> > he has often made the crisis of nihilism central to the
>> plight of the so called underclass.
>
>OK, now that's a valid criticism, but I think that there's
>also a valid criticism to made of the Left that they often
>fail to ignore the damage that self-hatred and self-sabotage
>do to people.
>
>Also, it's not like he's coming at this from a conservative
>standpoint. West is like a lot of Black folks I know, they
>want to end the self-destruction so that we can have more
>soldiers who are ready to foment revolution. With Black
>people, the desire to see someone stop abusing themselves
>is not the simplistic ranting of conservatives who want to
>place blame, but the anguish of radicals who view their
>demise as a victory for the enemy. Every Black person on
>drugs, etc., is someone usually unable to fight back
>effectively against the system. That's why people like
>West want to stop "nihilism." They speak out of love
>for their people, as Malcolm X did. Malcolm used to save
>his most vicious attacks and admonitions for Black people
>themselves, because he wanted to make us stronger, not
>because he wanted to hurt or "blame" us for our own
>predicament.
You are, of course, quite right about good intentions of black intellectuals who want to bring self-destruction to an end. The tragedy is that, in the case of the wars on drugs & crimes, "cure" has been far worse than disease. I believe that one of the reasons why we have not been able to mobilize as many people against the wars on drugs & crimes as might have been expected given the scope of destruction wrought by them is (in addition to racism & class war from above) that many working-class people's -- including many blacks' & Latinos' -- heartfelt anguish about losing loved ones to drugs & crimes got in the way of building single-minded opposition to the wars. Since many working-class people feel -- understandably enough given the deaths, injuries, & sufferings caused by drugs & crimes -- that "something has to be done" to stop crime, addiction, drug dealing, etc., it is difficult to make alternatives to the wars on drugs & crimes -- for instance, drug decriminalization, drug treatment, needle exchange, etc. -- widely popular. In other words, love for one's family & people may sometimes become a cause of self-destruction. This is a tough subject, but serious discussion on it needs to begin, I think. As always, I respect you & your opinion, so I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter.
>I also believe in God. I also believe in Jesus, the Christ.
>
>I believe that Jesus was a Socialist and that Socialism
>is the ultimate expression of the way Jesus wanted us to
>structure society.
>
>"From each according to their abilities, to each according
>to their needs." If that ain't Jesus I don't know what is.
"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Words of a revolutionary....
Yoshie