The Left's False Narrative

[Hurin_Rules]

Democracy is traditionally tied to a larger political ethos.

This 'tradition' is the very Eurocentric historiography in question. To defend Hanson by referring to it is circular.

This ethos involves a theoretical strata that defines roles of the state vis-a-vis citizenry. Tribes holding council or friends deciding together what movie to go see may certainly include a consensus, but do not meet the larger standard of civilization.

Ah, I see. So the West is now the arbiter of civilization? Good for it.

Science is a theoretical position.

So is the Western superiority complex.

The Magna Carta is typically cited as one of the important steps towards the return of democracy, but referencing it as a civil liberties text seems odd in that it is a royal decree and thus derives its force from royal mandate.

If you want to rule out all documents enacted by royal decree from your definition of civil liberties, then you're going to have to ignore most of the history of civil liberties.

Civil liberties discourse usually places the subject along lines where liberties are beyond the power of the state as their force is extra-governmental.

Modern civil liberties discourses, perhaps, but I thought you were talking about origins?

You keep making arguments along the lines of 'this is usually done this way' or 'traditionally, this is what has been done'. Well, slavery was a 'tradtional' part of western culture for millenia, and racism is a usual foundation for intolerance. Custom and authority are not arguments.

You haven't spent much time outside the West have you.

Enough to know that intolerance springs from ignorance.

The above is not an argument. You should try and restrain your anti-Americanism a little more.

Actually, it is far more of an argument than anything your post provided, which relied on a circular appeal to Eurocentrist historiography and the ponderous weight of unthinking tradition. I, on the other hand, referred to the US governments own study that showed that the amorphous explanation 'they hate freedom' was simply wrong. Most people like America; its the policies of its government they hate. That and all those invasion thingys.

Here's the link:

http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:...om+study&hl=en

You get a half-point for using "piffle".

Thanks, I'm glad someone noticed. I was originally torn between bilge and dreck, but then piffle suddenly came to me. Call it divine inspiration.