Why do you think is the Bush administration so reluctant to publicly call out the U.N. on the humanitarian crisis in the Sudan? Why is there no major media attention to this disaster?

Hanson: They tried. But look, the world cares not about the dead, but whether the United States or Israel can be blamed for them. India built a brutal $1 billion fence to cut off Bangladesh; the world snored. Muslims kill thousands in Africa; the world sleeps until the IDF kills 2-3 Hamas leaders. That is just the way it is?the UN, the EU, the Arab League these are all associations of morally inept and opportunistic elites who care very little for lives per se, but very much for the attention?both public and psychic?garnered by selectively damning the United States. Why we subsidize it all I don?t know?but perhaps this censure serves some deep psychic need within ourselves to welcome blame and rebuke.

Who's Hanson?

Re: Excellent question

[quote=cosmo]Hanson: ?but perhaps this censure serves some deep psychic need within ourselves to welcome blame and rebuke.[/quote]

God hearing that part just makes me shutter. It is something that i have felt for a long time--that many Americans actually welcome contempt because they feel guilty that they are part of the lucky few who live a cush lifestyle.

But hearing it phrased like that just makes chills go up and down my spine and makes me fearful about the ability of younger people to effectively govern this machine. If you feel guilty about being rich you should actively help those less fortunate, not penalize yourself and welcome shame :Wasted:

[quote=brakada]Who's Hanson?[/quote]

[url]www.victorhanson.com[/url]

damn, saved that site to faves.....really interesting stuff.....many things i knew but still things that were articulated in ways that made them more clear in my mind.

Thanx cosmo

btw everyone should read this [url]http://www.victorhanson.com/Articles/NRO%20Index/Let_Europe_Be_Europe.html[/url]

i think the answer is as clear as it is depressing. no one cares about sudan because it has little to no strategic importance. plus, it's such a mess; who would want to tackle three civil wars with the limited funds of an NGO and the paltry sums of foreign aid from rich countries.

[quote=mylexicon]damn, saved that site to faves.....really interesting stuff.....many things i knew but still things that were articulated in ways that made them more clear in my mind.

Thanx cosmo

btw everyone should read this [url]http://www.victorhanson.com/Articles/NRO%20Index/Let_Europe_Be_Europe.html[/url][/quote]

Cool. Yea he talks about past battles, comparing them to the current battles we face today. Also talks about philosophy as it pertains to past battles as well.

You check out [url]www.nationalreview.com[/url] ?? There are alot of open-minded discussions on there as well, backed up with facts.

Yea the let europe be europe is nice..

[quote=hanson]While all Westerners prefer the bounty of capitalism, the delights of personal freedom, and the security of modern technological progress, saying so and not apologizing for it ? let alone defending it ? is, well, asking a little too much from the hyper sophisticated and cynical. Such retrograde clarity could cost you, after all, a university deanship, a correspondent billet in Paris or London, a good book review, or an invitation to a Georgetown or Malibu A-list party.

Nearly three years after 9/11 we are in the strangest of all paradoxes: a war against fascists that we can easily win but are clearly not ready to fully wage. We have the best 500,000 soldiers in the history of civilization, a resolute president, and an informed citizenry that has already received a terrible preemptive blow that killed thousands.

Yet what a human comedy it has now all become.[/quote]

:HolyShit: Nobody has ever had the balls to state this phenomenon so bluntly. :Bingo: :RockOn: This guy is a fucking pimp. My entire beef with this country and with the liberals that prance around it, has just been summed up in two paragraphs. :mrgreen:

[quote=mylexicon][quote=hanson]While all Westerners prefer the bounty of capitalism, the delights of personal freedom, and the security of modern technological progress, saying so and not apologizing for it ? let alone defending it ? is, well, asking a little too much from the hyper sophisticated and cynical. Such retrograde clarity could cost you, after all, a university deanship, a correspondent billet in Paris or London, a good book review, or an invitation to a Georgetown or Malibu A-list party.

Nearly three years after 9/11 we are in the strangest of all paradoxes: a war against fascists that we can easily win but are clearly not ready to fully wage. We have the best 500,000 soldiers in the history of civilization, a resolute president, and an informed citizenry that has already received a terrible preemptive blow that killed thousands.

Yet what a human comedy it has now all become.[/quote]

:HolyShit: Nobody has ever had the balls to state this phenomenon so bluntly. :Bingo: :RockOn: This guy is a fucking pimp. My entire beef with this country and with the liberals that prance around it, has just been summed up in two paragraphs. :mrgreen:[/quote]

Ya I agree with you there lexicon. Cosmo posted a very long post back during [ms] 1.0 which took me about 10-15 minutes to read, but it was well well worth it. It went into many many things plagueing the world today, and put most of them in that article. Long, but very short for all that he said and all of the sense he made saying it.

So I actually already found out about this guy from him. Thanks again for informing me of this guys works cosmo. I've found many many interesting quotes from this guy, and sent many to my liberal friends. :Bingo:

The conflict in Sudan at this time is mainly on ethnic grounds: the government is dominated by Arabs, and the militia killing and mutilating all those people are Janjanwid, know as fine horsemen and warriors from Arabian descent (and also recently imported).

It is said that this violent repression of the African inhabitants is partly due to a conflict over the oil resources in the country, whose revenues are mostly confiscated by that government, which has caused the people to protest against that. They already have to share their power with the rebel groups in the South if the new peace treaty holds, and are not really likely to do the same in the northwest, which would really limit their power. And of course sharing of power is sharing the money...

Formally they've started disarming the Janjanwid-militia, but wether it is for real or just to distract the UN remains to be seen. Fact is that UN-personell sent there to asess the situation is refused access tot the region, or badly hindered in doing their job.

[quote] :HolyShit: Nobody has ever had the balls to state this phenomenon so bluntly. :Bingo: :RockOn: This guy is a fucking pimp. My entire beef with this country and with the liberals that prance around it, has just been summed up in two paragraphs. :mrgreen:[/quote]

Amen.. Check his website every 2-3 days. He has new pieces up there every once in a while that he has written recently for newspapers around the world. Brilliant stuff.

[quote=cosmo]www.victorhanson.com[/quote]

nice link (although I'm more of a liberal). I read the first three stories on the page. He definitely has a couple of interesting theories and a couple of valid points. Still, I was looking for the "reply" button after I read the articles (excessive use of MS, I guess :wink:). He still goes over the line a couple of times and I couldn't agree with everything he says. Esp. a couple of things in the "let Europe be Europe" bothered me, but at least he at least he tries to be biased and "leaves the door open" for many possibilities, which I definitely respect.

I especially liked this statement:

[quote]No, bin Laden is quite sane ? but lately I have grown more worried that we are not. [/quote]

[quote=Yao]The conflict in Sudan at this time is mainly on ethnic grounds: the government is dominated by Arabs, and the militia killing and mutilating all those people are Janjanwid, know as fine horsemen and warriors from Arabian descent (and also recently imported).

It is said that this violent repression of the African inhabitants is partly due to a conflict over the oil resources in the country, whose revenues are mostly confiscated by that government, which has caused the people to protest against that. They already have to share their power with the rebel groups in the South if the new peace treaty holds, and are not really likely to do the same in the northwest, which would really limit their power. And of course sharing of power is sharing the money...

Formally they've started disarming the Janjanwid-militia, but wether it is for real or just to distract the UN remains to be seen. Fact is that UN-personell sent there to asess the situation is refused access tot the region, or badly hindered in doing their job.[/quote]

Thanx to the info Yao. Well, it's definitely not the first "civil war" conflict which is NOT going to be stopped soon enough. And probably not the last one either. :( Like it's been said before there is just not enough international interest to solve the crisis (and Sudan even has oi l- how intriguing :wink:). And afterall who would want to involve themselves in a civil war. Sad, but true.

[quote=mylexicon][quote=hanson]While all Westerners prefer the bounty of capitalism, the delights of personal freedom, and the security of modern technological progress, saying so and not apologizing for it ? let alone defending it ? is, well, asking a little too much from the hyper sophisticated and cynical. Such retrograde clarity could cost you, after all, a university deanship, a correspondent billet in Paris or London, a good book review, or an invitation to a Georgetown or Malibu A-list party.

Nearly three years after 9/11 we are in the strangest of all paradoxes: a war against fascists that we can easily win but are clearly not ready to fully wage. We have the best 500,000 soldiers in the history of civilization, a resolute president, and an informed citizenry that has already received a terrible preemptive blow that killed thousands.

Yet what a human comedy it has now all become.[/quote]

:HolyShit: Nobody has ever had the balls to state this phenomenon so bluntly. :Bingo: :RockOn: This guy is a fucking pimp. My entire beef with this country and with the liberals that prance around it, has just been summed up in two paragraphs. :mrgreen:[/quote]

Wow, that is indeed one hell of a quote right there. It's so true, yet so simple. Nice link cosmo and nice fishing mylexicon. :Bingo:

Re: Excellent question

[quote=cosmo]Why do you think is the Bush administration so reluctant to publicly call out the U.N. on the humanitarian crisis in the Sudan? Why is there no major media attention to this disaster?

Hanson: They tried. But look, the world cares not about the dead, but whether the United States or Israel can be blamed for them. India built a brutal $1 billion fence to cut off Bangladesh; the world snored. Muslims kill thousands in Africa; the world sleeps until the IDF kills 2-3 Hamas leaders. That is just the way it is?the UN, the EU, the Arab League these are all associations of morally inept and opportunistic elites who care very little for lives per se, but very much for the attention?both public and psychic?garnered by selectively damning the United States. Why we subsidize it all I don?t know?but perhaps this censure serves some deep psychic need within ourselves to welcome blame and rebuke.[/quote] :Bingo: It's so true, but the sad part is that you have to know where to look. The partisan mainstream press just totally ignores it. They rather slam Bush over and over again about some bs. (even though they know it's not true)

Very nice. I've never heard of Victor Hanson before but I am quite impressed with his writings. Strange how some people can take the complex thoughts you so often have and place them in simple black and white. Always nice to see people with a general similar view point though. Thanks for the clue in and the link.