Re: Re: Re: Which side is Doug on?

["Carl Remick" <carlremick@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx>
>
> Carrol Cox wrote:
>
> > _We_ were not attacked. And I include in the "we" here those who were
> > killed in New York. They were collateral damage, not the focus of an
> > attack.
>
> Collateral damage? The phrase is as creepy coming out of your
> fingertips as it is out of Pentagon flack's mouth ...
> I suspect part of the problem is that many leftists are so alienated
> from normal human companionship and fellow-feeling that they can only
> operate at the highest levels of abstraction, using their advocacy
> for an as-yet impossible revolution as a substitute for emotional
> attachment. 999 Americans out of 1000 would find that statement
> appalling, and rightly so. What kind of influence do you expect to
> have?

Tricky topic, Doug.  There are great dangers in "normal human
companionship," and certainly in wartime it pays to make a real effort to
maintain an independent perspective.  I'm reminded of the horror and
isolation that Bertrand Russell said he felt at the outbreak of World War I
on seeing the almost gleeful public excitement that spred throughout London.
 Of course, the power of that anecdote is undercut by the fact that Russell
seemed to feel almost constant revulsion toward the public throughout his
life.  Especially in times of crisis, it is important not to get caught up
in surges of public emotion that, quite typically, are manipulated by the
authorities to build support for evil or foolish responses; yet, it is
equally vital not to keep such a distance that you become estranged from
those around you and are ultimately ostracized.

That said, I have never felt so alienated from my fellow Americans as I do
at this moment -- not during Vietnam, not during Desert Storm.  There's a
bloodthirstiness and worship of raw military power abroad in the land that I
have never seen before.  It's damn ugly.

Carl



_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp