March 18, 2004

Poverty vs. Intellectual Bankrupcy. "Surely there is no more commanding moral imperative for people in the West than to urge each other, and their governments, to bring relief to the world's poorest. And what a tragedy it is, therefore, that many of the kind souls who respond most eagerly to this imperative bring to the issue an analytical mindset that is almost wholly counterproductive .. ". more on poverty from The Economist.

Via AndresGentry who writes: "What seems common amongst most Western self-described leftists or socialists who I've run across in China is an excessive regard of themselves: "I'm good because I care". The second thing that's common is an inability to comprehend that non-whites, supposedly the beneficiaries of their noblesse oblige, might not agree with them or even see their supposed compassion as anything other than an unwarranted arrogance. It's thinking by rote. It's not compassion, it's feeling good about yourself. And at the end of the day, it doesn't do a jot of good for those who supposedly are the object of one's affections .. ". Posted by Greg Ransom | TrackBack