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Teju Cole on Kony and the White Savior Industrial Complex

Or as he put it, "Seven thoughts on the banality of sentimentality." Note: What would it be like to have an intellectual class more like Teju Cole and less like Tom Friedman?

Teju Cole @tejucole
1- From Sachs to Kristof to Invisible Children to TED, the fastest growth industry in the US is the White Savior Industrial Complex.
Thu, Mar 08 2012 09:33:58
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Teju Cole @tejucole
2- The white savior supports brutal policies in the morning, founds charities in the afternoon, and receives awards in the evening.
Thu, Mar 08 2012 09:34:36
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Teju Cole @tejucole
3- The banality of evil transmutes into the banality of sentimentality. The world is nothing but a problem to be solved by enthusiasm.
Thu, Mar 08 2012 09:35:39
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Teju Cole @tejucole
4- This world exists simply to satisfy the needs—including, importantly, the sentimental needs—of white people and Oprah.
Thu, Mar 08 2012 09:36:39
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Teju Cole @tejucole
5- The White Savior Industrial Complex is not about justice. It is about having a big emotional experience that validates privilege.
Thu, Mar 08 2012 09:37:24
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Teju Cole @tejucole
6- Feverish worry over that awful African warlord. But close to 1.5 million Iraqis died from an American war of choice. Worry about that.
Thu, Mar 08 2012 09:38:27
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Teju Cole @tejucole
7- I deeply respect American sentimentality, the way one respects a wounded hippo. You must keep an eye on it, for you know it is deadly.
Thu, Mar 08 2012 09:39:38
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