David Westerfield

Gospel. Culture. Technology. Music.


Aldous Huxley on Propaganda in Democratic Societies

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On December 14, 2009

In Culture

Excerpt from Brave New World: Revisited (1958), Chapter 4

I cannot exhaust the various sectors of our society these words apply. Huxley was prescient in his outlook.

“There are two kinds of propaganda — rational propa­ganda in favor of action that is consonant with the enlightened self-interest of those who make it and those to whom it is addressed, and non-rational propa­ganda that is not consonant with anybody’s enlight­ened self-interest, but is dictated by, and appeals to, passion. Where the actions of individuals are con­cerned there are motives more exalted than enlight­ened self-interest, but where collective action has to be taken in the fields of politics and economics, enlight­ened self-interest is probably the highest of effective motives. If politicians and their constituents always acted to promote their own or their country’s long-range self-interest, this world would be an earthly paradise. As it is, they often act against their own inter­ests, merely to gratify their least creditable passions; the world, in consequence, is a place of misery. Propa­ganda in favor of action that is consonant with en­lightened self-interest appeals to reason by means of logical arguments based upon the best available evi­dence fully and honestly set forth. Propaganda in fa­vor of action dictated by the impulses that are below self-interest offers false, garbled or incomplete evi­dence, avoids logical argument and seeks to influence its victims by the mere repetition of catchwords, by the furious denunciation of foreign or domestic scape­goats, and by cunningly associating the lowest pas­sions with the highest ideals, so that atrocities come to be perpetrated in the name of God and the most cyni­cal kind of Realpolitik is treated as a matter of reli­gious principle and patriotic duty.”

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Is That Yet Another Threat?

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On December 13, 2009

In Environment, Politics

“The Obama administration is warning Congress that if it doesn’t move to regulate greenhouse gases, the Environmental Protection Agency will take a ‘command-and-control’ role over the process in way that could hurt business.”

Basically, unless I read that incorrectly, the Administration is telling Congress that if it doesn’t pass the cap and trade bill, the EPA is going to seize “command-and-control” power over the emissions of the country. Talk about the politics of fear being played to exert power over one of the other branches of government. That just smells undemocratic to me. Anyone else?

Little Known Piece of History From the 1930’s

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On December 12, 2009

In Audio, Culture, History, Politics, Video

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Peter Schiff Debates David Epstein of Columbia University

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On December 11, 2009

In Economics, Video

Two kinds of economists exist in the world: those who know first-hand the inner-workings of the economy and those who theorize about how they think it should work and implement policies that have the opposite effect intended. That is the story of the difference between the Austrian school of economics and Keynesianism. One view is real-world, the other is from an alternate universe (yeah, okay, that was a strawman :] ).

Global Warming and the Rise of the Neo-Malthusians

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On December 10, 2009

In Environment, Politics, Science

Well, many of the conspiracy theorists have been right, I hate to say. Except in this instance, these aren’t conspiracies at all. They are just openly talking about their ideas.

Follow me here on the logic train concerning CO2 output and climate change: if global warming due to human interference is a frightening reality, then logically, what is the biggest step that needs to be taken by governments and people around the world to reduce carbon output, if we really want to make an impact at lightening speed? Well, you reduce the number of people. Makes sense right?

That is exactly what is being proposed at the Copenhagen climate change conference in Denmark. China has made a strong case for it, citing their policies as an example. In addition, the Canadian national newspaper is calling for a worldwide one child policy. On a practical level, these are the very things I’ve feared coming as a result of the global warming fear mongering: policies that go way beyond the environment.

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Hosea: A Story of the Worst Marriage in History

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On December 10, 2009

In Theology

This past week, I’ve been reading through Hosea. The language God uses to speak of Israel is quite striking. “For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore” (Hosea 4:12). The Lord, over and over in this book, describes His relationship with Israel as that of being married to a whore. And not just a one time affair or adulterous short-term fling. It is serial adultery He speaks of, a pursuit after whoredom. That is strong language to describe Israel’s unfaithfulness.

In letting this passage of Scripture read our own hearts, if we are honest with God and ourselves, we are the unfaithful one’s as well. We are the serial adulterers. We are … the “whores.” Ouch. And this isn’t just an overstatement. It is the reality. We are unfaithful to our great Husband and it breaks His heart in a way I don’t think we can comprehend. We get hints of how much it breaks His heart in seeing or experiencing the break up of a marriage due to adultery. But this is just an analogy to our relationship to God that has an eternal weight to it. And yet in spite of this He still pursues us.

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Behind the Wall: “On Reading My Stasi Files”

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On December 7, 2009

In History

On reading my Stasi files – FindArticles.com

Since the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall on November 9th, I’ve had a fascination in reading up on the history of the events and circumstances leading up to the Wall’s demise. In searching through some information, I came across this article in which a student doing his doctoral dissertation went over to East Germany to gather information. It proved to be a frightening experience as he recalls the story of being incarcerated multiple times, for hours at a time, for no apparent reason. Very interesting. Here’s an excerpt:

From my files it appears that the Stasi used three tactics with me. First, my interrogation officer repeatedly told me that I would remain in Investigation Prison until I confessed, and that I would be unable to contact the American Embassy, my lawyer, or my family. Such isolation, of course, was stressful. One reads that many made false confessions simply to come to trial and thence to a regular prison so that they could begin to have contact with their families again. Those who did not confess often stayed in Investigation Prison for periods longer than a year and, when they finally came to trial, were given extra long sentences because they showed “no regret for their crimes.” Naturally, those who did confess were convicted, even if they repudiated their confession during their trial.

Latest on the Fallout from the CRU Email Leak

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On December 4, 2009

In Environment, Politics

Links found on DrudgeReport.com:

Study: Slowdown in warming last year not permanent… (Scientists say, you know, the one’s with a clear agenda)
Rep. Issa: White House refusal to investigate ‘Climategate’ is ‘unconscionable’…
Day Fourteen and Counting: Major U.S. Networks Still Silent…
Danish Speaker of Parliament: Climate Change ‘Very Dangerous Claim’…
Denmark: not as green as you thought…

Also: HOUSTON EARLIEST SNOWFALL — EVER…

Cap and Trade + Data Centers = Bad News for IT

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On December 4, 2009

In Environment, Technology

Data Center Regulation Awareness Increasing, Prepare for CO2K

This is an excerpt from a blog entry by a speaker at the 2009 Gartner Data Center Conference in Las Vegas, NV, named Michael Manos. He spoke about how Cap and Trade style legislation is already having a negative impact on the UK’s IT and data center industries. The proposals I’ve heard for regulating data centers, which the government has now declared centers of eco-terrorism due to their extreme carbon output, are startling and will inevitably result in reduced productivity, massive costs, and is all a massive waste of time, especially in light of UEA emails that have leaked about scientists manipulating core data at the center of these assumptions. People are starting to wake up to what this nonsense will entail I think:

My talk centered around the coming Carbon Cap and Trade Regulation and its specific impact on IT organizations and the data center industry.  I started my talk with a joke about how excited I was to be addressing a room of tomorrow’s eco-terrorists.  The joke went flat and the audience definitely had a fairly serious demeanor.   This was reinforced when I asked how many people in the audience thought that regulation was a real and coming concern for IT organizations.  Their response startled me.

I was surprised because nearly 85% of the audience had raised their hands.  If I contrast that to the response to the exact same question asked three months earlier at the Tier One Research Data Center Conference where only about 5% of the audience raised their hands, its clear that this is a message that is beginning to resonate, especially in the larger organizations.

Does This Sound Familiar My Evangelical Friends?

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On December 3, 2009

In Christian Culture, Theology

This is an excerpt from J. Gresham Machen, in his excellent concise work Christianity and Liberalism, chapter 2, first published in 1923. It is amazing how words from the past apply in the same manner to today’s evangelical movement. If the practice of our faith consists merely in our feelings, emotions and experience without knowing any spiritual knowledge or substance of our faith, it becomes non-moral, as Machen argues.

DISCLAIMER: this is not speaking of modern political liberalism, but rather modernist theological liberalism. However, it aptly applies to our day’s evangelical movement.

[Liberalism] is opposed to Christianity, in the first place, in its conception of God. But at this point we are met with a particularly insistent form of that objection to doctrinal matters which has already been considered. It is unnecessary, we are told, to have a”conception” of God; theology, or the knowledge of God, it is said, is the death of religion; we should not seek to know God, but should merely feel His presence.

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