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On the State of Affairs
July 25, 2004
In reading through the comments of Lawrence Lessig's plea to Bill O'Reilly, I came across a comment that quite eloquently describes the current right-wing ideology as I perceive it. Surely, it's been said a million times before, but never did it resonate with me quite the same way it did just now. So, I'm copying it all right here for you and for my own preservation:The left is rightly contemptuous of the far right's easy view that america is the embodiment of good in the world and that those with antagonisms toward us are pure unadulterated malignancy. The right wing has slipped into a very manichean view in which all the light is on our side. The left should be quite open about reminding people that our own history and behavior is more problematic than the simple visions of the right. I have seen no definition of terrorism that the US would not stand morally condemned by as well, whether it be killing innocents, brutalizing non-combatants, engaging in vigilante justice, acting outside of the bounds of international law, using weapons of mass destruction on civilians(people seem to forget that we are the only nation in history to slaughter tens of thousands of civilians using strategic nuclear weapons not once, but twice, and we slaughtered those civilians to demoralize the enemy). In truth, what we are really arguing is nothing more than that the state is the only legitimate practitioner of violence.
If one is of the belief that ones enemies are pure evil, then by definition such people can have no valid grievances and they can have no legitimate interests. The facile dismissal of many people's sense of being wronged by US foreign policy is a big part of what fuels hatred of the US and a willingness to resort to violence. Once someone becomes convinced that their interests will never be recognized as legitimate and that there is no hope that the other side(which holds a disproportionate amount of power in the world) will ever have anything other than contempt and disregard for their concerns, what remains is "its either them or us".
Once WE accept the pure evil malignancy argument there will be only one response from the state, the destruction of that pure evil. We set ourselves on a fanatical path that IS the mirror image of terrorist logic. Each side believes the destruction of the other is the only possible outcome because each side believes the other is unredeemable evil.
In other words both sides have subscribed to a vision of the world in which their enemies are no longer human but demonic. Such a vision can only end in the destruction of one or the other or, more likely, the destruction of both.
The left should keep reminding us that being civilized means refusing to be pulled into that fanatical logic and they should make this argument in a fully open way without talking around the point for fear of being condemned as "aiding the enemy". Oh, and this fellow calls himself "a disillusioned conservative". Believe me when I say that I am very pleased to know that these people exist.
Five more days to vacation, and boy, do I ever need it.
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This is my weblog - a place for me to write about whatever interests me. The topic is a wildcard, but is likely to be about UI Design, Usability, Web Standards, Photography, Music, Politics, etc. Every once in a while even a little politics. Expect anything.
watching that clip of o'reilly and glick i was stunned by o'lie-ly's arrogance and self-satisfaction. how has HE done more for 9/11 families than anyone else? stunning.
Yeah, I can't stress enough how much hatred I have for him and other like him.
He makes my blood boil.
You make my heart melt.
O'Reilley is getting hammered in the more conservative circles for giving John Kerry a 'Pass' on his Vietnam record. He won't criticize him for hearsay evidence. I think that's admirable.
I know, you probably still hate him...