Date: Sun, 25 May 2003 03:52:16 -0400
Subject: Re: HAB: _Philosophy in a Time of Terror_ is available


Paul Berman is a complete fraud, perhaps as fraudulent as Gary Davis, 
though I doubt that is possible.  First, there is the general question of 
Berman's public role as a mediator between the mainstream and the "left", a 
professional watchdog, gatekeeper and adjudicator of ongoing trends, in 
other words, superficial and opportunistic.  As regards to 9-11 and the 
USA's war of aggression against Iraq, Berman's spin could not be more 
reactionary, justifying the war by portraying, not without little tidbits 
of fact, the anti-war opposition as knee-jerk anti-Americans and apologists 
for third world fascism.  BTW, there is no such thing as a "just war" in 
any metaphysical sense.  There is at best self-defense-- practical not a 
metaphysical issue--but the invasion of Iraq was not that in the 
least.  The invasion of Afghanistan may have involved self-defense--though 
we may never know because we have been lied to so thoroughly--but that too 
was basically a geopolitical maneuver as part of Washington's imperial game 
plan.

There is of course a basis in fact for Berman's complaints, his 
pro-imperialist apologetics notwithstanding.  The American activist 
community is full of confusion and ideological incoherence, fed undoubtedly 
by marginalization, exhaustion and plain old desperation.  Having 
participated in several anti-war demonstrations, I can attest to a number 
of lame slogans and chants, trite street theatre, and old crap recycled 
from the 60s, indicating the low intellectual level upon which Americans in 
general operate; nonetheless I saw evidence of some really sharp and 
incisive thinking.  As in all coalitions, there is every shade of opinion 
represented, from addled abstract pacifism ('an eye for an eye makes the 
whole world blind') to extreme sectarianism.  There is also an obnoxious 
undertone from some people concerning 9-11 that we had it 
coming.  Nonetheless, the legitimacy of the antiwar movement stands on its 
own in spite of the dumbest tendencies of the activist subculture, whose 
biggest fault is that it really is a subculture and thus fertile soil for 
irrationalist tendencies.

This problem is well worth analyzing.  Some more thoughtful people in the 
left press have expressed their concerns, but media celebrities are not 
very scrupulous about it.  Berman is just an opportunist prick.  I am much 
more disappointed in Christopher Hitchens.

At 07:14 AM 5/25/2003 +0000, Ali Rizvi wrote:

>Thanks Gary,
>
>Also John Gray has a book called  Al Qaeda and What It Means to Be Modern 
>out this month. Independent has its review. After Habermas industry we 
>have September 11 industry.
>
>Good luck!
>
>best
>ali



     --- from list habermas-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---