[Marxism] [Fwd: Swans' Release: May 24, 2004]

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.swans.com/
May 24, 2004 -- In this issue:

Note from the Editor:   Before you begin accusing the French of once
more sticking it to America for awarding the Palme d'Or at the
Cannes Film Festival to Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11"
documentary, be aware that only one out of nine jurors was French.
Four were American and one was British...prompting Moore to
facetiously quip, "more than half came from the coalition of the
willing." Anyway, of late, Americans need not the French to stick it to
them. They're doing a good job on their own. To understand why a
documentary won the top prize, a rarity at Cannes, suffices to read
Frank Rich's superb review, "Michael Moore's Candid Camera," in
the May 23 edition of The New York Times. Says Rich, "Subtleties
and fine distinctions are not [Moore's] thing. That matters little, it 
turns out, when you have a story this ugly and this powerful to tell."
Ugliness, as this new issue of Swans shows, is very much a part of the
American landscape.

Whether the whole Muslim and Judeo-Christian fundamentalist
caboodle is doing us in, with their respective apocalyptic policies
having Armageddon and Rapture written all over them, is a matter of
conjecture; but, posits Milo Clark, Wahabism, an extreme and
powerful Islamist sect financed by Saudi petrodollars, may well be the
most ruthless of all. That the Bushies have aligned their own interests
and those of the USA with these fanatics should be exposed with the
greatest urgency, suggests Clark in his well-researched historical
analysis.

Civilization, a word coined by French physiocratic economist
Mirabeau in 1756 (in his treatise, L'Ami des hommes), gives Phil
Rockstroh serious pause. How can it be, he muses, with a gut-
wrenching picture by Graphic Designer Angela Tyler-Rockstroh, that
we in the U.S. have reached this ultimate stage in our development,
the Wal-Martization of torture? Is this US destiny, "the true nature
and heart of America," to use Mr. Bush's words? Michael Doliner, for
his part, concludes that "we now claim we are fighting to make "them"
into "us" . . . . [But,] to treat [Iraqis] as insects is to declare that 
we ourselves are insects."

And how can it be that the fossilized left and safe-states strategists
spend so much energy demonizing and attacking Ralph Nader? Is this
phenomenon also an inherent part of American "true nature"? Louis
Proyect submits a clear analysis of the syndrome. Would energy not
be better expended bringing potential voters to cast their lot with the
ABB candidate? Have these "revolutionaries" anything to offer, plain
and simple, besides trashing Nader? Instead of shooting at the
messenger, could they come up with a positive rationale to vote for
"their" candidate and cease emulating Mr. Bush's "us vs. them"
axiomatic moronity? Is this too much to ask?

The news cycle is such that one cannot keep up with it. Just reviewing
a few events and people who made the news in the past weeks
requires a healthy dose of humor, if only to hide an increasing sense of
revulsion at the "true nature" of this utterly debased culture. Gulags,
psychoses, paranoid conspiracies, home-grown terror are some of the
issues Manuel García and Richard Macintosh (welcome back,
Richard!) address in their respective pieces. Philip Greenspan, once
again, brings his observations to the fore in regard to the morale in the
military and the causes for mutiny. We leave you with Joel
Wendland's review of Rahul Mahajan's "Full Spectrum Dominance,"
and a poem by Gerard Donnelly Smith that sums up how this orgy of
violence might be viewed in history.

As always, please form your OWN opinion, and let your friends (and
foes) know about Swans.

                                                *****

Here are the links to all the pieces:

http://www.swans.com/library/art10/mgc128.html
Wahabi And Saudi Arabia, Islam And America
 by Milo Clark

http://www.swans.com/library/art10/procks27.html
Can We Torture Them For You Retail?
 by Phil Rockstroh
 With a Graphic by Angela Tyler-Rockstroh

http://www.swans.com/library/art10/mdolin02.html
The Terrible Shrug
 by Michael Doliner

http://www.swans.com/library/art10/lproy15.html
Behind The Anti-Nader Attacks
 by Louis Proyect

http://www.swans.com/library/art10/ga178.html
Recent News, Personalities And Definitions
 by Gilles d'Aymery

http://www.swans.com/library/art10/mgarci14.html
American Gulag, And A Dogfight Of Psychoses
 by Manuel Garcia, Jr.

http://www.swans.com/library/art10/rmac21.html
Walking Wounded
 by Richard Macintosh

http://www.swans.com/library/art10/pgreen42.html
A Cancer In The Military
 by Philip Greenspan

http://www.swans.com/library/art10/joelw03.html
Rahul Mahajan's "Full Spectrum Dominance"
 Book Review by Joel Wendland

http://www.swans.com/library/art10/gsmith18.html
Twisted Ascension
 Poem by Gerard Donnelly Smith

http://www.swans.com/library/art10/letter42.html
 Letters to the Editor

                                               #####

You are receiving this E-mail notification for you have expressed your
interest in Swans and the work of its team, or someone suggested that
we include you in our distribution list. If you wish not to receive these
short notifications, simply reply to this E-mail and enter the word
REMOVE in the subject line. We do NOT share your E-mail address
with anyone.

Thank you for reading Swans.

Gilles d'Aymery
--
Swans

"Hungry man, rush for the book: It is a weapon."  B. Brecht



--
Marxism list: www.marxmail.org



_______________________________________________
Marxism mailing list
Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism