European links

[erudito]

The un-fun of losing one’s privacy.

Those sushi waiters, they can be scary people: "They pointed an stun gun at a waiter and demanded the cash from the till, but the staff grabbed kitchen knives and charged at the men," .

An essay-in-sculpture about national stereotypes has got some folk worked up.

Read this article by Bruce Bawer. Now read his

Comments

[jordan179]

The problem with the European riots is that the European governments are either afraid of, or in some cases sympathetic to, the rioters. The states are refusing to deploy the necessary force to end the riots quickly, which is emboldening the rioters.

At the start of this the riots -- and I mean the whole sequence, starting in France a couple of years ago -- could have been suppressed by a few decisive police deployments. If this continues unchecked, the rioters will form into outright militas, and their victims form counter-militias. At which point it will take outright military action to stop the violence.

The thing that I find so amazing is how many Europeans, and their governments, fail to grasp this.

Violence and social order

[erudito]

Americans believe in social order as something worth defending by violence if necessary. Hence the black, very liberal Democrat Mayor of New Orleans announcing he had given police instructions to shoot looters on sight. (The looting immediately stopped.) This was completely uncontroversial in the US.

Europeans, and the European elites in particular, have a whole lot of hang ups about social order and using violence to defend it. Having an elite which tends to buttress their sense of status by reacting against their own culture, history, past etc is also, as they say, not helpful.

Re: Violence and social order

[jordan179]

Americans believe in social order as something worth defending by violence if necessary.

Well, yes. For the very good reason that, if you don't defend the social order by violence if necessary, the result will be far MORE violence in the long run. How can the Europeans fail to almost-instinctively grasp this reality?

Europeans, and the European elites in particular, have a whole lot of hang ups about social order and using violence to defend it.

The World Wars, yes. But did they miss that the Second World War happened because they were unwilling to defend the League's global order with violence, until it was too late?

Having an elite which tends to buttress their sense of status by reacting against their own culture, history, past etc is also, as they say, not helpful.

I've come to believe that the European elite is very uncomfortable with a liberal society, and is hoping to use the immigrants as their "dogs" to bring it to an end. I think the elite are fools -- they too will be brought down in the end by the unleashing of

[jordan179]

And to answer the Usual Idiots, no I am not advocating "breaking the heads" of the rioters because I like to hurt people. I am advocating arresting the rioters, using force when necessary, because the alternative to doing so will be far worse violence, down the line. And not too far down the line, now, judging by what happened in Greece.