False Consciousness

Arnold Kling talks about folk Marxism, and its unfortunate hold on much of the public, particularly in Europe, but also, sadly, in the US.

Under folk Marxism, the oppressed class has inherent moral superiority to the oppressor class… Class membership trumps individual character in determining moral standing. It should be no surprise that this belief could lead to tyranny and wanton murder by government. It should be no surprise that this belief has failed to improve the lot of those regarded as “oppressed.” It inverts Martin Luther King’s call to judge people by the content of their character.

Even when Marxism does not lead to tyranny, it retards economic growth, as the stagnation of continental Europe indicates. If you believe that the poor are oppressed and the rich are oppressors, then your impulse is to penalize work, risk-taking, innovation, and saving — the engines of economic progress.

Well, at least the Canadians are on the verge of throwing off their true oppressors today.

Root Causes

Joe Katzman has a thought-provoking and depressing post on the source of Islamic terrorism.

There was supposedly an old saying in the wild West: “There ain’t room in this town for the both of us.” Unfortunately, there’s not room on this planet for classical liberal western cultures and radical Islamism. This will be a battle to the death of one of those cultures, and Islam itself won’t survive without a dramatic reformation, even if some people think that’s not possible.

[Update at 9:25 AM PST]

Diane West writes about the silence that speaks volumes.

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!