Inger Enkvist: Article published   2024-04-25

 The universities are failing their mission

  In the last six months, a lot of light has been directed at elite American universities. They have quickly gone from being admired to being seen as examples of how universities are failing in their mission to teach what is true.

  The universities had meritocracy as an ideal both in the employment of teachers and researchers, and in the admission of students. They were a standard of what was right. Perhaps the prime example of failed ideals is Harvard. Harvard's now-departed chancellor Claudine Gay was poorly qualified for her position, and was also charged with plagiarism.

 Also, meritocracy is not always applied in student admissions, and Harvard was recently convicted of discriminating against Asian applicants.

  After the demonstrations that followed the attack on Israel on October 7, more and more questions are being asked about the intellectual and ethical quality of teaching at Harvard. After Hamas's sadistic rapes, documented on film by the rapists themselves, it appears incomprehensible that young female students are shouting their support for Hamas. It is equally incomprehensible that Harvard's chancellor could not bring himself to say that it was against the university's code of conduct to call for the murder of Jews.

  In short, we have witnessed a university in deep moral confusion. In addition to all this, another problem should be noted here, namely that entire fields of study within, above all, the humanities and social sciences appear to be corrupt. American elite universities have often led the negative development. One has partly introduced study subjects that have no clear scientific knowledge to convey, partly within well-established subjects certain aspects of the subject have been excluded and others distorted.

  The consequences are that the public can no longer trust the transfer of knowledge from the universities. To cite a specific example of such intellectual corruption, we can choose the representation of Spain in the period 711–1492, that is, the time when large parts of the country lived under Muslim rule. This long period is crucial to understanding the early connection between Europe and Islam. The era is taught in subjects such as Spanish, Arabic, history, religious history and art history.

  Knowledge of the period is based on historical, legal and religious texts originally written in Latin and Arabic, as well as archaeological finds. Distortion occurs when scholars try to play down the fact that it was about Muslim conquest, and instead describe it as an "expansion", that "pacts" were established and that the result would have been a functioning and respectful environment.

  A few brave researchers dare to question the picture. The Spanish historian Alejandro García Sanjuán showed in 2013 in his comprehensive work, "La conquista islámica de la Península Ibérica y la tergiversación del pasado" (The Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula and the distortion of the past) that the year 711 should be described as a Muslim military conquest and not just an expansion.

  A researcher on the subject of Spanish in the United States, Darío Fernández-Morera, wrote in 2016 "The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise", in which he systematically criticizes incorrect claims about the era. He organizes his text based on picturesque descriptions, taken from books by researchers at reputable universities, often Harvard.

  The Muslim-ruled medieval Spain is thus often portrayed precisely as a paradise where there would have been "convivencia", peaceful coexistence, between different groups. A more correct description, Fernández-Morera believes, is that a small circle of Arab-Muslim origin stood at the top of the social ladder. Next came North African Muslim Berbers, after them the local population converted to Islam and at the bottom Christians and Jews who were allowed to keep their lives if they paid high taxes and submitted to their Muslim masters.

 Those researchers who want to portray the era in a positive light overlook that the capital Córdoba was one of the biggest markets of the time for both European and African slaves, often prisoners of war. They carefully avoid talking about the treatment of women.

  These descriptions have since trickled down into textbooks and encyclopedias and been used in good faith by journalists, policy makers and researchers in other specialties. Córdoba has been used as a symbol of the idea of peaceful, multicultural coexistence under Muslim rule.

  Tellingly enough, a school named Cordoba International School was started in Sweden in Järva, an allusion to this very symbol. All of these phenomena can be traced to universities that put other goals ahead of the search and imparting of knowledge.

  We should not think that Sweden is spared from these trends, and the problems do not primarily have to do with money. Trust in universities is falling in the US, but not only there. That trust must be nurtured.

 

  Inger Enkvist is professor emerita of Spanish and author of several books on education and literature

Also check: 

https://axiom1b.blogspot.com/2023/05/overpopulation-and-future-of-mankind.html

  We are the "good guys"

 It is excellent to examine yourself to become a better person. But if humility veers into self-loathing, which stains the whole good cause you are fighting for, there is danger on the way.

 The Western population has suffered from such self-hatred towards its own culture. It has led to many either lapsing into nihilism ("there is no good or evil") or into an inverted morality, where good is seen as evil.

 Of course, Westerners have done a lot of horrible things historically. All kingdoms and peoples have done so throughout the ages. But unlike other cultures, we have also succeeded in creating a social system that is markedly more good and righteous than anything in earlier history. With the democratic rule of law that began to emerge at the end of the 18th century in Europe and North America (with roots in antiquity, Judeo-Christian ethics, and humanism), state formations that were not ruled by a diabolical dictator (C2) finally emerged.

 There instead, power is shared and the people get to decide; they are countries that do not start wars of aggression with endless suffering as a consequence, and where corruption is not the normal state. The modern, Western democracies (C2) are the highest moral state formations in human history. Its inhabitants are closer to a paradisiacal existence than humanity has ever been. It is, of course, difficult to realize, as people have always transferred their dream realms of happiness to other times or places.

 But despite all the negativity we experience, it is actually much better here and now than in other times and places. We have a social system that we should celebrate, want to spread around the world and fight for. Since the rise of modern democracies, it has never been under such threats as today - hardly even during the Second World War.

 From inside, with Donald Trump who says he wants to leave Europe to its fate and despises democracy. From the outside, with the new world order China and Russia are trying to create, where they tie up India, South Africa and Brazil in the BRICS cooperation and draw countries from former democratic aspirations into their dark sphere of interest.

 Therefore, we must stop inflating China and other dictatorships into economic and military superpowers and bring back industrial production. We must fight for our ideals in the UN. We must strengthen our defenses and economies.

 But above all, we must stop believing that our societies are bad and unjust. We should not turn a blind eye to our shortcomings, but neither should we exaggerate.

 We need to do more for the environment, but the worst emissions occur in dictatorships. We must continue to support vulnerable groups here, but at the same time realize how far we have come.

 How are women treated in the Arab states, the homosexuals in Russia, the Muslims in China, the miners in Zimbabwe?

 There are degrees of hell, but living in a dictatorship always means being more or less enslaved. For our own sake, and for humanity as a whole, the population of the West must become ideological again: without becoming naive and losing respect for other cultures, passionate about the democratic rule of law as an idea (C2). Understand that we are "the good guys".

 

 Or as Winston Churchill said: Our modern Western democracy is the least bad social system that has existed on our planet.

 

Todde

 

 Also check: https://axiom1b.blogspot.com/2023/05/friendship-quotes-through-thick-and.html

 

And: https://axiom1b.blogspot.com/2023/01/takeresponsibility-be-optimistic.html

 The earth's nature is being ravaged by population growth

 Man's rapid expansion leads to environmental destruction, starvation and despoiled biodiversity. Population growth needs to be slowed as soon as possible for sustainability, write professors Malte Andersson and Frank Götmark

 In 1800, the world's population was 1 billion. Last autumn we exceeded 8 billion and are now growing by around 80 million per year. At the same time, species and ecosystems are declining and disappearing through our overexploitation: more than one in four of the 150,000 reviewed species is threatened, of which one in two is a vascular plant. Among 71,000 animal species studied, almost half are decreasing, only 3 percent are increasing. And it goes fast. Since 1970, populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish have declined by an average of approximately 70 percent. The reasons are many. Overexploitation in forestry, hunting and fishing. Agriculture and livestock farming over increasing areas. Infrastructure and buildings such as housing, industries, roads and mines. Our spread of invasive organisms.

 Species usually decline because we take over and wipe out their habitats – natural ecosystems and environments to which species have long adapted through evolution. Habitat destruction is the main reason why animal populations disappear. This happens mainly in the tropics, but also in Europe.

 Plants and animals are decreasing in pace with increased population density and consumption, as the ecologist Trevor Beebee shows in his current book "Impacts of Human Population on Wildlife" (2023).

 Another threat to biological diversity is climate change, where the two main driving forces are increasing population and consumption, according to the IPCC's major report 2022. The rich world's high consumption of course needs to be reduced, which is often highlighted in the environmental debate (see for example wwf.se, Sustainable consumption).

 On the other hand, the extremely destructive consequences of population growth for biological diversity and sustainability are rarely or never discussed, whether by media such as Radio or TV, by politicians, the UN or the environmental movement (for example WWF and the Nature Conservation Association).

 Has the topic become taboo? In 2017, thousands of international researchers pointed out in "Scientists' Warning" the need to stabilize our population. In his solid overview, Beebee (2023) shows that "overpopulation is at least as much a rich as a poor country problem". Efforts are required from all countries. A new report shows that we wiped out most of the Earth's large land mammals, reducing them to a tiny fraction of the wealth before our increase accelerated (through fossil fuels, medical advances, better food and longer lives). In biomass, we now completely dominate among Earth's remaining land mammals.

 Is our massive expansion, to the detriment of other species, ethically reasonable? We (humans) make up 390 million tonnes. Our domesticated mammals – cows, pigs, sheep and companion animals such as horses, dogs and more – 630 million tonnes. A total of just over a billion tons, fifty times more than all the world's remaining wild land mammals, which we reduced to a mere 20 million tons!

 A few thousand years ago, before we became farmers, the proportions were more than reversed. We were only a few million people, less than a thousandth of today's population, and had no livestock. In parts of Western Asia and especially in Africa, where the population is expected to grow by 2.5 billion by 2088 according to the UN, birth rates remain high. The number of malnourished in Africa is now close to 300 million and increases every year according to the FAO.

 The earth's nature is being ravaged by population growth

 Population growth is about to lead to disaster for both Africa's people and its biodiversity. Hundreds of millions of women lack contraception, and social norms influenced by patriarchy, religion, and ethnic competition foster large litters of children. Despite the huge population increase's negative consequences, there is no population target among the UN's 17 global goals for 2030.

 But independent researchers point out that an ecologically sustainable population is rather around 2-3 billion than the 10.4 we are heading towards according to the UN. If everyone is to reach the European standard of living, a sustainable human world population probably cannot exceed approximately 3 billion. Even less if the conditions of other species are to be improved.

 The UN Conference on Biodiversity, Cop15, proposed last year the protection of 30 percent of the planet's biodiversity, and the recent UN Conference in Nairobi proposes concrete actions for the needs seen at Cop15. As we explained countries with high birth rates need to lower them significantly in order to contribute to a sustainable world population. On a positive note, voluntary family planning programs in, for example, Bangladesh, Thailand and South Korea have worked well and quickly reduced birth rates. Unfortunately, many programs for family planning disappeared after 1995, when SRHR (Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights) replaced family planning. But research shows that longer education for sub-Saharan girls only significantly increases contraceptive use if longer education is combined with family planning programs.

 Overall, there is strong evidence for the importance of assistance to family planning and women's empowerment and education. The right to education in family planning was emphasized by the UN as early as 1968. When governments now reconsiders, it can learn from previous mistakes and provide much-needed support for family planning programs.

 Especially new programs that also take the environment and nature into account, and increase the possibility of preserving the earth's biological diversity.

 Malte Andersson ecologist, professor emeritus, University of Gothenburg Frank Götmark professor of ecology and nature conservation, University of Gothenburg

 

Also check: https://axiom1b.blogspot.com/2023/05/overpopulation-and-future-of-mankind.html

 

Some jokes:

Joke 1:

 A young man fell in love with a neighbor girl in the village. After a while he took the girl with him and presented her to his parents.

 After he showed his infatuation, his father asked to speak with him in private. When they were alone, the father told him that he absolutely must not marry this neighbor girl, as she was actually his half-sister. His father was also the father (out of wedlock) of this girl next door.

 The son did as he was told and broke up with the girl next door.

 It didn't take long until the son found a new neighbor girl with whom he fell in love. When he then presented his new crush to his parents, the same thing was repeated. The father asked to speak to the son in private and informed the son that the son's new crush was also a half-sibling.

 The son did not like the situation, so he decided to talk to his mother and inform her about the situation.

 When the mother heard what the son had to say, she answered him: Don't worry about what "your father" says about this. He is not your father.

 

Joke 2

 An elderly couple lived a few centuries ago in a small village, which they basically never left.

 One day the old man went into town to see if he could buy anything new. When he found a mirror in the merchant's stall, he was delighted when he stood in front of the mirror. He thought that the person he saw in the mirror resembled his father. So he bought the mirror. He thought it might be a good fit to have the live portrait of his father in the hall at home in the farmhouse.

 On the way home to the farm, he remembered that his wife was not very fond of his father, so he decided to hang the newly bought mirror in the barn.

 Said and done. Now the mirror hung in its place in the barn. Every morning, when he entered the barn, the first thing he did was to look at the mirror portrait of his father.

 It wasn't long before his wife began to wonder what her husband was up to in the mornings. After all, he visited the barn every morning and always entered through the same door. Even Sundays. So she decided to check what was inside the barn door her husband entered every morning.

 When she opened the door and stepped in, she saw the mirror on the wall and stood in front of it. When she saw the old woman in the mirror, she thought: Yes, if it's that old hag he visits every morning, so be it!

 

Joke 3:

 Three men knocked at the entrance to hell.

 There stood the devil interrogating them about how many women they had slept with in order to decide which status symbol in the form of a transport vehicle they would be assigned i hell.

 When the first was asked: How many women have you slept with? he answered: only 2. First my first wife and then my second wife, after my first wife had passed away.

 The devil: It wasn't much to bring, but you get a pair of roller skates to get around in hell.

 When the secod guy was asked the same question, he replied: In my youth I fucked around a bit, but when I married my wife I stuck to her. So my answer will be about 12 different ones.

 The devil: It wasn't much to bring, but you get a bike to get around hell with.

 When the third was asked the same question, he replied: Because I was sometimes unfaithful and the women often fell for me, I have slept with over 40 women.

 Devil: That was a little better. You get a scooter to get around hell with.

 The three men decided to meet again in a week and tune out their first time in hell. - When they met, it turned out that the third man (with the scooter) was sad and started to cry. Then the other two asked him: Why are you crying? You have received the best status symbol - a scooter - much better than any of us.

 He then replied: When I was driving around with my scooter in hell, I ran into my wife and she was driving around in a Rolls Royce. 

Anf a joke on the jukraine/Rusia war:

A Russian wife turned to her husband and asked, "What's this special military operation our glorious leader keeps talking about?" Her husband replied, "It's a war to stop America and NATO." "Oh, right” she says “How's it going?"

“Well” he replied “so far we have lost over 20 generals, 100,000 troops killed, countless injured, 3000 tanks, 300 aircraft, hundreds of helicopters, countless armoured vehicles, artillery and trucks, our flagship along with other naval ships, our army is being defeated in most areas and we have had to resort to conscripting 500,000 Russians including murders and rapists to replace our losses”.

“Wow” replied the wife “what about America and NATO”?

“They haven’t turned up yet”

Todd

 Also check: 

https://axiom1b.blogspot.com/2023/08/right-wing-singer-successful-on-spotify.html

and:

https://axiom1b.blogspot.com/2015/12/christianity-religion-holy-scriptures.html

 

Right-wing singer – successful on Spotify

problematic

Listen to the song with subtitles:

Oliver Anthony - Rich Men North of Richmond (Lyrics) - YouTube

Taking aim at politicians and their grantees, American factory worker and singer-songwriter Oliver Anthony, 31, has taken Spotify by storm with his song Rich Men North of Richmond. Now the successes are causing concern within the establishment, writes Rolling Stone.

 Reports say the song is about a poor worker who has been "let down by society". But from the original English-language text, it appears that the song is rather a jab at federal politicians who party with prostituted teenage girls, tax ordinary people and shower benefits on their favorite groups.

 Politicians are more interested in "minors on islands" than how American miners are doing, Anthony notes in his song, in an apparent reference to the many powerful people who have had fun with underage prostitutes on billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's island of Little Saint James in the West Indies.

 "My God, there are vagrants who have nothing to eat / while contributions are poured over the fat ones," reads another line.

 "If you're 160 centimeters tall and weigh 136 kilograms / taxes shouldn't line your bags of fudge rounds," the song goes on, apparently referring to a type of American fudge that is very popular especially among severely overweight African-American women.

 Armed with a resonator guitar and a powerful voice, the 31-year-old singles out "rich men north of Richmond" – federal politicians – as the root of the country's problems.

 Oliver Anthony, on the other hand, does not want to take a party political position. And he doesn't call himself a conservative.

 - I'm pretty damn in the middle when it comes to politics, he says in his own video that he uploaded the day before he released his now viral song.

 - I remember when I was a child and the conservatives wanted war, and I never understood it. And I remember a lot of weirdness when the left won the election, and you know, it really feels like both sides are serving the same boss.

 The reception in music magazines such as Rolling Stone has been largely positive, starved as they are for "authentic" music today. But within the mainstream media, the song arouses all the more concern, and is presented as directly problematic.

 AC Club reviewer Emma Keates, for her part, writes that while the song is not as "overtly threatening" as some other right-wing music, it is nevertheless based on "a series of insensitive stereotypes that creep into mainstream music in a problematic way".

 NBC News calls the newcomer "obscure" and notes at the same time that the song has quickly become the "new national anthem" of both the conservative right and the extreme right in the United States.

 Also check: https://axiom1a.blogspot.com/2023/08/skamt-skamt-1-en-ung-man-foralskade-sig.html

Todd

Also check: 

https://axiom1b.blogspot.com/2023/08/some-jokes-joke-1-young-man-fell-in.html

 

Life is meaningless – or is it?

I listened to an interview with Yuval Harari (the author of the book Sapiens) – Interesting!

  The interview can be found at the link:

Yuval Noah Harari Thinks Life Is Meaningless and Amazing | People I (Mostly) Admire | Episode 84 - YouTube

  The interview is almost an hour long. I recommend anyone who doesn't have time to listen to the entire interview to start 20 minutes into the program. Then it is good until 25 minutes in and thereafter from 28 minutes. At 51 minutes it becomes uninteresting.

Todd

Please also check:

https://axiom1b.blogspot.com/2017/10/do-elites-have-responsibility-for.html

 

 

Very interesting and thought provoking speach on Freedom of Speach.

 Subjects: Power, Truth, freedom, Plato, Aristotele, Philosophy, Courage, Risktaking, Facts, Knowledge.

At: https://urplay.se/program/232487-tanke-och-sanning-under-press-vad-ar-meningen-med-yttrandefrihet?autostart=true

 English spoken with Swedish subtitles.

Todde 

Also check: https://axiom1b.blogspot.com/2023/06/cannot-be-informed-away-understand-that.html