by Theodore Dalrymple (July 2017)
The Readers, by Joseph Larusso
All that is necessary for evil to triumph, wrote Edmund Burke (though no one seems to be quite sure where), is for good men to do nothing. This naturally raises the question as to where good men are to be found. Besides, there are many forms of goodness, not all of them useful in the struggle against evil. more>>>
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13 Responses
This is fun and frivolous (since the chances of banning anything, unless this is Singapore, is rather non-existent) simultaneously! Here’s a quick off the top three: automobiles (has any single industrial device resulted in such all encompassingly devastating effects on the world), televisions and their constant sub-moronic lullabies (one in every room of the house, in every waiting room, in restaurants, in just about anywhere people have to congregate), mobile phones (an extension of television seamlessly combined with the attractions of the penny arcade for the pleasure of the brain dead).
My first choice was to prohibit drivers making turns or changing lanes without turning on the turn signal at least three seconds ahead. It is very annoying and dangerous when somebody jumps ahead of you without any warning. I think this can be implemented technically.
My other two prohibition ideas were more political, given the nature of this site, hence not representative as the test results…
My top three:
1) American football, because its concussive hammering has been proven to cause CTE, a brain injury which deranges people – very bad sport for kids. The rest of the world is right to prefer soccer, a great game.
2) Non-class B RVs (or caravans). They are gas guzzling road hogs that can cause accidents.
3) Muslim immigration. When we can pick and choose from the millions around the world who’d love to come to America, why take people from the most uncivilized countries with the most intolerant outlook?
P.S. I just watched an old “Sopranos” episode where Tony forced some jerk to take off his baseball cap in a nice restaurant. Tony’s got class, yo.
If by this is meant magically getting rid of things, not just passing laws, then I would say pornography, already illegal drugs, and Islam. Pornography has ruined many lives and coarsened society immeasurably. Same with drugs. Islam has nothing to recommend it and there are perfectly good substitute religions for those who would have to give it up.
With regard to pop music in public places, there is an additional point to be made, which could be made from a Leftist point of view.
I never ceased to be amazed, when I walk into, say, a shoe shop, at quite how loud the music is. It is like being in a nightclub. Leaving aside whether this is, or ought to be pleasing, to customers, there is clearly an issue here about how workers can put up with these conditions. Not only must it damage their hearing; and inhibit their capacity for enjoying music in their spare time (even if they like such music); but it cannot be good for their mental health either.
I don’t recall seeing articles in the Guardian to this effect, however.
With regard to pop music in public places, there is an additional point to be made, which could be made from a Leftist point of view.
I never ceased to be amazed, when I walk into, say, a shoe shop, at quite how loud the music is. It is like being in a nightclub. Leaving aside whether this is, or ought to be pleasing, to customers, there is clearly an issue here about how workers can put up with these conditions. Not only must it damage their hearing; and inhibit their capacity for enjoying music in their spare time (even if they like such music); but it cannot be good for their mental health either.
I don’t recall seeing articles in the Guardian to this effect, however.
I live in Chicago and I don’t know how prevalent it is to see young men, primarily with their pants so low that their underwear is in full view. When viewed frontally you can see the imprint of their penis. Perhaps it is a trend (that will hopefully pass), or a need to conform, or if it’s liberating. Whatever, I would ban it. Next, I would ban tattoos, particularly the discretionary kind. I know that tattoos were/are used to brand people like Holocaust inmates, or Armenian women forced to be prostitutes by the Turks. My last ban would be of the word “bitch” used so casually by men and women.
Winter time changes. I would have daylight savings all year round and then add an extra hour of evening light in the summer. Who needs daylight at 6am? Spitting and loud throat clearing. That’s self explanatory. And I’d ban eating with your mouth open as it puts me off my food.
1. Tattoos
2. T-shirts with a message
3. Plastic flowers in cemeteries.
1. Advertising that employs ideological virtue signalling and/or portentuous pseudo-philosophical statements. Ever since Coca Cola’s spine-chilling proposal to “teach the world to sing in perfect harmony”.
2. Automated supermarket checkouts. One of the more conspicuous battlegrounds of technology v human. Seeing people choosing to engage with machines rather than the humans sitting only feet away appals me on a weekly basis.
3. Lennon’s Imagine. If only for the reason that the line “And no religion too” is an offence against Islam, which I’m sure everyone will agree must be avoided at all cost.
1. old men wearing short pants in public.
2. Men older than 16 years wearing baseball caps backwards.
3. College courses and professors in victim studies (race, gender, etc.)
Chewing gum – both the chewing and the disposal; car alarms – they always cry wolf and have only one purpose: to annoy everyone in earshot; sub-sonic bass car sound systems.
By the way, good to see NER back in business – as I’ve just discovered, a month late.
1) Group messages: In my opinion they are coercive, locking the recipient inside of a group consensus that the nuance of face to face interaction would be able to tacitly mock and thus combat. To the extent that social transactions are reduced to such a format, the individuals arsenal for dealing with such coercion is severely reduced.
2) the cult of teamwork: Individuals, in my opinion, are better off in the long run overcoming adversity largely by themselves, mutually reinforcing their own wisdom and ability through trial and error, rather than being subject to “positive reinforcement” in the name of “excellence” and “helping”. Nor, on net balance, is the collective good served by having everyone “on the same page”, due to the process costs involved in the dumbing down of each constituent part to group think ideology.
3)Over regulation: As I see it, a tool used by special interests to change the rules of the game arbitrarily (in the name of “equality”, “diversity”, “safety”, etc.,), to suit the latest fashionable beliefs. Such politicised special interests may privately regard their mascots cynically whilst proclaiming to be agents of “social justice”, just to insulate themselves from the competition of others.