Re: criticising Arundhati Roy

[Patrick Bond <pbond@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
> All Doug, et al. have to say is
> what she looks like, how she lives, and how she has been received in
> the West. 

Which she also does herself, more humbly and eloquently than dear 
comrade Doug ever will manage, I reckon:

"The vulgar, hands-on racism of Old Imperialism is outdated. The 
cornerstone of New Imperialism is New Racism. The tradition of ‘turkey 
pardoning’ in the US is a wonderful allegory for New Racism. Every year 
since 1947, the National Turkey Federation presents the US President 
with a turkey for Thanksgiving. Every year, in a show of ceremonial 
magnanimity, the President spares that particular bird (and eats another 
one). After receiving the presidential pardon, the Chosen One is sent to 
Frying Pan Park in Virginia to live out its natural life. The rest of 
the 50 million Turkeys raised for Thanksgiving are slaughtered and eaten 
on Thanksgiving Day. ConAgra Foods, the company that has won the 
Presidential Turkey contract, says it trains the lucky birds to be 
sociable, to interact with dignitaries, school children and the press. 
(Soon they’ll even speak English!). That’s how New Racism in the 
corporate era works. A few carefully bred turkeys - the local elites of 
various countries, a community of wealthy immigrants, investment 
bankers, the occasional Colin Powell, or Condoleezza Rice, some singers, 
some writers (like myself) - are given absolution and a pass to Frying 
Pan Park. The remaining millions lose their jobs, are evicted from their 
homes, have their water and electricity connections cut, and die of 
AIDS. Basically they’re for the pot. But the Fortunate Fowls in Frying 
Pan Park are doing fine. Some of them even work for the IMF and the WTO 
- so who can accuse those organisations of being anti-turkey? Some serve 
as board members on the Turkey Choosing Committee - so who can say that 
turkeys are against Thanksgiving? They participate in it! Who can say 
the poor are anti-corporate globalization? There’s a stampede to get 
into Frying Pan Park. So what if most perish on the way?"


>