From: mars1933@hotmail.com   
      
   	   
   	What concerned me above all  was  challenging  the  lefist   
   liberal idea that the historic West was a social construct without def   
   inite geographical and cultural boundaries.  I  rejected  the  view   
   that  all cultural expressions were equally valid and that a proper   
   liberal attitude required an egalitarian view of world history. I was   
   reacting to an academic environment in which the teaching of Western   
   civilization had been replaced by a new curriculum emphasizing "the   
   unity in diversity" of the world's peoples. Only a handful of   
   universities were still teaching the history of Western civilization.   
   Everyone was captivated  by  the  postmodernist  claim  that  "no   
   concept  is  by  itself, and consequently in and of itself": ergo the   
   West must be conceived only  in  relation  to  the  rest  of  the   
   world.  Ancient  Greece  was  an  out growth of the Near East, or, as   
   Martin Bernal put it, "Afroasiatic." Greek  civilization  was  not   
   founded  by  Aryan  settlers  but  was  instead the product of   
   Egyptian and Semitic influences.   
      
        The  liberal  elites  would  have  us  believe  that  anyone  can   
   become American  simply  by  accepting  liberalism  and  the  same   
   multicultural  ideology which, by its nature, cannot envision the   
   American nation except  as  a  culture  that  is  inclusive  and   
   celebrates  the  traditions  of  everyone  and,  in  effect,  says   
   that  the  Europeans  who  founded  the  nation have no other identity   
   but to open themselves up to the rest of the world.   
      
   	With  these  new  thoughts,  it  was  crystal  clear  that   
   the  "conservative" liberals I used to favor not long ago were not   
   really advocates for the  West  but  promoters  of  a  borderless   
   civilization  without  heritage.   
      
      
   	In short, today I no longer deny that the West was a   
   civilization consisting of nations with similar "genetic" unities. It   
   is very simple: race,  the  one  factor  academics  were  compelled to   
   ignore except in opprobrium,  was  and  is  central  to  the  West's   
   historical  identity  and  geographic location. Traditions, customs,   
   and national particularisms are also important to the long term   
   preservation  of  Western  countries  in the face of relentless   
   globalization.   
      
   	   
        The  objective   is   to   ascertain   the   historical   
   geography   of   Western   civilization/culture  without  ignoring   
   race.  The  concept  of  race  will  be  implicit rather than the   
   subject of investigation.   
      
        A  race  is  a  major  segment  of  a  species originally   
   occupying, since the first dispersal of mankind, a large,   
   geographically unified, and distinct region, and touching on the   
   territories of other races only by relatively narrow corridors. Within   
   such a region each race acquired its distinctive genetic   
   attributes-both its visible physical  appearance  and  its  invisible   
   biological  properties through the selective forces of all aspects of   
   the environment, including  culture.  After  having  become   
   differentiated in this fashion, each race filled out its space,   
   resisting,  because  of  its  superior local adaptation, the   
   encroachment of outsiders with whom it mixed, from time to time if not   
   continuously, along its borders.   
      
      
   	But what about the much talked-about  difference  between   
   ethnicity and  race?  The  more  we  emphasize  culture  the  closer   
   we  are  to  the  concept of ethnicity. The term "race"  pays  closer   
   attention  to  the  genetic attributes of a given group, whereas  when   
   the  term  "ethnicity"  pays closer attention to the cultural   
   attributes of a group-language, religion, customs, institutions, and   
   historical  experiences.  This  does not mean that ethnicity excludes   
   the genetics of race. Liberals think they can suppress the concept of   
   race by defining ethnicity in cultural terms and thereby avoiding the   
   concept of race altogether as a biologically valid concept.    Coon   
   correctly  avoids  this  arbitrary  elimination of physiological and   
   genetic factors from  his  definition  of  race  without ignoring the   
   importance of culture.   
   	   
      
   Western civilization comprises many ethnic groups with difference   
   languages, cuisines, histories, which are nevertheless members of the   
   Caucasoid race. Likewise there  are  many  ethnic  groups  within  the   
   Mongoloid  and  Congoid  subspecies.   
      
      
   	Now, with this nod to the importance of race, here is a   
   revised answer  to  the  question:  where  is  the  historical  West?   
   The  West  is,  by  far,  the  most  difficult  civilization  to   
   trace  geographically.  Non-Western civilizations are relatively easy   
   to locate on historical maps. Their borders and sizes may have changed   
   over time, they may have disappeared altogether, but we can   
   straightforwardly identify Mesopotamian  civilizations,  the  ancient   
   Sumerian  city-states  (3000-2340  BC), the  Akkadian  Empire   
   (2340-2150  BC),  the rise of the Sumerian city at Ur  (2112-2000   
   BC),  which  witnessed  a final flowering of Sumerian culture, or the   
   Amorites/Old Babylonians, rulers of this region from 2000  to  about   
   1550  BC,  best  known   for   the   Code   of   Hammurabi (1700s). We   
   can identify the cultures/civilizations of ancient Egypt, the Mayas,   
   Aztecs, Incas, the empire  of  Ghana  (900-1180  AD),  and  the   
   Songhai Kingdom in Africa (1450-1600 AD). 	We can also identify   
   the Shang dynasty (1766-1050 BC), known as the first Chinese   
   civilization, and all subsequent kingdoms up until the  current   
   territory  of  China.     The   borders   of   China   certainly   
   changed  over  time.  Sometimes  it  was  unified  under  a  stable   
   dynastic order  extended  over  a  wide  area,  sometimes  it  was   
   divided  into  two dynasties, sometimes occupied by  external  rulers   
   (as  was  the  case when the Mongols ruled, 1206-1368),  and   
   sometimes  the  country  was characterized by intense competition   
   between city-states each dominated by its own dynasty (as was the   
   case  during  the  Warring  States period, 481-221 BC).   According to   
   the 2010 census, 91.51 percent of the population in China are ethnic   
   Han.   
      
   	Western civilization is the most difficult to identify   
   geographically for  two  reasons:  (1)  the  West  has  been the most   
   dynamic territorially, developing across many lands, while advancing   
   to higher stages of knowledge  and  power  in  the  course  of which   
   it experienced "rises" and "declines" in different territories; (2)   
   the West is the only civilization with a developmental pattern   
   characterized by dramatic alternations in its philosophical outlooks   
   and institutions.   
      
   	All  in  all,  the  West  has  displayed  far  more   
   territorial  movements, cultural novelties, and revolutions in  the   
   sciences  and  arts;  and,  for this  reason,  answering  "where  is   
   the  West?"  requires  one  to  ask  "what is  the  West?"  with  an   
   awareness  of  the fact that both the "what" and the "where" have   
   changed over time.   This civilization, for example, is  not  simply   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)