Manifest Destiny Manifest Terror: The World in the Grips of Victimary and Triumphalist Mentalities

A Heretic’s Log: A series of philosophical essays written between September 20, 2002 and July 15, 2004.

The source of future troubles for the world, troubles that can indeed threaten the very continuity of modern civilization, no matter how one defines it: Western, Christian, Secular, or simply human, is not terrorism per se, and is not simply the resentment that the people of the underdeveloped world harbor towards more developed countries, as some do indeed assert. Nor does it squarely lie in the triumphalist attitude exhibited by the peoples and governments of the developed countries – in that sense of hubris that imbues all of their actions and modes of address vis-à-vis  everything “other.” Continue reading “Manifest Destiny Manifest Terror: The World in the Grips of Victimary and Triumphalist Mentalities”