What is the World Coming to?
Either I'm like my dog or my dog is like me: old and without the time (or the inclination) to learn new tricks. And so because I have yet to figure out how to post links and pictures and stuff, here is a lengthy excerpt from Jeanette Winterson's monthly column over at http://www.jeanettewinterson.com that I wanted to share:"There is very little difference between Islamic Fundamentalism and Christian Fundamentalism. Both groups will use holy text to justify their murders and their misogyny. Both groups believe that they are right and that everyone else is wrong. Both groups are anti-science, both prefer faith over facts. Ironically, both are united against the values of liberal Western culture.
"What are those values? And here we come to the tricky part, and perhaps the reason why the Right has been able to gain such a victory.
"Throughout the twentieth century, liberals have worked for a better, fairer, world. A hundred years ago, women couldn`t vote, black people were considered inferior, there were few educational or employment opportunities outside of your given niche in society, the British Empire was still intact, Colonialism was normal, Oscar Wilde had been sent to prison for his sexuality, divorce was impossible, etc etc. I could write the list to the end of the column.
"The changes that we have seen in the status of women, the recognition of black and other cultures, the liberalisation of laws on divorce, abortion, homosexuality, the move towards an open and free society, the move away from a rigid Church-bound atmosphere of intolerance and bigotry, all these changes that we take for granted are not a result of Right Wing or Conservative policy. It is the Left that has the world a better place to live in. It is the Left that has been the force for revolution and change.
"The Left is good at fighting injustice and intolerance. It is much less good at creating a society with secular values strong enough in their own right, to stand against the Conservative agenda.
"The Right has crept back because it points to lawlessness and crime, lack of respect for society and the family - even just general bad manners, and it says that this is the legacy of the Left. The Left has no values, says the Right, and so we end up living in a world where, sure you can go to college, but you`ll get mugged on the way. Sure, you can get a divorce, but men don`t respect women anymore. Sure, you can have as much sex as you like, but our kids are drowning in a world of cheap 24/7 porn. (Thank you Britney -I`m voting for Bush - Spears).
"Since the 1960`s, liberal values seem to have won the day. The problem is that an `anything goes` society can never win the day, because people start to get frightened of their freedom, and people don`t realise that freedom is the biggest personal challenge on the planet. If you are free to do as you like, you need a huge amount of personal discipline and personal restraint. You need values of your own to direct your conduct. The Right has always depended on making people behave by telling them what to do through the fear of some outside force - whether God or the State. (And now Terrorism - yippee). The visionary Left hoped that by removing the false oppressions from peoples` lives, people would make their own rules, and live well out of personal love and respect.
"It hasn`t happened - free people continue to prefer to oppress their neighbours - even if it just means turning the music up too loud, or dropping garbage on the street. We don`t live with a sense of each other, we live for ourselves, aggressively and selfishly.
"The Right have worked out that they can say this is all the fault of a godless liberal society that HAS GONE TOO FAR.
"Well, maybe it`s time for the Left to fight back by finding a positive agenda for change - one that is about transforming the individual, making us fit to be free.
"Those of us who don`t want a new world order dominated by fanatics and neo-cons can`t shrug our shoulders in a liberal way. We have to get active - in our own lives, in our communities, with our children, for the things we believe in.
"The Right has enormous energy, and it really believes in its agenda. The White House has just approved a book to be sold in American National Parks which says nothing about Evolution but which takes a Creationist line on how the great wonders of Nature came into being.
"Draw breath and think what to do about that. If you have children, explain to them what is happening in the world - tell them how the world used to be, just a hundred years ago - learn your history, learn your politics, take nothing for granted, pass on what you know, tell kids that values matter - they don`t have to have god-values, but they have to have human values, of compassion, tolerance, generosity, honesty, kindness to others, which is good manners. Tell them why Britney is crap, why sex is great, but not shoved down your throat every five minutes. Teach them to discriminate. Discrimination is our alternative to censorship. If the Left doesn`t learn to discriminate, the Right will soon start to censor.
"Don`t lose heart. The return of the Right is not inevitable. The Left will have to think carefully about what it believes in - and in England a Bill for American-style gambling casinos, is not the answer to the Left`s vacuum of ideas.
"We are fighting a new enemy now - and it is not outside of ourselves, it is inside ourselves. We don`t know how to be free. Freedom is complex - not simple. Freedom demands education, not ignorance. Freedom is about tolerance and discrimination, not mindless laissez faire. [and for those of you who how I feel about the state of the current educational system, I'm sure you can see me nodding my head upon reading this particular paragraph - Calai]
"The Left is fighting for the future now, and we have to win. The fight starts with each one of us - what we believe in, how we behave, who we really are. Don`t despair, don`t give up, begin again, not as a woolly liberal but as a clear-minded freedom fighter. The Right has only prejudice and fear on its side - don`t let them call it truth."
(Jeannette Winterson, November 2004)
Someone (I think it was David Malouf) once wrote that some people hold on too tightly to the past simply because they think it's better than the present. I believe that some people hold on too tightly to the past because they don't do anything about the present. There is a difference between "thinking" and "acting". "Yes to Life", my friends. Just say "Yes" to Life. And all our actions will echo in eternity.
Now...discuss amongst yourselves.
posted by Calai @ 11:17 AM
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