Joseph Conrad

[Stephen]

Conrad's great. It's been ages since I've read his work. Edward Said seems to think that Conrad was unable to depict non-Europeans as equals. I consider Conrad a powerful critic of the West. Bertrand Russell named one of his sons after Conrad. They were close friends. Russell considered himself a knee jerk reformer when confronted with Conrad's pessimism. Damn, I'm going to check my library, see if I have any JC.

[Feliks]

Equalizing two parts unfortunately can sometimes mean making them the same. But in this case they clearly are not the same. Why should non-Europeans be considered the same as Europeans, when their cultural roots are so drastically different? Is this a lab experiment to detect racism or what?

Precisely what 'equality' are Conrad's detractors trying to graft onto people from two highly disparate parts of the world, in order to satisfy some PC standard? Let them be appraised correctly: unequally, I say. If that is in fact, the case.

Are any two 'races' of our species physically and intellectually as capable as each other, if given the same upbringing? Certainly.

I question this constant accusation of unfairness in writers who merely observe differences in people. Identifying that one culture abides by a different moral system than another is not saying one is necessarily 'lesser' than the other.