efficiency in government as a left issues:

William S. Lear rael at zopyra.com
Fri Jan 8 09:45:34 PST 1999


On Fri, January 8, 1999 at 10:53:12 (+0100) Doug Henwood writes:
>Carl Remick wrote:
>
>>As I said, I realize I can sound like a sap taking a
>>position like that, but I've always thought the left's most powerful
>>weapon is simply sweet reason.
>
>No I'm afraid it isn't. Reason has all too little to do with politics.
>People believe the most amazing crap and no amount of rational argument can
>dislodge it. There are all kinds of psychological reasons for this which I
>hope will come out in our Butler seminar.

Not quite so clear-cut, at least according to Noam Chomsky and to Raphael Ezekiel. Chomsky contends that these beliefs are often extremely shallow and often evaporate when met with reasonable ones --- I imagine the social and intellectual isolation in America from these issues is what makes up a great deal of the persistence of crazy ideas. Raphael Ezekiel confirmed this when he (a Jew) visited with Nazi and KKK members (written up in his book *The Racist Mind*) --- he said that once away from the group, many of the members would start to break down and treat him like a human being, among other signs of wavering commitment to their racist ideas.

Of course, it's not just a matter of handing the crazies a pamphlet, it's not "pure reason" alone that will save the world --- it's recognizing that the crazies are often not so crazy, have a rational (if mistaken) basis for their beliefs, that social isolation and the safety and support of a group of like-mindeds often make it difficult to penetrate to allow engagement with other ideas. Alexander Cockburn has made important points in this respect, I think.

Imagine, Doug, if I somehow turned my investments into 50 billion bucks. Aside from the fast cars and jet airplanes, I'd buy TV stations and run them at a loss until the end of the money. Imagine if you and Chomsky, Michael Perelman, etc., etc., etc., etc., had a well-paying job that provided expressive outlet of reasonable left-wing politics and analysis to millions of people through television. I'm convinced that the crazy ideas would quickly evaporate in the vast majority of people, a few die-hards aside. We'd have a revolution in a matter of months!

I've been reading (on and off) my assigned second chapter of Butler, on Nietzsche and Freud. I think Butler's end is laudable, though I think she is guilty of grave over-reaching. More on her for later, though.

Bill



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