Shelby on the Money

Shelby Steele has written a brilliant critique of Western self-hatred on OpinionJournal.com:

Over and over, white guilt turns the disparity in development between Israel and her neighbors into a case of Western bigotry. This despite the fact that Islamic extremism is the most explicit and dangerous expression of human bigotry since the Nazi era. Israel's historical contradiction, her torture, is to be a Western nation whose efforts to survive trap her in the moral mazes of white guilt. Its national defense will forever be white aggression.

He also lays into the Left's obsession with anti-Americanism and anti-Zionism:

...the international left is in its own contest with American exceptionalism. It keeps charging Israel and America with oppression hoping to mute American power. And this works in today's world because the oppression script is so familiar and because American power cringes when labeled with sins of the white Western past. Yet whenever the left does this, it makes room for extremism by lending legitimacy to its claim of oppression. And Israel can never use its military fire power without being labeled an oppressor--which brings legitimacy to the enemies she fights. Israel roars; much of Europe supports Hezbollah.

In case you haven't already been clued in, here's a primer on Western self-hatred and suicidialism.

Technorati Tags: Suicidalism, Islam, Terror, Oppression, Shelby Steele

Update: For those that will conclude that Shelby Steele has a vested interest in arguing against white guilt, think again.

Shelby on the Money

Shelby Steele has written a brilliant critique of Western self-hatred on OpinionJournal.com:

Over and over, white guilt turns the disparity in development between Israel and her neighbors into a case of Western bigotry. This despite the fact that Islamic extremism is the most explicit and dangerous expression of human bigotry since the Nazi era. Israel's historical contradiction, her torture, is to be a Western nation whose efforts to survive trap her in the moral mazes of white guilt. Its national defense will forever be white aggression.

He also lays into the Left's obsession with anti-Americanism and anti-Zionism:

...the international left is in its own contest with American exceptionalism. It keeps charging Israel and America with oppression hoping to mute American power. And this works in today's world because the oppression script is so familiar and because American power cringes when labeled with sins of the white Western past. Yet whenever the left does this, it makes room for extremism by lending legitimacy to its claim of oppression. And Israel can never use its military fire power without being labeled an oppressor--which brings legitimacy to the enemies she fights. Israel roars; much of Europe supports Hezbollah.

In case you haven't already been clued in, here's a primer on Western self-hatred and suicidialism.

Technorati Tags: Suicidalism, Islam, Terror, Oppression, Shelby Steele

Update: For those that will conclude that Shelby Steele has a vested interest in arguing against white guilt, think again.