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Problematic Ideas

Entry 2409, on 2025-08-30 at 14:00:03 (Rating 5, Politics)

I recently had a fairly extensive discussion with an academic at the university I work at. Now, given the sorts of attitudes I have presented in this blog in the past, you might be already encountering a feeling of dread regarding where this might have gone, and I can add to that by saying this person is a member of the Gender Studies Department, which is one of the most woke, and (in my opinion) disconnected from reality, groups there is.

But in fact, the discussion was quite respectful and friendly, and when I had to terminate it after a while to take a phone call and do some computer work (you know, what I'm paid for) we both agreed it would be good to continue it some time in the near future.

Interestingly, the final comment that she made was that she was a Democrat, which I thought was odd coming from a New Zealander. And what did she expect, that I thought she was MAGA?

Related to this, I sometimes tell university people about my web site, blog, and podcasts, and they often say they might visit and take a look. At this point I always feel as if I have to offer a warning like "don't visit if you can't handle a bit of controversial content" along with the thought that maybe I should never have mentioned its existence in the first place!

Buy why? Why do I assume that university people will find my opinions problematic? Well, that should be fairly obvious given my past contention that universities are the origin of the woke mindset we are only now gradually escaping from. So now I think I should write a short description of all of my attitudes which the majority of university types would disagree with, so strap in, here we go!

First, my politics are broadly right wing, specifically libertarian rather than conservative, although I agree with some aspects of conservatism as well as every other political posture. The vast majority of academics are left to far left (including Marxist).

Second, I am skeptical of many mainstream ideas and sources. For example, I have not hidden my disdain for mainstream media and other conventional sources, including some academic literature. In contrast, my opponents often quote mainstream news and papers from social science journals.

So now onto some specifics. Third, I am strongly against special rights, including reparations, being granted to what are sometimes called disadvantaged groups. For example, I don't think that indigenous people deserve any rights beyond what others have.

Fourth, I insist on accepting reality, even when that reality might be seen as unkind or even discriminatory. For example, I don't think trans women are real women, although I am prepared to treat them as if they are if I think they are genuine (and I do this for a friend who transitioned).

Fifth, I strive for consistency. If a rule or attitude is good enough in one context, then it should apply in others as well. For example, the academic I mentioned above said men need to be treated with more suspicion in male versus female legal situations, but she doesn't accept that black people should also be treated with more suspicion even though they also perpetrate far more crime as a proportion of the population.

Sixth, I reject cultural relativism. So not all cultures are the same, and the quality of a culture only has minimal relevance to its context. No one should think all cultures are the same, so some must be better than others. To me, Western culture is clearly the best, and I owe nothing to other cultures, such as Maori or Islamic.

Seventh, the "noble savage" concept is pure fiction. Pretending that traditional and indigenous cultures were great until they were spoiled by colonization is childish nonsense. Indigenous cultures often included slavery, constant warfare, infanticide, cannibalism, and environmental destruction. Sure I admit that so did Western culture to some extent, but that was where most of these atrocities were eliminated, and that progress was passed on to the more primitive people who were colonized.

Eighth, indigenous knowledge is not science and it often isn't of much value. The idea that we should be including Maori beliefs as part of science or any other valuable institution is ridiculous and dangerous. OK, so sometimes there might be small elements of knowledge in those beliefs which have some value, but the risk of incorporating superstition is too high. It's best to just reject it all.

Ninth, I am on the "wrong side" of many current and recent issues. For example, I think BLM is total garbage and George Floyd is no great loss to the world. I think that Israel is within its rights to be doing what it is in Palestine, and if the civilians there are so concerned, they should rise up against their real oppressors: Hamas. I think Islam is the worst idea humans have ever had, and while I am no fan of any religion, I think Islam is the worst, at least at this point in history. I don't want the government controlling my life except in the most minimal way practical, and I would prefer to pay lower taxes and have them provide less on my behalf. Oh, and one last thing: I quite like Donald Trump! Wow, that one probably is completely unforgivable.

Well, that's probably enough for now. Some people will read this and think, what's the problem here, those ideas are what any reasonable person would believe, and yes, you have a point. While I agree there are points which can be made for the opposites to what I have stated here, I don't think they have much merit, but do you know who would believe my views are ignorant, naive, or even evil? A lot of "university types", including, I suspect, the person I debated with!

Comment 1 (8267) by Ken Spall on 2025-08-30 at 18:52:45:

Well done for your clarity of opinion. I hope the University you work for don’t give you a hard time for simply laying out your feelings on these issues, even though you are of course entitled to express them. Please keep up the wonderful writing. Looking at the long list of essays you have written, surely there is a book in there somewhere?
Cheers, Ken

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