Arkady
President
I know that Ben Carson must be bright in some areas. You don't graduate med school and have a successful medical career without some native intelligence. But the weird crap that pops out of that guy's mouth is awfully hard to square with the idea of an educated person. For example, he is attributing the fall of the Roman Empire to political correctness and gay marriage.
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-10-15/carsons-longshot-presidential-bid-suddenly-looks-a-lot-more-realistic
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/03/29/ben-carson-marriage-equality-could-destroy-amer/193345
Roman history is a hobby of mine and I can't say I recall any historian ever linking the fall of Rome to political correctness or gay marriage. There are all sorts of theories, stemming from lead poisoning and epidemics to systematic economic breakdowns and economic inequality. The most famous historian of the Fall, though, was Gibbon, and his take on the decline of Rome was almost 180-degrees removed from Carson's. In Gibbon's view, Christianity was the main culprit. As Christianity became more dominant, Rome became less able to incorporate other people into its empire successfully (the insistence on just one God means conquered people are expected to give up their faiths), and the nation became sapped of the will for greatness in this world, as it focused increasingly on mumbo jumbo about the next world.
The late Roman empire is about as far from "politically correct" as it's possible to be. And it actually grew MORE hostile to homosexuality later in the era. Early on, they were more influenced by Hellenistic culture, which was fairly tolerant of homosexuality. Later, under Christian emperors, Rome became extremely intolerant -- treating homosexuality as a crime and doling out "exquisite punishment" for it (see the edicts of Constantius II and Constans, and the Theodosian Code). As Rome became less politically correct and more hostile to homosexuality, it became weaker and weaker. So, Carson's idea isn't just out of left field -- it's contrary to the most basic understanding anyone who'd studied Roman history would have.
I guess it's possible to be a smart surgeon and yet a great idiot in other areas. Perhaps Carson should keep that in mind and at least try to do some remedial reading on other topics before publicly making claims about them. It would be like me making public pronouncements on the efficacy of a certain surgical procedure without even bothering to crack a book on the topic.
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-10-15/carsons-longshot-presidential-bid-suddenly-looks-a-lot-more-realistic
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/03/29/ben-carson-marriage-equality-could-destroy-amer/193345
Roman history is a hobby of mine and I can't say I recall any historian ever linking the fall of Rome to political correctness or gay marriage. There are all sorts of theories, stemming from lead poisoning and epidemics to systematic economic breakdowns and economic inequality. The most famous historian of the Fall, though, was Gibbon, and his take on the decline of Rome was almost 180-degrees removed from Carson's. In Gibbon's view, Christianity was the main culprit. As Christianity became more dominant, Rome became less able to incorporate other people into its empire successfully (the insistence on just one God means conquered people are expected to give up their faiths), and the nation became sapped of the will for greatness in this world, as it focused increasingly on mumbo jumbo about the next world.
The late Roman empire is about as far from "politically correct" as it's possible to be. And it actually grew MORE hostile to homosexuality later in the era. Early on, they were more influenced by Hellenistic culture, which was fairly tolerant of homosexuality. Later, under Christian emperors, Rome became extremely intolerant -- treating homosexuality as a crime and doling out "exquisite punishment" for it (see the edicts of Constantius II and Constans, and the Theodosian Code). As Rome became less politically correct and more hostile to homosexuality, it became weaker and weaker. So, Carson's idea isn't just out of left field -- it's contrary to the most basic understanding anyone who'd studied Roman history would have.
I guess it's possible to be a smart surgeon and yet a great idiot in other areas. Perhaps Carson should keep that in mind and at least try to do some remedial reading on other topics before publicly making claims about them. It would be like me making public pronouncements on the efficacy of a certain surgical procedure without even bothering to crack a book on the topic.
