Thursday, October 29, 2009
Holy Melodrama Batman!
Author Michael Chabon has apparently written a horrifying work of nonfiction. Here's Tyler Cowen's blurb about the book: "I ended up enjoying this more than I do his trendy fiction. This supposed paean to family life collapses quickly into narcissism, but that's in fact what makes it work. I was surprised but not shocked by the part where he deliberately tortures his infant son."
Hmm that's a rather surprising statement, don't you think? Maybe Chabon had to do it to avoid even more torture by the FDIC?
Anyway Bryan Caplan is even more appalled: "It was only when I was reading Michael Chabon's latest, Manhood for Amateurs, that I saw the face of evil..."
You know what they're talking about, right? Chabon had his kid circumcised. And rather than doing it without a moment's thought, he reflected upon it a lot, and then did it anyway.
Full disclosure: My wife and I decided not to get our son circumcised, for the obvious reasons that any decent GMU professor could give.
Another disclosure: As all who saw that B-movie from 2001 know, I am circumcised. I don't consider my Catholic parents sadistic religious torturers.
Final disclosure: The above statement is obviously a joke. That movie was an artistic masterpiece.
Hmm that's a rather surprising statement, don't you think? Maybe Chabon had to do it to avoid even more torture by the FDIC?
Anyway Bryan Caplan is even more appalled: "It was only when I was reading Michael Chabon's latest, Manhood for Amateurs, that I saw the face of evil..."
You know what they're talking about, right? Chabon had his kid circumcised. And rather than doing it without a moment's thought, he reflected upon it a lot, and then did it anyway.
Full disclosure: My wife and I decided not to get our son circumcised, for the obvious reasons that any decent GMU professor could give.
Another disclosure: As all who saw that B-movie from 2001 know, I am circumcised. I don't consider my Catholic parents sadistic religious torturers.
Final disclosure: The above statement is obviously a joke. That movie was an artistic masterpiece.
Comments:
And rather than doing it without a moment's thought, he reflected upon it a lot, and then did it anyway.. That is not Bryan's point. His problem is that the author reflected upon it a lot, found that there was no good reason to have the kid circumcised, admitted that the procedure is cruel and barbaric, and then proceeded to do it anyway.
The evil here is not circumcision; it is the conscious and gratuitous refusal to translate one's moral judgment into action.
The evil here is not circumcision; it is the conscious and gratuitous refusal to translate one's moral judgment into action.
Bob,
If circumcision was invented to dull the sensations of sex, thereby making it less pleasureable and thereby incentivizing circumcised men to not have as much of it... I don't think it's been working.
If circumcision was invented to dull the sensations of sex, thereby making it less pleasureable and thereby incentivizing circumcised men to not have as much of it... I don't think it's been working.
The Blackadder Says:
Luke, I think Bryan goes a bit further than what you are saying. He opens the post by saying: "I strongly oppose circumcision. In fact, I can't think of a good reason why we shouldn't punish it as child abuse."
Luke, I think Bryan goes a bit further than what you are saying. He opens the post by saying: "I strongly oppose circumcision. In fact, I can't think of a good reason why we shouldn't punish it as child abuse."
# posted by 
: October 30, 2009 at 1:07 AM
: October 30, 2009 at 1:07 AM
Cowen are Caplan are both of of the age where they should have long ago moved past this showy WHAM! take that conventional wisdom phase. It seems more than likely that their alleged disgust for the act of circumcision has a lot to do with most people not really caring about it a great deal one way or the other.
Cowen especially gives the game away. "I was surprised but not shocked by the part where he deliberately tortures his infant son.". This sentence means either one of two things. Either Cowen has a sickly and underdeveloped moral sense - your overwhelming emotional response to a man torturing his son is "Oh, that's surprising"? - or, more likely, he doesn't actually consider circumcision torture.
Cowen especially gives the game away. "I was surprised but not shocked by the part where he deliberately tortures his infant son.". This sentence means either one of two things. Either Cowen has a sickly and underdeveloped moral sense - your overwhelming emotional response to a man torturing his son is "Oh, that's surprising"? - or, more likely, he doesn't actually consider circumcision torture.
He does say that, Blackadder, but he also says that he thinks his conclusion holds whether you agree with him on the ethics of circumcision or not.
What matters is that Chabon considers it child abuse.
What matters is that Chabon considers it child abuse.
Jesus wept. Caplan's blog entry actually has comments from people arguing that circumcision is necessary because it drastically reduces the chances of contracting the HIV virus.
I'm sure none of your readers need an explanation of why this is just about the most mind-bogglingly stupid thing ever.
And good for you, Bob, for not subjecting your son to this horrific abuse, even though it's the "normal" thing to do in this country.
I'm sure none of your readers need an explanation of why this is just about the most mind-bogglingly stupid thing ever.
And good for you, Bob, for not subjecting your son to this horrific abuse, even though it's the "normal" thing to do in this country.
# posted by : October 30, 2009 at 9:34 AM
: October 30, 2009 at 9:34 AM
Great comments all around. ("A round of drinks...for all my friends." I'm quoting Barfly but I can't find that line right now...)
Luke I know that wasn't Bryan's point. My point was, we're flipping out over a guy who was anguished about something and wrote it up. The excerpts Caplan showed us didn't strike me as the face of evil, and I imagine if we got to read the surrounding paragraphs, it would seem even less so.
English Bob, those nutjobs on Bryan's site were linking to medical research etc., or at least they claimed they were. Were they lying, or you know those studies were all wrong?
Luke I know that wasn't Bryan's point. My point was, we're flipping out over a guy who was anguished about something and wrote it up. The excerpts Caplan showed us didn't strike me as the face of evil, and I imagine if we got to read the surrounding paragraphs, it would seem even less so.
English Bob, those nutjobs on Bryan's site were linking to medical research etc., or at least they claimed they were. Were they lying, or you know those studies were all wrong?
Mr. Murphy, I think Caplan has a good point. Someone who will knowingly do wrong is worse than someone who lacks the capacity for moral judgment. It is much the same as not lambasting a blind man for his poor color coordination, but giving a sighted person hell for wearing purple socks with a blue shirt (ewwwww!). In a way, this is far worse than the banal variety of evil which excuses itself in the name of some illusory good. It does not even need the approval of conscience to act, and is therefore no different from a force of nature.
# posted by : October 30, 2009 at 11:06 AM
: October 30, 2009 at 11:06 AM
Bob: I assume the research is correct: Having no foreskin reduces the chance of HIV infection.
The reason I think they are crazy is that the risk of HIV infection is already very small.
I wonder what they would think of routine double mastectomies for post-pubescent females? I'm pretty sure there is medical research concluding that not having breasts reduces the risk of breast cancer.
The reason I think they are crazy is that the risk of HIV infection is already very small.
I wonder what they would think of routine double mastectomies for post-pubescent females? I'm pretty sure there is medical research concluding that not having breasts reduces the risk of breast cancer.
# posted by : October 30, 2009 at 11:53 AM
: October 30, 2009 at 11:53 AM
We have a new baby boy and did not even consider circumcision. What an utterly barbaric practice. I think people that do that to a baby shouldn't be treated any differently than someone who kidnaps a guy off the street and mutilates his genitals. Disgusting...
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# posted by : October 30, 2009 at 2:35 PM
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