eyewitnesses across 140 miles described babies nailed to trees and left to die in agony; children whose hands or legs were hacked off with tomahawks before their parents’ eyes; victims whose hearts and other organs had been ripped out and scattered; and bodies mangled “to such a degree as to be almost deprived of human form”—including a woman whose head was left on a table with a knife and fork stuck in it.

Despite outraged cries for revenge, the U.S. government— after capturing some of the perpetrators—moved to protect Dakota women and children. As winter came on, the Army built a camp to house more than 1,600 of them. The camp’s purposes were to shield these Indian dependents from grieving, revenge-minded whites, and to feed them through the winter. The Dakota received the same rations as the fort’s soldiers, and many would probably have starved without this aid, according to Osman. They were free to come and go and were given medical care.

Fewer than 150 Indians died, mostly of measles—a constant danger before modern medicine. But at least as many dislocated settlers also died of disease while refugees crowded into Minnesota cities following the conflict, according to Osman.

The MNHS website describes the Army camp for Dakota women and children as a “concentration camp,” an act of “genocide.” The opposite is true: The camp’s purpose was to protect Dakota dependents, not to exterminate them. Though the MNHS acknowledges the camp’s inhabitants were not “systematically exterminated,” its imagery clearly evokes Nazi death camps. At the same time, the MNHS website fails to convey either the extent of the death toll the Dakota inflicted or the barbaric nature of their atrocities.

The MNHS is the publicly funded steward of Minnesota history. Yet where Fort Snelling is concerned, it is effectively erasing that history. In August 2019, the MNHS announced it would seek public input about whether to recommend that the legislature change the fort’s name. However, although it has now covered the new signs, its announcement left little doubt that it remains strongly committed to “Historic Fort Snelling at Bdote.”

https://www.americanexperiment.org/2019/10/bde-maka-ska-change-the-name-rewrite-history-redefine-politics/

Bottomline: 1st Man: "Bde Maka Ska? How do you pronounce that?"

2nd Man: "Calhoun."

[Paul Emery]

So George a "culture war" is ok as long as it's conducted militarily but not acceptable if it's a form of change to a dominant culture through immigration. For example colonialism and imperialism were acceptable forms of "culture " change to weaker populations and nationalities but it's not ok for immigration to lead the charge of culture change by assimilating a new culture into a historically white, Christian country. Was it ok in your lights for the Christian Europeans to steal land and resources from weaker cultures just because they could?

[Walt]

But Emery!! Forget how the Celts were? You sure admired them.
They sure as hell weren't pasifits.

Well Emery, you haven't bitched about your hippie culture driving out the mining and logging culture that made this place. But I'm sure you have a good excuse.

[George Rebane]

PaulE 705pm - well that didn’t take long for you to go off the rails. The redskins and Indians didn’t like it when ‘we’ did it, and we don’t like it when the illegal aliens do it. BTW, it is not “immigration” but an illegal border crossing. And there is no ‘assimilation of new cultures’ involved here; it’s only individuals who assimilate into the host culture. Else it was an illegal invasion as far as the redskins and Indians were concerned then, and it’s an illegal invasion as far as we Americans are concerned now. It sure looks like you are still having trouble connecting the dots.

[Scott O]

We see Saint Emery is back - asking questions at his usual pace and answering none.
Hey Paul - was it OK for the folks that lived here before the English settlers got here to kill and rape and enslave others?
Well?
See folks - the way the world works is that if one culture (or country) has the tech and the resolve, they can possibly be successful at taking over another geographical area. And dominating or even eliminating the other area's culture. And often along with most or all of its citizens. Either outright or by proxy or by other means. And all the people running around talking about whether or not it's a moral or correct thing to do might have a lot of fun discussing the matter, but in the end they have no say. None.
Humans in various sorts of groups have banded together for eons to take out other human groups. Take their land, their women, their resources, etc.
Still going on right now.
You don't like it?
Fine.
Step in and stop it.
But you have to be against all of it and if you pick and chose, you loose all moral authority.
If you claim it's bad for one group to do it then it's bad for anyone to do it.
The American left loves to carry on quite a show of moral righteousness so far as they know there is no actual physical danger to themselves in their moral crusades.
But they have fun and I suppose it keeps them out of the bars, to a certain extent.

[Walt]

Emery.. get a new "free Tibet" bumper sticker. It will make you feel better. You can always give China a call. Maybe "Peking" James can give you a hand with that.

[Paul Emery]

No trouble connecting g the dots George but you're entire cultural screed is just a justification for the white Euro-Christian dominance of everything they can conquer. When desperation causes millions of disadvantaged human beings to seek a path to survival as best they can you hide behind your "cultural" definitions as to what is justified for human beings to do for each other. How does Christianity and the teachings of the Prophet Jesus fit into this behavior? Any ideas you can share with readers?

[Paul Emery]

sp: "human beings to do to each other."

[Walt]

Tough night for Emery. Still refuses to answer anything.
Find another planet and run it your way.

[Gregory]

Punchy

There wasn't much here when the first Eurotrash came to the golden shores of North America.

Their lives were nasty, brutish and short, not much different than the folks whose ancestors walked here.

The wealth here now wouldn't be here without the labor of said Eurotrash and their descendants and the laws they both brought with them and created once they were here... including immigration laws.

[Scott O]

The left (including Emery) refuse to see the obvious - "When desperation causes millions of disadvantaged human beings to seek a path to survival as best they can..."
Are you talking about those from the Judeo-Christian west, Emery?
No, I thought not.
Notice from whence the 'desperate' come.
Looks like all the different cultures don't produce the same happy outcomes.

[Paul Emery]

Scott

What difference does religion make Scott? Disadvantaged human beings are who they are. Are you a Christian? What wisdom would Jesus offer to the situation?

[George Rebane]

PaulE 932pm – Your comment confirms that you understood absolutely nothing of my commentary which only advanced the theses that 1) culture and racism are two orthogonal attributes embraced both by individuals and societies in the aggregate, and 2) people seek to live in cohesive cultures that they can honor, practice, and preserve. As noted above and previously on RR, this “screed” also represents the understanding of some formidable intellects and academics here and abroad – I am merely a student of it, not its progenitor as you and yours continually attest. The rest of your own comments seem to be a desperate attempt to divert the subject and bring it back to some form of the progressive narrative which continuously seeks to denigrate 1) western civilization in the large, and 2) specifically Christians embracing a tragic belief system that can be faulted for all the world’s problems. Your short form can be summed in ‘The world’s evil today derives solely from the western whites who embrace Christianity. The sooner they are politically and commercially suborned to a position of insignificance, the sooner we can achieve the coming global collective that will herald the Golden Age of Man.’

As readers can see, there was a good reason that I ended my commentary's addendum with - 'If my assessment of our alt-Left progressives is correct, then all these arguments will have the effect of water off a duck's back, or better, a lecture to a 2x4 with a face painted on it.'

[Walt]

Emery's Roman "roots" are showing.

[Todd Juvinall]

I suggest Paul Emery travel south of the border and convince those countries people to make their country hospitable. Seems the lazy ones travel to "freebee land" rather than take their country's out of tyranny.

[Bill Tozer]

It’s rather difficult to make the distinction between culture and race when one side sees everything through the prism of race and a racist behind every bush. Bless you for trying, Dr. Rebane.

[Gregory]

punchy 938am

Most of the "desperate" at our southern border were doing OK where they were, before they trekked up to our border. Not starving, a roof over their heads.

Yes?

[Scott O]

Emery still can't get it.
"Disadvantaged human beings are who they are."
You still refuse to admit the origins of most of the 'disadvantaged'.
And why they are 'disadvantaged'.
A lot of cultures 'disadvantage' themselves.
Then, instead of looking at how they can change their own lot, they hie off to places that are comfier and bring their bad habits along.
There is no religion that can magically make things better, but the western (mostly Euro) Judeo-Christian culture starting around the 15th century (there is certainly no hard date-line) began to pull away from the rest of the world in technological and philosophical advances. By the 19th century the rest of the world was left in the dust as our modernist, liberal (classic liberal) western culture made our standard of living the highest on the planet.
It involves a culture of hard work, being open to new ideas and methods, education, personal responsibility and a willingness to take risks and chances with no guarantees of success. The Judeo-Christion religious ideas fit well within that ethic and the over-all result was an extremely rapid expansion (explosion, really) of knowledge and the ability to implement that knowledge into areas of activity previously unknown to man-kind.
Has it all been good?
Of course not - it never has and never will.
Of course you'll find folks happy with their current lot in some African or Asian village.
Chatting on their cell phones and generally enjoying the fruits of a vastly superior culture.

[Bill Tozer]

Is Punchy a white woman lecturing us?

https://pjmedia.com/trending/oak-park-trustee-to-white-male-colleague-you-shouldnt-have-an-opinion-you-have-been-white-from-birth?

[Bill Tozer]

From Addendum above”

“This contest for the hearts and minds of Americans pits the intellectual arguments of the Right against the emotional arguments of the Left who characterize those of the Right as being fundamentally evil. Such a tack continues to be supported by confirming national narratives disseminated through our educational, news media, and entertainment industries. The unchanging focus of the Left’s narrative is the notion that those on the Right are sinister racists who desire to exploit America’s minorities whose votes are critical to the Left’s political power. To date in this arena the Left has a clear advantage.”

To put it in Dan Bongino’s phrasing; ‘The Right looks at the Left as people with bad ideas. The Left looks at the Right as bad people with bad ideas. Never forget that.’

Perhaps viewing the Right was being bad (evil) people with bad (evil) ideas makes for easy realization of all the duplicity and hypocrisy the Left emits on an hourly basis. Connecting the dots must begin with assigning nefarious motives to the Right and justifies their own motives. Thus the cultural vs racial argument is indeed talking to the fence post with a face painted on it.

A random example: A Tale of Two Fingers

https://freebeacon.com/politics/a-tale-of-two-fingers/

[Scott O]

Oh Bill, Bill, Bill - don't you realize?
Obama's not pres any more.
Didn't happen, don't care, whatever.
The only thing that matters is that we have a photo of Nancy standing up to all those men.
You are not allowed under the new, new, rules of engagement to compare that photo to anything.
Gee - remember when Britain had a woman to lead them?
Boy, the American left just loved her to pieces.
If only Star Parker would run, I'll bet all the lefties that post here would just gush over her.
'Cause - 'gurl powr'!
What a joke.