Turning Horror into Humor
By • 3/13/08Stuff White People Like, authored by Christian Lander, is the latest blog sensation. The blog isn’t actually about white people as a whole, but about the Creative (or Destructive) Class, and perfectly captures this group’s diversity snobbery. One of the key goals of the creatively blessed is to prove themselves more open to diversity than their fellows. Thus, they like ethnic restaurants best when other whites have not yet discovered them:
In most situations, white people are very comforted by seeing their own kind. However, when they are eating at a new ethnic restaurant or traveling to a foreign nation, nothing spoils their fun more than seeing another white person.
Many white people will look into the window of an ethnic restaurant to see if there are other white people in there. It is determined to be an acceptable restaurant if the white people in there are accompanied by ethnic friends. But if there is a table occupied entirely by white people, it is deemed unacceptable.
The arrival of the “other white people” to either restaurants or vacation spots instantly means that lines will grow, authenticity will be lost, and the euphoria of being a cultural pioneer will be over.
You’ll find oodles and oodles of such impish observations on the blog. It is spectacularly successful, not only because of the quality of the writing, but because it portrays the ideology of diversity as a cute foible while entirely ignoring its tragic consequences. Like the rest of his class, Lander has an intimate knowledge of upscale Mexican restaurants, but shows little interest in Mexicans themselves, who are allowed to enter into America by the millions because our elites believe diversity is a strength.
As I said in The Destructive Class:
Clearly, the Creative Class enjoys the idea of racial diversity more than the reality. The type of diversity that it likes—Thai restaurants attended by Egyptian software engineers looking out on black street performers—is of a very artificial and carefully policed sort.
Florida, in fact, finds real diversity depressing and frightening, as most of the Creative Class no doubt would. During his discussion of wealth inequality, he tells of the time he took a wrong turn while traveling to a speaking engagement and found himself in a Hispanic neighborhood in East Palo Alto.
“Here the streets were lined with shabby storefronts announcing check cashing and cerveza fria. Instead of people who looked forever young [as the Creative Class does], here were teenagers who looked old too soon.”
When will Lander and his readers see the horror behind the humor?
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I have mixed reactions to this blog.
Sometimes I think it’s witty and insightful about pointing out harmless things about some or many whites.
Sometimes I cheer it on as it mocks self-important, pompous, ignorant, suicidal, fashion-enslaved white fools.
Sometimes I’m annoyed at its mocking of whites’ and real or perceived traits in a caricatured and demeaning way now unthinkable if applied to others.
Sometimes I’m frustrated by the folly of our people and ashamed of it.
By Irish on 3/14/08 at 11:48 pm