Not another article about how awful one political point of view is, but an attempt to understand why certain positions and arguments seem to work in how the West acts. I thought about this after reading Dan's paper which discusses the theory about leading a country by creating a national myth. Lest you think the article is negative, I refer to the last paragraph, which points out an observation that Mr. Steele, a black intellectual, makes about our society today:

"Possibly white guilt's worst effect is that it does not permit whites--and nonwhites--to appreciate something extraordinary: the fact that whites in America, and even elsewhere in the West, have achieved a truly remarkable moral transformation. One is forbidden to speak thus, but it is simply true. There are no serious advocates of white supremacy in America today, because whites see this idea as morally repugnant. If there is still the odd white bigot out there surviving past his time, there are millions of whites who only feel goodwill toward minorities."

"This is a fact that must be integrated into our public life--absorbed as new history--so that America can once again feel the moral authority to seriously tackle its most profound problems. Then, if we decide to go to war, it can be with enough ferocity to win."

The full article is here:
"White guilt and the Western past"