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Joyless Generation


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1 hour ago, Gonzo79 said:

Is that not just like asking for summarised references from former colleagues (which will be available for prospective employers to read in the public domain)?

Very much doubt it. As far as I can see he’s just started a new job but in any case, if you’re at that stage in your career and are still begging for references in public then you’re unlikely to find the ones you’re looking for. It’s just an oblique form of virtue signalling, which seems to be the main function of LinkedIn these days. 

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3 hours ago, Bill said:

Yes, I’d like the actual answer. Even if there wasn’t an actual question. 

You’re right, there were two:

 

What is it about displaying weakness and vulnerability that appeals to so many people? Is this white privilege in action?

 

Will get back ASAP on it. It’s boring and petty, but worth knowing, as like everything else, it has a history. And a trajectory. An overt purpose. 

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1 hour ago, bmck said:

You’re right, there were two:

 

What is it about displaying weakness and vulnerability that appeals to so many people? Is this white privilege in action?

 

Will get back ASAP on it. It’s boring and petty, but worth knowing, as like everything else, it has a history. And a trajectory. An overt purpose. 

Bated breath 

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In essence it goes back to philosophy and history. The British to a fundamentally empiricist view of life - you learn by experience and experiment and induct. Continental philosophy starts from first principles and deducts, making life fit theory. Example: British common law and constitution, adjusted according to experience and over time. Laws come and go. We have a written constitution, but not in one place, and it’s malleable. Continent is largely based on Roman Law, with offences theorised and applied to fact without changing over time. When communism failed as a philosophy, what we regarded as the Great Tradition of philosophy started to be questioned by the West, initially by former communists turned postmodernists - instead of looking at our great tradition of philosophy and literature for its gravitas and grandeur they looked for the people’s voices it squeezed out. Principally a literary movement, it developed into what became known as critical theory - a more systemised way of looking for the oppressed voices across the humanities and then the social sciences. The victims of empire, seen as relegated, became elevated, and - as you pointed out - one of the more virulent strains was critical race theory, and intersectional oppression - namely all the “oppressed” groups coming together, and the oppressors being made feel increasingly guilty for things they themselves never did. White guilt. The thing about it is, when you read the literature on this, that it is activist is not hidden - even in fields as obscure as linguistics you have critical applied linguistics which is overtly activist at writing the wrongs of “powerless voices” - except all this has been going on for 20-30 years and the same people who believe the narrative of oppression are the ones in power, running the institutions. That’s why you get people like your pal - white knighting, being an ally, because the “slaves” have become the masters and it’s how you succeed in the world organised by these people. You work for the big four, you are getting this forced upon you - you either comply or stop making mad money. He’s getting out ahead instead of complying the minimum necessary. Reckon that’s enough. Told you it wasn’t overly interesting, but that’s why we are at where we are at in as few words as possible. 

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Should supplement with the fact there obviously was oppression and atrocity created through Empire but dealing with it in the theoretical framework of Continental philosophy and therefore theory, rooted ultimately in ideology, of which communism, for which it swapped the working class for the any sort of marginalisation, makes it inevitably activist and ultimately bordering on supremacist. It created categories of good and evil where the British empiricist/analytic tradition is defined by nuance but alas has lost, along with the West as a whole. We are experiencing a new cult, kind of like the Roman Empire did Christianity, except a malevolent one. Gradual increments close to full equality isn’t sufficient, only equity will do. Apart from everywhere else, you can see it in writing - artists are often reticent to write outside their own experience, as it opens them to accusations of trying to appropriate the experience of an oppressed class. White privilege. The slow march through the institutions is complete. 

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11 hours ago, bmck said:

In essence it goes back to philosophy and history. The British to a fundamentally empiricist view of life - you learn by experience and experiment and induct. Continental philosophy starts from first principles and deducts, making life fit theory. Example: British common law and constitution, adjusted according to experience and over time. Laws come and go. We have a written constitution, but not in one place, and it’s malleable. Continent is largely based on Roman Law, with offences theorised and applied to fact without changing over time. When communism failed as a philosophy, what we regarded as the Great Tradition of philosophy started to be questioned by the West, initially by former communists turned postmodernists - instead of looking at our great tradition of philosophy and literature for its gravitas and grandeur they looked for the people’s voices it squeezed out. Principally a literary movement, it developed into what became known as critical theory - a more systemised way of looking for the oppressed voices across the humanities and then the social sciences. The victims of empire, seen as relegated, became elevated, and - as you pointed out - one of the more virulent strains was critical race theory, and intersectional oppression - namely all the “oppressed” groups coming together, and the oppressors being made feel increasingly guilty for things they themselves never did. White guilt. The thing about it is, when you read the literature on this, that it is activist is not hidden - even in fields as obscure as linguistics you have critical applied linguistics which is overtly activist at writing the wrongs of “powerless voices” - except all this has been going on for 20-30 years and the same people who believe the narrative of oppression are the ones in power, running the institutions. That’s why you get people like your pal - white knighting, being an ally, because the “slaves” have become the masters and it’s how you succeed in the world organised by these people. You work for the big four, you are getting this forced upon you - you either comply or stop making mad money. He’s getting out ahead instead of complying the minimum necessary. Reckon that’s enough. Told you it wasn’t overly interesting, but that’s why we are at where we are at in as few words as possible. 

An interesting response deserving of a proper debate some time instead of dismissive comments like 'bated breath.'

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11 minutes ago, alexscottislegend said:

An interesting response deserving of a proper debate some time instead of dismissive comments like 'bated breath.'

Is it worth pointing out that the response you find so interesting came after I posted those two words? Probably not. 

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