israel – Learning, Science and Society

Pity the poor people of the Southern United States! Because they are making the same mistake as their ancestors did long, long ago. For much the same reasons, we suspect. Have a look at this from Nature Briefings, Southern Scientists Face Political Problems

A survey of faculty members working in US southern states suggests that the political climate is hitting morale among academics and driving a brain drain away from the region. Nearly 3,000 self-selected participants cited diminished academic freedom, restrictions on reproductive healthcare, harassment and the erosion of support for diversity, equity and inclusion programmes. “Multiple faculty members at my institution have been doxxed and harassed, including by elected officials,” wrote one female instructor in Texas. “This makes it difficult for me to do my job or feel safe on campus or at home and honestly just live my life.”Nature | 6 min read

Teaching of certain ideas is to be restricted or banned, The Ten Commandments displayed in every University Classroom……why the fear of words, the loathing of discussion? Because the dominant group (largely white, male and fundamentally Christian) is profoundly insecure. A siege mentality is setting in. The key questions in academe: (“Is this Beautiful?” ” Is this True”) are now too dangerous to ask. There is to be one question only-“does this build up the defences of an ethno-nationalist society?”

The same attitude to learning bedevilled the Old Plantation-and-Slave south before 1861. As Hugh Brogan observes[1]

….a strange barbarous culture grew up which quickly annihilated …Jefferson’s Dream that the University of Virginia, which he founded in 1819, would be a great light of civilisation. The colleges of the South remained jokes until into the twentieth century pp294-295

And now their descendants are playing the same sad game. Why the fear of ideas, the need to snuff out questions?

America is fast becoming an ethno-nationalist society, where different groups jostle for power and status. Now there are good reasons to suspect that this is the natural state of human society. We have argued this before on this blog, citing authors such as Chua and Kaufman(LSS Passim) It may well be understandable, natural even, to defend a state of affairs where your group is the top dog. But happens when someone else has been concentrating on more profitable things, and then comes to get you? The South first learned the answer to that in 1865. Will it have to do so again?

[1] Hugh Brogan The Pelican History of the United States Penguin 1986 see especially ch 14

##ethno-nationalism #slavery #The South #Evangelical #republican

As Hemingway once wrote of bankruptcy, the collapse of autocratic regimes tends to happen gradually and then suddenly—slowly, and then all at once

So writes Anne Applebaum in her unflinchingly honest reflection on the fall of Syrian Dictator Bashar Assad and his tribe of hangers-on. No one can deny the people who live in Syria their brief moment of joy at the departure of the kleptocrat. But whether the inhabitants of that ravaged land can whack up the wherewithal to sustain their new freedom remains moot. Especially in this dark sombre world where “ignorant armies clash by night!*

Which is why we’re channelling the thoughts of Anne and Sir Alex Younger, because they are two of the sharpest tools in the current box. They saw all this coming. And Anne is quick to situate the Syrian upset where it belongs-inside the strategic game plan of Vladimir Putin. The current spate of rail delays, snapped cables, health system freezes and curious election outcomes are part of one essential gameplan which she defines as

When Putin talks about a new world order or a “multipolar world,” as he did again last month, this is what he means: He wants to build a world in which his cruelty cannot be limited, in which he and his fellow dictators enjoy impunity, and in which no universal values exist, not even as aspirations.

Every ruler a Bashar Assad, in fact.

For those who do not know Britain’s Security Services still recruit and even promote some of the cleverest people in our system. None more so than Sir Alex Younger until recently head of MI6, our foreign facing arm of the undercover service. He has made it his mission to pop up in corners of the infosphere to warn us of the imminent perils we confront. The mere fact they have let him out should be alarm enough in in itself-normally these people stay deep undercover even far into retirement. This outing for Sky News is pretty representative of his thought, which is always lucid [2]

Gentle readers, the way ahead will be long and extremely arduous. Nor can we clearly see its end. But the people of Syria have shown the possibility of overthrowing even the most tyrannical of despots. They have demonstrated that Putin is not infallible, as the Mediterranean Province of his empire crumbles. And that his Iranian allies have suffered a major defeat. The greatest weapon a bully has is his reputation for being unbeatable. That has just been lost.

*arnold

[1]https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2024/12/sudden-collapse-bashar-assad/680917/?utm_source=apple_news_{thanks to P Seymour}

[2]https://news.sky.com/story/former-mi6-chief-sir-alex-younger-on-russia-syria-and-cyberwarfare-13266524

#vladimir putin #totalitarianism #kleptocracy #democracy #syria #anne applebaum #MI6

Tag: israel

Southern States make the same old mistake: pity them in the long run

Syria: One more round in an ongoing struggle