Welcome!

Where the false. The absurd. And the most harmful ideologies get refuted.

Not by bullets. Not by bombing. By no physical means of mass destruction.

Just through meaning. Reason. Discourse. Ridicule and humour.

Is there courage? Courage to test fundamental values? Principles? Beliefs? Ideals and Ideologies?

Is there courage to test ---------Who you are?--------- ------What you stand for?------

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2009 IAW @ York -- part 1

2009 IAW @ York -- part 2

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Welcome to The C l a s h -- The Ultimate Culture Clash

UccAnimation12 Welcome to The C l a s h. The Ultimate Culture Clash

Welcome. Welcome indeed. This entire site and virtual space is waiting your participation, your input — perhaps your help running it.  Because, without your enthused participation, this site and the public sphere it expounds can’t begin to function.

The Ultimate Culture Clash can’t work without you — and only your total enjoyment can make it succeed.

So what’s The Clash supposed to succeed at? What’s the point, the goal — the purpose?

The Clash is to provide everyone at York University more sense of community and insight what keeps happening to our own campus. To liberate over 50,000 York students ever getting held hostage again — as in our 2008/09 YorkStrike. And to save the world.

Hold it, you say?  How can that even make any sense, you ask?  Like, accomplishing anything however terrific for York University — and saving the world?  Sure, YorkU‘s a big place.  But it’s still just one particular space.  So either dedicate The Clash particularly to YorkU.  Or dedicate it generally to the world at large.  Attempting both at same time and space can’t be  consistent.  Wouldn’t be practical.  Couldn’t possibly work.

Actually, though?  It absolutely is.  Consistent, practical, workable.  Necessary, even.  Because the evils afflicting our YorkU campus are identical to those dooming humanity and everything natural still surviving.

Sound crazy?  It only sounds that way.  Though it will take some explaining — which we’ll do right here.  Explain how regardless if at YorkU or at large in the world, the roots of all sociocultural evils are ideological.

However.  We can’t wait on philosophical explanations.  No way.  Not if The Clash can come to grips with how ideology gets out of control.  Before it finally grows too late.  Even if it already has.  Because even if we are too late  — that only makes coming to grips with ideological evils hopeless.  Not less vital.  Never less vital.  Like Spike Lee could tell.  How it can’t matter what time it is.  How vital it always is to Do the Right Thing.

But can The Clash come to grips with ideological evils in the first place?  Can anything come to grips with ideological evils — ever?  Doesn’t history suggest — at least since state societies started swarming — otherwise?  Nevertheless.  Nevermind history.  Nobody really does, anyhow.  Mind history.  Let’s forget our bloody, genocidal histories for a moment in these potentially last days.  Let’s try coming to grips with our ideological evils.  Right here, right now at The Clash we sure can at least try.  Here, now let’s try like nowhere else.

However hopeless, there’s nothing crazy at least trying.  Just seems far too fetched whenever world-saving gets mentioned.  Anyone knows it can’t be done.  How far too late it is.  Alright, then –  forget about it.

Forget world-saving ever got mentioned.  Instead, consider it like this.  We’ll be trying a method.  A simple method to impose upon the madness of human ideology.  A novel and desperately needed new way to navigating ideological difference.  Navigating difference far beyond the shallows of tepid tolerance and boutique multiculturalism — yet never sinking to blows.  Never coming to physical blows — despite coming to real, solid grips.  Since, when it comes to ideas, ideals, ideologies and cultural identities?  The Clash is designed not just to evoke and to excite — but to provoke and to incite.  To inflame.  To burn the false, flimsy, falling bridges of tolerant ignorance and ignorant tolerance whenever running across them.  To build real bridges not on surface familiarities — but of true understanding from deeper cultural grounds up.  And, always, to boldly, soberly, thoroughly test the fundamental contradictions beneath the cultural grounds upon which we must build.

That’s the point, the goal — the whole purpose.  Bridging cultural contradictions not by force but by discourse.  Coming to real, solid grips with human ideology — without yet again coming to genocidal blows.

We must try.  There can never be peace when peace only means the silence of the oppressed — and when asking who is oppressed and who oppresses can’t be divided from ideology.  It’s so necessary, so simple — yet no forum to confront ideology like The Clash exists.

The Clash is no anemic debating society club.  No coffee-house public sphere.  It is no effete salon.  Nor, however, will it become just another troll-station.  None of the above.  Nothing before seen.  The Clash is an arena.  An Octagon.  If all goes truly well it will become the virtual Colosseum whereby ideological contradictions between cultures are spanned.  Spanned by discourse — not by force.  Not by bullets.  Not by bombing.  By no physical means of mass destruction. Where cultural contradictions are exhumed from festering in pitch tectonic denial — and outed into higher places.  Into wide, open spaces.  Into spectacular lights.

Thus, we’ll start at the York University campus.  Because in Toronto, Canada — that’s where ideology gets most out of control.  Where governments and parent-unions must force entry to rescue us from ourselves.  Where cold-war and Middle-Eastern ideologies get reprised, never rinsed — and endlessly repeated.  Where one earnest Excalibur editor recently contended how we select where on campus to have lunch should desist becoming so ideological.

We’re only starting at York University, though.  How far we’ll go depends on you.  If only you have courage to test fundamental values.  Principles.  Beliefs.  Ideals and ideologies.  If you have courage to test who you are — and what you stand for.  Not everyone does have such courage.  For some it is impossible to question identity.  For others it is inconceivable.  For many violence is easier.  But if you do have such courage to test identity not just in others but also in yourself.  Just through meaning.  Reason.  Discourse.  Ridicule and humour.  Never through violence.  If you do have such courage then you are more than welcome here @ The Clash.  Much more than welcome.  You are needed.

Every side must have hearing for The Clash to become everything it can and should.  Perhaps, probably we’ll never accomplish the goals we’ve set out.  With your participation, though?  There’s no stopping how much we can contribute our goals. That’s why, ultimately, your participation is what this site must be about.  You can express yourself commenting.  If you comment well — then you can submit posts.  And if you post well, and want to get even more involved — you can contribute your own column.  Design your own page.  Even moderate, organize, help improve The Clash any other way you can think.  Make it your forum.

To find out how and more, check out navigation & commenting.  Also, yes you can — posting!

repostus bttn red sml Welcome to The C l a s h. The Ultimate Culture Clash

By cupedoll, on September 8th, 2009

117 comments to Welcome to The C l a s h. The Ultimate Culture Clash

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