Orientalism Revisited (was RE: G. Bush: US in Holy War AgainstIraq?)

[Brad De Long]

>Brad De Long wrote:
>
>> Hasn't it always been obvious to everyone that western civilization is an
>> enormous con game, simply picking out predecessors of whom we approve?
>
>We agree on something! (That it *is*/has been a con game.)
>
>But I'm afraid that at least in the U.S. huge numbers of people, including
>many university professors, do not see it as a con game. Consider the
>reactions (among classical scholars) to Martin Bernal's *Black Athena*.
>Now I am extremely skeptical of the ancient history he tries to establish
>in Volume 2 -- especially of his chronology for "Homer." But his history
>of classical scholarship in Volume 1 is solid. And the savagery with
>which a number of classical scholars (led by Mary Lefkowitz [sp?])
>have attacked his history of ancient greece (volume 2) is transparently
>a response to his far less vulnerable volume 1. I'm afraid it is the con
>game of Western Civilization which is being fought over.
>
>Carrol

Doesn't Cicero say somewhere that the inhabitants of Britain are too stupid
to make good slaves?

Brad DeLong