On the Friday News Roundup, Victor Davis Hanson and cohost Sami Winc talk about the state of war in Ukraine, Generation Z, civil disobedience, and the Jan. 6 Select Committee bringing criminal charges against Trump.
Menu
Thanks for all you do and share !
Best,
Dan Marks
Regarding the usefulness of academic pursuits, my old thermo professor, around 1969, said, “It doesn’t matter what your philosophy is if you don’t know how to do anything.” He also opined that, at least in the cases of math and engineering subjects, there should be three grades – “A”, “B”, and “F”. Further, that the student who earned an honest “B” understood the course material; just hadn’t studied enough to earn an “A”. But that he didn’t want to walk across the bridge built by the “C” student.
It’s a fine distinction, Sami, but Ukrainians refer to their country as “Ukraine”, not “the Ukraine”. With the definite article, it connotes a region, not a sovereign state. Calling it “Ukraine” underscores their argument that they are a sovereign, independent state, not a region subject to another state.
Interestingly, “Ukraine” comes from a root meaning “(border) march”. It’s similar to “Mark”, “march” in Germanic languages.
@11:36 Jen P-saki. The Mouth of Sauron.
At least Sauron knows to hire fallen Numenorians from Connecticut when the chips are down…
Fukuyama, and liberals/Leftists/Progressives, proceed from two flawed assumptions.
The first is that human nature is basically good.
The second is that human nature changes.
Human nature is neutral at best, neither good nor bad. At worst, it is bad. Either way, we have to be taught to be good, and to strive to be good, each of us, individually.
And remembering that gives one a better understanding of how the world works.
Forgetting or ignoring that, means you’re going to get killed.
@41:30 “…the key to civil disobedience is that the protester has to have a clear moral edge on the establishment he’s protesting against…I am breaking the law…because I love this government and want it to follow the better angels of our nature…”
That is an excellent point, and it highlights that we no longer are a moral society, a virtuous society, of the type the founders envisioned and discussed. Moral relativism has become too common an idea. It certainly underpins leftist/progressive ideology. Progressives use the idea of “If it feels right, do it” to ensnare those who don’t think to deeply about things, or who listen to their emotions over their thoughts.
Ben Franklin’s reply to Mrs. Powel, “A republic, madam, if you can keep it,” is based on that concept, that a republic will only survive if its citizens are virtuous, are moral.
I’m reminded, too, of Os Guinness’ point in his book on liberty, that freedom doesn’t mean being able to make any choice at all, but it means being able to make the RIGHT choice. And that is predicated on knowing right from wrong. That is not the same as doing whatever you feel like doing at any time. But that is where we are, here, and in the rest of the West.
@44:03 That is precisely what the Statist ideologies-the ones born of the Jacobin phase of the French Revolution-produce: a society in which the strong bully the weak. It is NOT a civil society, in which the rule of law is observed. It is about power, exercised over subjects. Or as we used to say, it’s tyranny.
@50:32 It’s called a honey trap, Professor!
And if sex is involved, it’s “honey potting”. VDH needs Urban Dictionary. No educator should be without access these days ;-)!
My apologies for leaving so many individual posts. I’d have kept them all in one, but there’s a maximum character limit. And there are so many great points in this particular podcast, points that resonate, that I felt compelled to comment.
Also, to the question of using the right word or term for something, sure we don’t want to chastise for mistakes-though Sami’s fans exaggerate in describing Professor Hanson’s comments. But words mean things, and it’s important to be precise when you speak. To believe in that as a standard is something else that is dying out these days.
Mr. Hanson,
I love your work, and thank you for your prolific content. In all of the talk about pushing Russia to China, I think something is missing. My worry is the opposite of conventional opinion, mainly that China will join the West in defeating Russia. China would gain arable land and resources, take back historically Chinese territory, maintain its grip on western production and supply, and then rule the world as the lone superpower. All to the applause of western nations. Our beneficent masters that rid the West of its fake bogeyman.
I appreciate the thoughts on the Ukraine/Russia conflict. As you know there are conflicting views about where we go from here. I agree with Victor that it would be a mistake to let Putin come out of this unscathed. I see China as the real threat and anything that can put a damper on their ambitions is a good thing. I know Russia has nukes and a leader that is more akin to a neanderthal than a sage leader, but it is frustrating to me that people see Russia as a bigger threat than China. Would Russia have done this if China hadn’t told them they had their back? I doubt it.
Civil Disobedience also means that if you break Man’s Law then you still expect to pay Man’s penalty for it. If I fulfill my dream of toppling a Confederate statue, then I had better do so without a mask, in daylight, and go quietly when the police come to arrest me. The idea is that an unjust law is still a law and I am not the Law.
Sami’s mystique will beat Victor’s known quantity every time. If Victor is Hannibal and Jack is Will and Sami is Abigail, then our sympathy remains with Abigail no matter how many people she eats or pushes out windows. Hannibal’s only hope is to buy her her own harpsichord and keep lacing her tea with shrooms. And maybe pouring wine very elegantly…
On the Ukraine situation and matters of the no-fly zone plus the whole of bizarre reasons for supplying jets to the problem except for how to get them on Ukraine territory …… do you know
if the suggestion of getting the Ukraine pilots going to Poland(themselves)to pick up the planes
and fly them into their own country – has been mentioned? Satellite equipment would have to be
jammed in order to cut off warning ….. and give time for the news to absorb.
It seems the very many conflicts about NATO being involved(mano a mano/body to body)
on the Ukraine territory creates an impasse …… nothing to do with equipment.
On another topic …… I used to get your lectures …… Sowell’s and Williams’ on Roku for the last 6 years but everything was taken off with the purge. Maybe they could be put back as a favor for the election?…… never hurts to try because I miss them ….. them and many others.
I’m the culprit who sent Hillsdale a link for the Aussie’s ‘scrutineer’s manual’ last summer or fall.
Keep up with the good work, it’s immeasurable. I cannot possibly read it all but I am saving it;
if the world can quiet down, maybe I can catch up but no bets on that.
As an afterthought ….. think Biden bit off more than he can chew with this last one, think he
did not want Ukraine to be free so he could keep the money transfers going on and on.
But now ….. the stakes have been antied up …… good luck to him, US and us.
I heard Fukuyama in a panel discussion several days ago. He came across as pompous, angry, and very defensive. Niall Ferguson disagreed with him on several points, and I agreed with Ferguson. 😄 I recall being obliged to read the ‘end of history’ article when I was a graduate student. I felt instinctively that Fukuyama was wrong. He remains wrong to this day.