What in the What?

So, someone on [info]racebending pointed out to me the Occidental Quarterly, which is, according to the Wikipedia article, "devoted to the ethnic, racial, and cultural heritage that forms the foundation of Western Civilization". It aims to defend "the cultural, ethnic, and racial interests of Western European peoples" and examine "contemporary political, social, and demographic trends that impact the posterity of Western Civilization".


Because I'm a sick puppy like that, and it was very late at night, I decided to poke around the website of the web edition. The tagline reads, "Western Perspectives on Man, Culture & Civilization." 

Because Man embraces all, oh no, it doesn't exclude women at all, not historically, and we really need more Western perspectives on Culture and Civilization. I guess all those philosophers stemming from Socrates aren't good enough for these fine fellows!

It looked innocuous enough , although I could feel the microaggression seething from a couple of the articles, and the testimonials don't quite recommend it to me either:

“Slick, academic-looking journal edited by a Who’s Who of the radical right.” - The Southern Poverty Law Center
Yeah, I really want to read that. It's academic-looking, all right. But I wondered, who do they normally accept articles from? So I checked their "Write for TOQ" page, and found nothing that really said anything more than "give us something interesting that fits our magazine!" Then I saw this:

"It is the official policy of TOQ and its publisher to repudiate and reject calls to violence or criminal behavior in relation to the struggle of Western peoples for self-determination."

Okay, what now? Did you read that? "The struggle of Western peoples for self-determination." Because Western culture and identity is so threatened, so silence, that it must speak out. It struggles! The poor dears, they must struggle and work through their issues and primly address, very rationally, the Ills of Today that Prevents the Western Man from Asserting his Culture and Civilization.

All I can say is, look, you have been self-determining for 100 - 200 - 300 - 400.... FOR A FUCKING LONG TIME. In the process of self-determination, you have also fought, conquered, colonized, annexed, and/or exploited other countries and civilizations in due process... and you still have an existential crisis on your identity and need affirmation that yes, the Western perspective is valid and requires its own place to voice itself?

Grow up, FFS.

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 10, 2010 at 8:04 PM

    Hey Jha, just toddled over here from the World SF blog.

    Well, first, you're going to burst a blood vessel if you take all these things to heart. :) Also, the people behind TOQ are appropriating a sphere that doesn't even want them. I mean, "Western civilization"?! It's a term that we blearily accept and move on but is no more valid than "Western morality". Who exactly is this "Western" civilisation? Greeks? Italians? Those pesky Spanish appeasing socialists? Those coop French unionists? Dig deeper and you'll find that a small group of close-minded, terrified mostly native English speakers are trying to build a case for a monolithic entity that never was in the first place (*). I wish these people would call it a bit straighter by referring to it as "Anglo" or "British-based" or even "English-based" civilization. I'd be a lot happier then.

    (*) I'm guilty of referring to "Europe" in its entirety as well on occasion, when it's as complex and fractioned as Asia, lest we forget.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JhaMarch 10, 2010 at 8:32 PM

    Hi Kaz!

    That was a one-off rant. I've got to keep the content on this blog going ;D

    And INORITE?! It's such a ridiculous concept.

    The fact is, though, these groups do hold inordinate power that they shouldn't have. These folks are not exactly marginal by any stretch of imagination - the context they come from has a downright hostile historical basis, and it continues to be so towards minorities who have the temerity to live in "their" spaces.

    Keeping that in mind, I think I'm allowed to have my facepalm moments! Either that or live in fear, amirite?

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 12, 2010 at 5:35 PM

    Ah well you only have to read my blog to know that I'm not really a "keep quiet and say nothing" kinda person, so I have no leg to stand on in that regard. :)

    Continuez-vous, s'il vous plait. :)

    ReplyDelete

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