This Dark Age Will Run Rampant Until We Rediscover And Accept What Made Western Civilzation Great And Prosperous

'I don't need to use your logic. Those are dead white men constructs and I refute it on the basis of my culture and gender'. The Commentator on progressive identity political intellectualism.

This is the same person The Atlantic ridiculously called Melissa Harris-Perry (the progressive who owes back taxes)  'America's foremost public intellectual'.

For true.

Well, Te-Nehisi Coates called her that. The guy some organization deemed a 'genius'.

Walla, walla, wee. Whatever.

I don't see intellectuals or geniuses.

Just a couple of banal twits.

Mike Rowe answers Melissa's pointless and unproductive, infantile rant:

To me, it sounds as though Melissa is displaying images of slavery or drudgery in her office to remind herself of what hard work really and truly looks like. That’s a bit like hanging images of rape and bondage to better illustrate the true nature of human sexuality. Whatever her logic might be, it’s difficult to respond without first pointing out a few things that most people will find screamingly obvious. So let’s do that.

First of all, slavery is not “hard work;” it’s forced labor. There’s a big difference. Likewise, slaves are not workers; they are by definition, property. They have no freedom, no hope, and no rights. Yes, they work hard, obviously. But there can be no “work ethic” among slaves, because the slave has no choice in the matter.

Workers on the other hand, have free will. They are free to work as hard as they wish. Or not. The choice is theirs. And their decision to work hard, or not, is not a function of compliance or coercion; it’s a reflection of character and ambition.

This business of conflating hard work with forced labor not only minimizes the importance of a decent work ethic, it diminishes the unspeakable horror of slavery. Unfortunately, people do this all the time. We routinely describe bosses as “slave-drivers,” and paychecks as “slave’s wages.” Melissa though, has come at it from the other side. She’s suggesting that because certain “hard workers” are not as prosperous as other “hard workers,” – like the people on her office wall – we should all be “super-careful” about overly-praising hard work.

I suspect this is because Melissa believes – as do many others – that success today is mostly a function of what she calls, “relative privilege.” This is fancy talk for the simple fact that life is unfair, and some people are born with more advantages than others. It’s also a fine way to prepare the unsuspecting viewer for the extraordinary suggestion that slavery is proof-positive that hard work doesn’t pay off.

Obviously, I don’t see the world the same way as Melissa, but we do have something in common. Like her, I keep a picture on my office wall.

That’s me, squatting next to the most disappointing toilet I’ve ever encountered, preparing to clean it out with a garden trowel. I keep it there to remind me of what happens when you need a plumber but can’t find one.

It’s also a nice reminder that a good plumber these days has a hell of a lot more job security than the average news anchor. (With respect.)

This is what happens when a sensible adult speaks and what we call in the business 'burn'.

Well done Mike.

Amen.

***

On the 'macro' level of history and time, if you will, that Coates and Melissa-Perry are remotely considered intellectuals really points to the state of depraved indifference - or just plain ignorance - held by people in academia. I understand to this duo it's a white-privileged history of subjugation and blah, blah, but they operate in the very intellectual world bestowed upon us by true men of genius.

They don't carry this torch of Western excellence.

They mock it with their inane babblings.

But hey, they must be smart because, in the case of Coates anyway, they get prizes and awards.