Colonial guilt and self-flagellation

MLK 2015 | Clarissa's Blog

And once again (since I have by no means been understood) let me state that the problem with the Western personality is colonial guilt and that this defines the Western personality today. I mean it is the basic trauma that knits the overall orientation toward self and others together in a general attitude of self-abasement (not to mention infantile splitting and projection whenever I, a genuine colonial, am around).

An Internal pal says it much better than I in terms of his employment (deployment? :) ) of effective rhetoric:

Phillip Mark McGough
Sir John Sawers, late of MI6:
“There is a requirement for restraint from those of us in the West. I rather agree with the Pope that, of course, the recent Islamist attacks in Paris were completely unacceptable and cannot be justified on any basis whatsoever, but I think respect for other people’s religion is also an important part of this. If you show disrespect for others’ core values then you are going to provoke an angry response. That doesn’t justify anything, but I think we just need to bear it in mind.”
That’s nice and clear. Policy both domestic and foreign is to be determined by fear of trespass against the limitless grievances of an illiberal, tyrannical, hyper-reactionary, imperialistic, psychopathic, misogynistic, homophobic, blood-drunk credal wave which would happily and noisily kill us all. But instead of defiance- yet more genuflection. “There is a requirement for restraint from those of us in the west…respect for other people’s religion is an important part of this.” No restraint or respect required from the enemy, however (meanwhile in France, “restraint” and “respect” for Islam translates into Jewish children being shepherded to school under the supervision of soldiers). Our predicament is morally symmetrical to the worst days of 1930s appeasement. We’re knee-deep if not deeper in a swamp of self-abasement, and sinking fast. Voltaire’s “I may disagree with what you have to say [etc]” has been iterated and reiterated to the point of banality lately. It’s worth remembering that Voltaire also said: “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize”