I SPEAK ARCHAIC LANGUAGE

Recently I was on a social medium in which I expressed how I feel about the situation in the Middle East. You know, the situation has always been bad there and as Sasha Baron Cohen's Bruno called the Middle East, it's the asshole of the world, and God must have had a sense of mal humor in placing Israel there. Couldn't he have put it somewhere near Niagra Falls instead? Anyway, I digress. So the situation has really gotten out of hand there and on this social medium, I remarked that Israel is an island of Western enlightenment and culture, surrounded by a sea of Oriental barbarism. Guess what. They canceled the post and put me in silence mode for a couple of weeks.

Now, I really am not sure why I was censured because they don't have the decency to tell me what the exact verbiage was that got me kicked off. So I am guessing it's a statement I made about Israel and her neighbors. Well, which word was it? "Oriental" or "barbarism"? So let's say it was "Oriental". Ok, the Middle East is in the Orient, that is, Western Asia. Perhaps I should have said "Levantine barbarism". You know, the Middle East is in an area of the world known as the Levant because, as Google tells us: "The Levant region got its name from the French lever, which means 'to rise.' [it is where the sun rises] It can be traced even farther back to the Latin levare, which means 'lift, raise.' The term 'Levant was first used in English in 1497, referring to 'the East,' or 'Mediterranean lands east of Italy.'"

But maybe the offending word was "barbarism". So how does Google define "barbarism"? It gives two definitions:
1. absence of culture and civilization.
2. extreme cruelty or brutality.

WOW. Google said it; not I. Well just look at what happened in the world's 'connard', that is to say 'derri re' on October 7 last. Aren't the perps who committed that outrage best described as lacking civilization, and masters of extreme cruelty and brutality? Yeah, you bet they are. So why did I get kicked off if I am only stating what's what? You see, sadly in our current, unhappy century, many people are afraid to offend those who should be offended for their offense. But, as Al Jolson used to say, "You ain't heard nuthin' yet."

I was discussing this awful situation with my daughter and granddaughter, and my granddaughter informed me that, not only was I using bad language on that forum but WORSE, I said "an island of Western enlightenment and culture." She informed me that in today's odd world, the word "Western" means "white". Yeah?

So what does that mean in the context of reality?

Western civilization arose in Europe first among the Greeks who bestowed democracy on Western Asia where previously there had been an Oriental-Levantine "lack of democratic institutions, such as the peaceful transition of power or free and fair elections, or the violation of individual rights that underpin democracies, especially freedom of expression." [again Google] In other words, autocratic barbarism. Eventually, under Alexander the Great and his successors, European-Greek civilization spread out over Western Asia and Europe, and it lasted and gave freedom of expression to people for many centuries before the Holy Roman Empire and Islamic Empire stripped it away. But with the coming of Western Enlightenment, Europe succeeded in Europeanizing the entire world, except of course, for the Levant where the West is seen as Satanic.

And what of it? So Europeans are white. But guess what? So are Western Asians. Oh, some may have darker skin due to their exposure to the sun but they are still Caucasian. Well, my granddaughter told me she is not familiar with the word "Levant". I bet that most people her age also are not. In fact, she informed me that I was using obsolete vocabulary.

I feel obsolete - like an old fart - "an elderly person who holds old-fashioned views" - thanks Google. Well, in fact, I am a 20th-century man trapped in the body of a millennial world man. Apparently, the hunchback put the wrong brain in me.

Oh-oh, I said "hunchback". Is Facebook going to come after me with torches and pitchforks?