Title: My take on Appius
Date: Monday, July 31, 2006
Time: 6:38 PM
Having weighed both sides of the argument made in the Colosseum regarding Appius, who I first mentioned in the
Fair Hearing Post, and then discussed in
the posts leading through the most recent post
on this blog, I finally came to a judgment that probably made no difference to either party, neither of
whom seemed to wish to hear anybody's voice but his own. But it does touch on the topical subject of just how far
it is that one takes freedom of speech, on the private level.
Oh, my - nuance in a moral position! The horror, the horror ...
-----------------------------
OK, I've tried to pay lip service to neutrality on this one throughout, for reasons that anybody familiar with Robert's Rules of Order can probably guess at. As a moderator, I'm something like a chairman. But, at this point I think that
both sides have said all that they will say and we're just headed for repetition, now. That having been said, I'm less concerned about my own involvement having a chilling effect on what really never seems to have been a discussion. I usually mock people who write these words, which usually are an expression of cowardice, but in this case they fit. Both sides in this conflict were wrong.
I've wondered - and not really been told - why Appius would see fit to write to me, the "half Jew" of all people, about such a business. I hadn't posted to Nova-Roma ever, as far as I can remember, so the "he wrote to everybody" explanation doesn't persuade. I don't know, but I can reasonably guess based on the quotes taken out of context on the Stormfront site, by white supremacists who seem to think that I'm in
their corner, possibly because of some often skimmed and seldom understood passages I've written about there being a place in the world for everybody, xenophobes included. That is true, but the place is not necessarily one of their own choosing. The issue of reciprocity does arise.
Yes, I would agree that if Appius'/Keller's community doesn't want Jews or people fully or partially of any kind of color living in their midst, they are entitled to that wish and should not be pressured to yield on it. This particular Jew of mixed ancestry, who would most likely be excluded from Mr.Keller's community of choice, certainly would not mind being excluded outright from a place where he would be resented, and having lived through that experience would rather get the heads-up that bluntly expressed racism offers, than to get blindsided again, and find himself trapped in Hell for a few years until he can afford to move on. I do not believe in the fair housing laws for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that in practice they are no gift to the chronically mistreated.
If a community, like Keller's, is going to tell me that I'm not welcome in it because of what I am, I'm just going to shrug and walk on to a place where I am welcome. I'll do this without judgement - a planet without cultural barriers is a planet that would, in time, become homogenized and so even if I don't like Mr.Keller or people like him, I can't deny that they need to exist, if for no other reason then to serve as a counterbalance against the Politically Correct. BUT ... and here comes the other side of the issue, Mr. Keller.
You can't have it both ways. You can't assert a right to exclude others from your own midst based on things that in no way negatively reflect on their character, and expect to not be excluded yourself. That isn't reasonable. If you're going to try to keep the membership of Beth Shalom out of your town, for example, don't be too shocked if the membership of Beth Shalom returns the favor. There's even an applicable philosophical concept for this one, one which should be familiar to any conservative, that of the social contract. In declining to be accepting of the great diversity of the American public, you've forfeited the right to be accepted in the diverse setting of that general public. You may view this as being an acceptable tradeoff, the price you need to pay to enjoy the blessings of a familiar setting, but real conservatives believe in paying their bills, in one sense or another, not in crying when accounts come due to be payed.
You buy that familiarity of your surroundings at the expense of your connection to a bigger and in some ways more colorful world, because while you will rightly assert your right to find a place in the world for yourself, what some of your friends at Stormfront will refer to as being "the whining Juden" will do the exact same thing, for the exact same reason, with the exact same right. What kind of home can we expect to enjoy if we are expected to welcome those into our own midst, who would never welcome us into theirs? On those terms, we would be random walking our way into oblivion, driven out of one place after another never to return, each time a creeping majority of those who would drive us out arose. It is neither whining nor weakness for us to say that we shall act more firmly on our own behalves than that, that in the rough and tumble of cultural clashes we shall stand our ground and provide you with stronger opposition than you would have ever imagined us capable of.
My people will not go off into that good night any more willingly than yours would, and if you doubt our resolve to live, just remember that we have survived a long line of those who have desired our destruction, going back to a time when neither Athens nor Rome were even villages, yet. We know a thing or two about survival, and we know better than to agree to double standards, such as the one you request. We know better than to ask others to do so, either.
Nova Roma, whatever one might think of the concept of hard reconstructionism, is devoted to the reconstruction of one of antiquity's most noteworthy multicultural and
multiethnic societies, one that spanned Western Europe, North Africa and much of the Near East, Israel included, a clear majority of its population consisting of people white supremacists would not be happy to see move in next door. It takes a vivid imagination to see racialism in such a project. Even were 100% of the Nova Roman population of Germanic descent, I would be amazed to see you lining up to join an organization with such a mission statement, given what Rome was. But the fact of the matter is that a great many people from Latin and Mediterranean backgrounds will look to Rome, and see their own roots, roots which they are interested in exploring. Why, knowing what your views of them are, should they or their friends be in any more of a rush to include you, than would the membership of my old synagogue? This, I and they would ask of you, not because we hate or resent you, but because we love ourselves, and if we are not for ourselves, then who is?
You were attacked in very coarse terms, being referred to as a "neo-nazi" with all of the Mengele-loaded baggage that term implies, without being allowed to talk back freely. That, I will concede, is an injustice and that is why I've been willing to forward your e-mail to this list. But Nova Roma would do you no injustice by excluding you from its ranks or its events. I certainly would not welcome you as a guest, myself, even if you would feel comfortable at an event with the ethnic mix one would tend to find at mine, presided over as it would be by somebody of debatable caucasianness. How comfortable would I be if you were still hanging around as my half-thai nephews dropped by? How comfortable should I or they be with such a prospect?
While I agree with your opposition to the concept of open borders, when I see your rhetoric about Jewish conspiracies to do away with the white man, I draw on a base of experience of hearing that rhetoric and come to certain conclusions. Maybe I do so mistakenly, but I do so honestly and not really capriciously. In this, I suspect I and the officials in Nova Roma are of one mind.
Antistoicus
--------------------------
If even in this, then in precious little else as I soon discovered, but it's time to start moving on to other things.
|
