I subscribe to Denis Dutton's Arts and Letters Daily site (or Farts and Fetters Daily to some), a kind of academic blog containing links to interesting articles. It's about 10 years old.
I like Denis Dutton - at least Denis Dutton the sceptic and an atheist, but I'm not so hot on Denis Dutton the libetarian, neo-conservative George Bush apologist and climate change denier. Many of ALD's links focus on these latter preoccupations, to the point where I can basically guess what the slant of an article will be a mile off. (And I tell you, if I see yet another link to a diatribe about how Europe is declining, or to one of Theodore Dalrymple's rants I think I'll scream.)
But despite all this there are still plenty of interesting articles on ALD (possibly courtesy of his co-pilot Tran Huu Dung), so I keep reading. And anyway, I think it's important to read arguments you don't agree with (or perhaps more pertinently, feel embarrassed agreeing with), because if you don't, you've closed off your mind.
Here's three articles I've read there lately. The first is an article about what has happened to the American left. It's the usual ALD slag-the-lefties job, but instead of appearing in 'American Conservative Magazine' (more from them later!), the article is from AdBusters. Not an improvement, perhaps, but not what you'd expect. In any event, the article certainly struck a chord with me.
Then there's this article about Australian historians misrepresenting source documents to 'prove' that Tasmanian colonists actively made the aboriginals of that island extinct. I'm aware from studying classics that where facts aren't available speculation is a legitimate tool, but I feel instinctively that misrepresenting the evidence you do have to make a case for your personal agenda is not on. As you'd expect, the historians involved deny the accusations, counter-accusing the accuser of being a right-wing apologist for colonialism. So it goes. For a better sense of the whole debate, see Wikipedia.
And finally, here's the big one, an article about political correctness from American Conservative Magazine! Yes, I can hear your groans. But I've always had a problem with how the left dismiss out of hand the 'political correctness gone mad' complaint from talkback callers, as if the mere use of 'political correctness' automatically makes the gripes invalid. I started out thinking the article was even-handed and even thought-provoking. In the end , there are several leopard-revealing-spots moments, the most egregious being the following:
Today, after decades of observing in untold numbers of different situations the intractable gaps in cognitive abilities between whites and Asians, on the one hand, and blacks and Hispanics, on the other, there can be few people who believe that any injustice [regarding blacks and Hispanics failing NY Fire Department entrance exams more than whites] has taken place.
These little slips mean that an opportunity for a balanced account of PC goes begging. What do I think? Well, I think PC is all well and good in a world where everyone is awfully nice to each other (say in Star Trek: The Next Generation, perhaps the most fully conceived, and cloyingly stilted, politically correct universe), but if people don't buy in you're basically handing them your nuts on a plate. For example, what is the PC response to Islamic extremism?
Anyway, these examples should demonstrate that while Arts and Letters Daily is frequently irritating, it's always interesting.
Posted by stuart at July 22, 2007 2:41 PM