I regret that Mark has piggy-backed blue-baiting of on top of my
chiding. I share a number of Doug's cultural criticisms of "the
left". I don't think that makes me a Republican. My issue with Doug
is that he makes his dour observations and then "leaves it at that."
The implication of the resulting void *could be* reactionary, but
doesn't have to be so. Assuming that it *is* reactionary rather than
merely incomplete is another way to limit the possibilities.
What strikes me is that Doug, Michael, Yoshie and Mark offered no
response to my _programmatic_ reply to Doug. I could be utterly
wrong, in which case I would welcome the criticism. But I don't
think I'm vague or obtuse. Doug wrote (in a subsequent message) that
the left "has no analytical vocabulary for talking about 'good'
times." My position is that the left "has" the vocabulary but
doesn't use it -- stubbornly refuses to use it, refuses to even see
that it is refusing to use it. I talked about how one might talk
about good times and Doug, Michael, Yoshie and Mark didn't respond.
I talked about the capitalism fun stuff -- leftism hair shirt
dialectic and why that is so. No reply. I hinted that maybe secretly
leftists prefer the drama of struggling against insurmountable odds,
which basically is where I share Doug's view. No answer.
Mark Jones wrote,
Good stuff, however I fear a return right back to the womb may
be >necessary in the case of some lapsed and possibly born-again
Republicans.
Tom Walker
Bowen Island, BC
604 947 2213