![](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Arrias.jpg\")
I applaud Bill Maher for stating the obvious: that China and Cancel Culture represent real threats to the United States, to all Americans, to our way of life, and to the culture of individual freedoms and limited government.<\/p>\nI applaud Bill Maher for stating the obvious: that China and Cancel Culture represent real threats to the United States, to all Americans, to our way of life, and to the culture of individual freedoms and limited government.<\/p>\n
Mr. Maher quoted from the movie \u201cLawrence of Arabia:\u201d So long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe, so long will they be a little people, a silly people – greedy, barbarous, and cruel. He went on to say that America has become a land of \u201csilly people.\u201d He then noted that the Chinese are not a silly people.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s correct, the Chinese are not a silly people.<\/p>\n
Mr. Maher states that we are a silly people. And any reasonable interpretation of \u201csilly people\u201d at this point is \u201ca stupid people,\u201d and in many cases \u201can evil people.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it might be of some value to look at just what Lawrence really was saying, what he meant by it, and how it applies to the United States.<\/p>\n
Lawrence did not call the Arabs a \u201cSilly People.\u201d But he did regularly state that they needed to stop fighting amongst themselves, that as long as they did, as long as they did not come together as Arabs, they would never be able to resist European forces (British and French) that were deploying into the region to fight the Ottomans, and were giving clear signs that they intended to stay. Arabs would need to stop fighting among themselves and come together as an \u201cArab people,\u201d not a hundred small tribes.<\/p>\n
In \u201cSeven Pillars of Wisdom,\u201d Lawrence notes that: \u201c\u2026the preaching was victory and the fighting a delusion\u2026 Feisal fortunately liked changing men\u2019s minds rather than breaking railroads, the preaching went better.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other words, the members of the various tribes began to talk across tribal boundaries and as they did they began to unite, not as Howeitat or Beni Atiyeh (two of many tribes in what is now Jordan and northwest Saudi Arabia); rather they began to see common ground and to see themselves as Arabs.<\/p>\n
What does that mean vis-a-vis the United States?<\/p>\n
First, it means that all the things that make us into tribes, ever smaller tribes, are wrong. More to the point, we need to start defending our tribe – Americans. So, start with this: We are all Americans.<\/p>\n
– If you think Black lives matter more than American lives, you are a silly person.<\/p>\n
– If you think other lives around the world matter as much as American lives matter, you are a silly person.<\/p>\n
– If you think anyone should be allowed to become an American, you are a silly person.<\/p>\n
– If you think that values of individuality, hard work, respect for individual rights – values that made America great – can be changed without consequence, you are a silly person.<\/p>\n
– If you want to be recognized first as a Lesbian or a Black or an Italian, and still live here, you are a silly person.<\/p>\n
– If you want to be recognized as an Asian-American or an Irish-American or a Gay-American, you are a silly person.<\/p>\n
– If, in short, you think your tribe is special, more special than the tribe of Americans, you are a silly person.<\/p>\n
How do we fix it? How do we stop being silly, stop being stupid, stop being, in many cases, evil?<\/p>\n
First, understand what started it.<\/p>\n
Teacher\u2019s unions that have, for three generations and more, worked to undermine the American culture.<\/p>\n
A liberal press that is populated by graduates of that education system and which actively hates American culture.<\/p>\n
A nation with far more lawyers than it needs and now far more laws than is wise and which has found it somehow \u201ca good idea\u201d to litigate everything.<\/p>\n
A class of legislators and bureaucrats who find meaning in drafting ever more laws and regulations that hamstring every creative and productive urge in this nation.<\/p>\n
And so forth – you know the problems.<\/p>\n
But what to do?<\/p>\n
Begin by returning to our national motto: E pluribus unum – Out of Many – One.<\/p>\n
We are not Irish-Americans or Black-Americans or Hispanic-Americans or Korean-Americans or Chinese Americans. We are not Gay-Americans or Bi-Americans or Cis-Gender-Americans. We\u2019re Americans. If you don\u2019t understand that, you are a silly person. So, stop using hyphens to describe yourself or some group. You\u2019re an American. Embrace that fact. And the people standing around you? They\u2019re Americans. Period.<\/p>\n
Recognize that the government in Beijing, the Chinese Communist Party, and President Xi – they are, in fact, already at war with us. They have not and will not declare war. They want to destroy us. Sending money to China is not a good idea. And everyone who nods sagely and rubs their chins and suggest we need to \u201cengage with China?\u201d They are consorting with the enemy. Precisely like those companies that did business with Herr Hitler back in the 1930s. If you want that on your conscience, if you like weakening the US, then please continue. If not, unless you absolutely must, don\u2019t buy Chinese goods.<\/p>\n
And the folks who own the Chinese Restaurant on the corner? They\u2019re Americans.<\/p>\n
And anyone who wants to make it otherwise, who insists on using hyphens to describe you, to dice us all up and put each of us in a little box? They are not only silly people, they aren\u2019t your friends. At best, they\u2019re using you. And they may be your enemy. <\/p>\n
Start saying: \u201cNo more.\u201d <\/p>\n
Every time someone comes up with another \u201csilly\u201d statement or idea say: \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parents: take control of your children\u2019s education. You are in charge, not the schools, and not the city government, or state government or the federal government.<\/p>\n
Write your Congressman and Senator – a lot. Complain about stupid laws. Insist on a few things – like more nuclear power plants. Don\u2019t yield.<\/p>\n
And the next time someone asks you whether you are a Caucasian or Hispanic or European or Indo-Arab-Javan-Aztec practicing Zoroastrian-Sikhism with a dash of Yoga, tell them: \u201cI\u2019m an American.\u201d Period. No Hyphens, no conditionals, no extra shading. Just American. It really is good enough.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2021 Arrias
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I applaud Bill Maher for stating the obvious: that China and Cancel Culture represent real threats to the United States, to all Americans, to our way of life, and to the culture of individual freedoms and limited government. Mr. Maher quoted from the movie \u201cLawrence of Arabia:\u201d So long as the Arabs fight tribe against […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arrian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21033"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21034,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21033\/revisions\/21034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}