The inability of the left to accept, let alone see an alternative viewpoint continues to astound me.
Take political cartoonists as an example.
I understand that the role of a cartoonist is to hold a cracked mirror up to a society, thereby enabling all its many facets to be sharply perceived and commented upon pictorially, no matter how uncomfortable this may be for some.
The cartoonist’s personal opinion is not an issue, and is irrelevant; the slant of a cartoon is merely an observation, made wryly or acerbically, with humour or satire, or just darkly confronting, in order to provoke thought and debate, highlight hypocrisy or shoot down some sacred cows. However, there is usually an underlying truth in existence.
Once upon a time, the MSM had editors with backbones, who understood their own roles in a democracy that championed a free press. Cartoonists such as Sonovamin and Boomslang, regularly featured on The BFD, enjoy a public following by those who recognise and relate to any number of our human flaws – in other words most people. Indeed, I believe that there are still some outposts of the western world where this still happens, albeit in rapidly dwindling fashion.
Human beings per se are essentially flawed, and at any time, any of us can display selfishness, avarice, opportunism, vengefulness and so on, as well as our more admirable capabilities.
So, to suggest, or even shriek in outraged voices, that certain ethnic or socioeconomic groups are incapable of any negative trait, or, even more offensively, proclaim these to be only a European prerogative, defies belief, common sense and logic. Ditto the notion that before Europeans arrived in New Zealand, the locals were all perpetually loving, caring, generous beings who lived in total harmony with each other and their environment, so any undesirable, anti-social attitudes and behaviours were all the fault of the colonising white guys.
I’ve often expressed the view that in New Zealand, for example, you can be deemed a racist if you don’t support 100% of 100% of everything “Maori”, 100% of the time – any judgment, any criticism or non-acceptance, no matter how slight, is not tolerated or even permitted. How unrealistic, arrogant and also ignorant is that?!
As a Scot originally, I know that there were years of battle with the English, who in their ongoing attempt to subdue and conquer, committed horrible atrocities at places such as Culloden, but I also recognise that the Scots themselves were a wild, thieving lot who happily engaged in their own murderous clan warfare for many generations. Not something to be proud of; but it happened (and still does in pubs in quite a few cities on Saturday nights!).
When so many on the left are people with an education, even to tertiary level and further, and therefore, one might assume, able to think critically, objectively and analytically, it beggars belief that in the face of cartoons that pull no punches, any thinking ability vanishes. They ignore the message, dismiss underlying truths, and see only the superficial image, which of course pushes all their “outrage” buttons. And true to form, witness the personal attacks and lawsuits etc against the offending cartoonists themselves, so that now, any with a spine have been banished from the MSM.
That, to me, is the much more reprehensible crime.
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