David Brooks, ladies and gentlemen:
As Lawrence E. Harrison explained in his book “The Central Liberal
Truth,” Haiti, like most of the world’s poorest nations, suffers from a
complex web of progress-resistant cultural influences. There is the
influence of the voodoo religion, which spreads the message that life
is capricious and planning futile. There are high levels of social
mistrust. Responsibility is often not internalized. Child-rearing
practices often involve neglect in the early years and harsh
retribution when kids hit 9 or 10.We’re all supposed to politely respect each other’s cultures. But some
cultures are more progress-resistant than others, and a horrible
tragedy was just exacerbated by one of them.
Taibbi pretty much does his thing to that passage above, but can I just ask … WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT EVEN MEAN? “Responsibility is often not internalized?” WHAT THE FUCK? I’M SORRY I’M SHOUTING AND SAYING FUCK SO MUCH MOM BUT WHAT THE … I CAN’T … GIMME A MINUTE HERE … FUCK.
A.