Domino Effect
First it was Der Spiegel. Now, as Protein Wisdom notes, some reality in The Guardian which, in fairness, occasionally has a glimmer. It describes a liberal-who-got-mugged process of awakening. Unfortunately, it wallows its way into domestic crime, challenging liberal assumptions and reactions there, but fails to venture over to troublesome ground in Iraq: Â
In the end I reached the conclusion that 11 September had already brutally confirmed: there were other forces, far more malign than America, that lay in wait in the world. But having faced up to the basic issue of comparative international threats, could I stop the political reassessment there? If I had been wrong about the relative danger of America, could I be wrong about all the other things I previously held to be true? I tried hard to suppress this thought, to ring-fence the global situation, grant it exceptional status and keep it in a separate part of my mind. I had too much vested in my image of myself as a ‘liberal’. I had bought into the idea, for instance, that all social ills stemmed from inequality and racism. I knew that crime was solely a function of poverty. That to be British was cause for shame, never pride. And to be white was to bear an unshakable burden of guilt. I held the view, or at least was unprepared to challenge it, that it was wrong to single out any culture for censure, except, of course, Western culture, which should be admonished at every opportunity. I was confident, too, that Israel was the source of most of the troubles in the Middle East. These were non-negotiables for any right-thinking decent person. I couldn’t question these received wisdoms without questioning my own identity. And I had grown too comfortable with seeing myself as one of the good guys, the well-meaning people, to want to do anything that upset that image. I viewed myself as understanding, and to maintain that self-perception it was imperative that I didn’t try to understand myself.
In a sense 11 September was the ultimate mugging, a murderous assertion of a new reality, or rather a reality that already existed but which we preferred not to see. Over the years I had absorbed a notion of liberalism that was passive, defeatist, guilt-ridden. Feelings of guilt governed my world view: post-colonial guilt, white guilt, middle-class guilt, British guilt. But if I was guilty, 9/11 shattered my innocence. More than anything it challenged us all to wake up and open our eyes to what was real. It took me far too long to meet that challenge. For while I realised almost straight away that 9/11 would change the world, it would be several years before I accepted that it had also changed me. I had been wrong.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 12:03 pm on Sunday, August 19, 2007
5 Responses to “Domino Effect”
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August 19th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
If these are excerpted from a book, I understand the apparent lack of connection between 9/11 and the war. The same attitudes that have allowed the criminalization of Britain has allowed them to ignore the barbarity of the enemy and pretend that injustice is justice–even as it overtly attacks them on their own ground.
As I read, it struck me that this sort of liberalism is nothing more than an excuse for profound laziness in both thought and action. Since an individual’s very survival depends on his thinking and the actions taken on his thinking, is there any wonder that Britain is in dire straights? You cannot ignore reality with impunity. You cannot ignore human nature with impunity. If you try to pretend that injustice is justice, Justice will come for you.
August 19th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
As the writer acknowledges here, seeing more realistically is as much a function of unwilling as unable.
It turns a “liberal’s” world upside down to abandon the codified mantra, or any portion thereof.
“I held the view, or at least was unprepared to challenge it, that it was wrong to single out any culture for censure, except, of course, Western culture…non-negotiables for any right-thinking decent person. I couldn’t question these received wisdoms without questioning my own identity.”
August 19th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
[...] blogging about this: Jules Crittenden, Dan Collins at Protein Wisdom, Flopping Aces, USS Neverdock Posted By: Sister Toldjah in: War [...]
August 19th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
“I couldn’t question these received wisdoms without questioning my own identity.”
How long has he held this identity and where did he first receive it? He probably picked it up in high school and then set it in stone, satisfied that he had his lifelong persona. A trauma is required to shatter the egotistical certainty of a lifetime.
August 20th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Web Reconnaissance for 08/20/2007
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.