Walter Benjamin on the "State of Emergency" (was Re: The Color of Money)

Christopher B. Hajib-Niles cniles at wanadoo.fr
Sat Dec 2 01:08:39 PST 2000



>Messsage du 02/12/2000 06:40
>De : <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>
>A : <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>
>Copie à :
>Objet : Walter Benjamin on the "State of Emergency" (was Re: The Color of Money)
>
> Chris Niles says:
why do we consider the
> >nazi's aryan rhetoric bizarre and the largely american created
> >fiction of the white race not so bizzare? why is it that we can
> >chuckle when people talk about the aryan race but we don't chuckle
> >when we talk about the white race, a notion that is no less silly
> >but with even more staying power?
>
> Perhaps, because any oppression short of the Final Solution is
> considered normal, "the way things are," so to speak.
>
yes, precisely. so the question is how can agitators struggle effectively against oppression if their alienation is such that they are not able to see a critical aspect of that oppression? from chattel slavery to various nazi-style cia operations in central and south america and beyond, the the idealogical and political logic of the white race has laid the foundation for massive amounts of destruction, yet few agitators want to attack it directly. why? some simply don't see it as a problem at all, some see it only as a small problem, while others see it as a major problem but want to hide behind words like "anti-racism" so as not to seem too outrageous or alienate family, friends and comrades. whatever the matter, the end result is that alienation is reproduced, a deeper political solidarity is delayed and the goal of human freedom becomes ever more elusive.

chris niles

***** The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the 'state of
> emergency' in which we live is not the exception but the rule. We
> must attain to a conception of history that is in keeping with this
> insight. Then we shall clearly realize that it is our task to bring
> about a real state of emergency, and this will improve our position
> in the struggle against Fascism. One reason why Fascism has a chance
> is that in the name of progress its opponents treat it as a
> historical norm. The current amazement that the things we are
> experiencing are 'still' possible in the twentieth century is not
> philosophical. This amazement is not the beginning of knowledge --
> unless it is the knowledge that the view of history which gives rise
> to it is untenable. (Benjamin, "On the Concept of History,"
> <http://www.tasc.ac.uk/depart/media/staff/ls/WBenjamin/CONCEPT2.html>)
> *****
>
> Yoshie
>



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