NASA’s foremost purpose: to increase Muslim self-esteem

Hard to believe, but true. Shocking, but not surprising. On a visit to Egypt, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden tells Al Jazeera television that “perhaps foremost” of the three tasks Obama charged him with as head of America’s space program is “to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly [sic] Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering.” Bolden’s other two tasks are to “re-inspire children to want to get into science and math” and “expand our international relationships.” Evidently space travel and space exploration are not among the three tasks of the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. In the interview which is posted at Powerline, note Bolden’s unintelligent demeanor. Note his saying “dominantly Muslim countries” instead of “predominantly Muslims countries,” which, in the two Bolden statements that have been posted so far at VFR (see our earlier discussion about him in February), is the second time he has committed that particular solecism.

The head of America’s space program

Apart from the question of Bolden’s evidently sub-mediocre intellect, the devotion of our nation’s space agency to raising Muslim self-esteem and to “re-inspiring children” (translation: re-inspiring black and Hispanic children) to be interested in science is the kind of thing that we must expect to happen when blacks are put in charge of a white country. I don’t intend to shock or offend anyone when I say this, but the reality is that blacks have virtually zero relationship to high level scientific and other intellectual achievement, as it is beyond their abilities and interests. The only way blacks can relate to significant intellectual and scientific endeavor is to complain about the injustice of the fact that whites have done virtually all of it, and that blacks, along with other non-achieving peoples, like Muslims, have done virtually none of it, and to look for ways to make themselves and other non-achieving peoples seem equal to whites. Thus blacks’ total embrace, as of an absolute entitlement, of racial preferences for blacks in university and professional school admissions, in which blacks with scores that would automatically result in the rejection of whites are admitted over whites who have far higher scores than themselves. Thus the Afrocentric belief system—central to the church Barack Obama attended for 20 years—which fantasizes some great black African civilization and the “stealing” of that civilization by whites. Since blacks can only relate to white Western accomplishment by seeing it as unfair to themselves, and by trying to tranfer the credit for it and the goods it produces to themselves and to other non-accomplished groups such as Muslims, it stands to reason that they would apply the same affirmative action template to the field of space travel.

Let me be clear. There are many blacks who are decent, good people, whom I like as human beings, and whom I would defend from unfairness and cruelty. But, with a tiny number of exceptions, blacks as a race have made zero contributions to the advance of civilization, and are incapable of making such contributions. To elevate blacks to the commanding institutional heights of our society is to put our civilization in the hands of people whose only purpose will be to diminish and lower our civilization for the sake of racial equality.

In response to Obama’s radical agenda, conservatives have over the last year reawakened to the danger and evil of socialism, the systematic tearing down and impoverishment of the productive and deserving for the sake of the unproductive and undeserving. At the same time, because of the conservatives’ dogmatic race blindness and their belief that the very idea of significant group differences in ability is morally repugnant, they have yet to recognize the reality of racial socialism, and so are unprepared to oppose it.

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Dean E. writes:

You identify here, with clarity and confidence, the single greatest weakness in our defenses: white liberal race guilt. It is our Achilles heel. You are right to hammer away at it. Plug that hole and we are two thirds of the way to saving ourselves. You are also right to criticize our supposed conservative defenders for their weakness on this issue.

These two constant VFR themes—the evil of white liberal race guilt, and conservatives’ weakness in opposing it—which have made VFR a pariah on both liberal left and liberal right, are the two most pressing political/moral issues paralyzing our defense. Keep hammering away.

Jim C. writes:

Dude, that Bolden piece was hilarious and brilliant.

Ray G. writes:

“Where no Imam has gone before.” This incident perfectly sums up The Prophet Obama’s raison d’etre—self esteem seeking. Obama wants to “level the playing field” by taking the U.S. down a step or two in order to make other (lesser) nations and cultures around the globe “get their fair share” and feel better about themselves.

Doug E. writes:

You write:

“But, with the tiniest number of exceptions, blacks as a race have made zero contributions to the advance of civilization”

That maybe true overall, but I think you do a disservice to American blacks with that blanket generalization. Here’s a list of American black inventors.

Astronomy—Benjamin Banneker, traffic signals and gas masks—Garrett Morgan,
electric light—Lewis Latimer work with Edison, et al.

There are talented and capable people in the black community. It is sad that so much of that potential is thrown into the pit of victim hood aided by the plantation that is the Democrat party.

LA replies:

Thanks for the correction. I felt uncomfortable with “the tiniest number of exceptions,” and have changed it to “a small number of exceptions.”

Second, I wasn’t speaking of people who are talented and capable; or course there are talented and capable black people. I was speaking of people who have contributed to the upbuilding of civilization. For example singers and athletes are talented and add to our culture, but they are not contributing to the advance and improvement of civilization. The evidence is lacking that blacks on their own could create and maintain a modern civilized society. They are wholly dependent on us for the goods of modern society. Yet instead of them feeling that they owe us, we feel guilty toward them. This madness must end.

Van Wijk writes:

Doug E. wrote: “Astronomy—Benjamin Banneker, traffic signals and gas masks—Garrett Morgan, electric light—Lewis Latimer work with Edison, et al.”

Here’s a list of black invention myths. Banneker, Latimer and Morgan are included. Your first assessment, unpleasant as it might be, was closer to the mark.

LA replies:

I have continued to tweak my wording, of that passage and others. I regret the repeated changes, but sometimes it’s necessary. (The only time I definitely don’t change an initial entry after posting is when it has been criticized at another blog.)

July 6

James P. writes:

The foremost purpose of NASA under the Obama regime is to turn a major symbol of American power and greatness into a stupid, contemptible, incompetent, worthless joke. NASA, along with various other institutions that formerly represented national greatness, will have its nose rubbed in multi-cultural Leftist excrement until other nations despise us utterly and we despise ourselves utterly. Anyone who believes in excellence, and who could actually make the organization succeed as a space agency, will avoid “self-esteem building NASA” like the plague, and the Chinese will inherit the cosmos. The lunatics are running the asylum, and America is being dismantled before our eyes.

Ben W. writes:

LA: “Blacks as a race have made zero contributions to the advance of civilization, and are incapable of making such contributions. To elevate blacks to the commanding institutional heights of our society is to put our civilization in the hands of people whose only purpose will be to diminish and lower our civilization for the sake of racial equality.”

Recently I have been watching a series of programs on television exploring the origins and development of things (such as engines, musical instruments, paper, medicine, cities, dwellings, etc.). There is a long period of time in the historical development of anything and everything. From the Greeks to modern times—from the Graeco-Roman civilization through the Judeo-Christian (especially the british empire)—ie. Western civilization. Think of anything—from a clothing button to running water. From simple things to complex ones (electricity or medicine).

Now name the great figures in our history—from Archimedes to Einstein, from Shakespeare to Tolstoy—literally thousands of creators of genius (and all the average technicians, artists and artisans in between). WHAT AND HOW HAS ANY OTHER CIVILIZATION—BLACK, MUSLIM, ORIENTAL, ETC—CONTRIBUTED EVEN AS MUCH AS 5 percent OF THE SUM TOTAL OF OUR STUFF? And puleeze, don’t give me this crap that some other culture has contributed the number zero to our arithmetic or gunpowder or noodles … which may amount to .0000001 percent of the sum total of our development of things. [LA replies: You’re leaving out the Chinese thousands-year-long civilization. See Michael Hart’s Understanding Human History.]

Clearly the black man is completely out of his league when it comes to this awesome historical development of things. The psychology and culture of the black man does not fit into the developmental tradition and framework of Western civilization—never has. Neither has the Muslim (the Oriental is a latecomer).

Isn’t it time to admit to white superiority? The historical facts are there—this is not racial animus or cultural bias—this is empirical and factual. To put a black man at the head of a project that has a historical framework and roots in white culture is sheer folly.

There is no equalizing two thousand years of creativity and development.

Ben W. writes:

I’ve noticed from time to time at VFR that someone will add a clause to his post along these lines. “There are always some blacks that are different … ” or “Here are some black achievements.”

What exactly is the purpose of scraping the bottom of the barrel looking for that .0001 percent of virtue or achievement? Are we like Abraham counting down the number of righteous men that could be in Sodom arguing with God to not destroy Sodom? He got down to a paltry ten …

Start enumerating all the scientists, naming all the artists, listing all the technologists, etc. They number in the thousands across a span of two thousand years. And we’re concerned with finding two or three black figures—that would amount to less than one percent of one percent.

What is it with this defense of the few blacks who when listed are largely negligible. Are Americans afraid that when it comes to an empirical assessment of the black culture it will be judged to be a huge zero? For the record, most blacks themselves consider Michael Jackson to be the epitome of their culture. Whoopee-do.

LA replies:

I have no desire to put down black people or point out their inadequacies. If modern society would simply let people be and not worry about group outcomes, we wouldn’t have to discuss the black paucity of intellectual abilities, which seems to some people like such a cruel and mean thing to do. But modern society gives us no choice but to discuss the paucity of black abilities, because it insists that all groups have the same abilities, and therefore that blacks’ lack of accomplishment is our fault, which we must remedy, and that so long as we fail to remedy it, we remain uniquely guilty and our civilization remains unworthy of existing.

If readers haven’t seen it, I urge them to read my FrontPage Magazine article “Guilty Whites,” which begins with an epigraph from Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged:

The worst guilt is to accept an undeserved guilt—and that is what you have been doing all your life.

Posted July 9

Jim C. writes:

Bolden indeed had an impressive record as a test pilot, combat veteran, and astronaut. And remember that the BS about Muslims etc originated with Barry—not Bolden. Yes, Bolden is an affirmative action recipient to the extent that he lacks most of the qualifications for his job—specifically a lack of administrative experience and no engineering or science background. In fact, he’s about as qualified to run NASA as Barry is to run the United States. That’s racial socialism for you.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at July 05, 2010 02:36 PM | Send