Political Education Re: Osama, September 11, London, Illuminati

Yoshie Furuhashi furuhashi.1 at osu.edu
Wed Nov 21 22:30:45 PST 2001



>Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>
>>Doug says he is concerned that anti-Americanism is the
>>anti-imperialism of fools, just as anti-Semitism is the socialism
>>of fools. The problem that Doug raises is a real one, but the
>>cultural solution that Doug seems to prefer -- a renewed
>>appreciation of "American culture," especially American pop & sub
>>cultures -- won't do. What we need here is patient political
>>education, with emphasis on the complex history of capitalism and
>>imperialism.
>
>Uh, where did you get the idea that my political strategy was to
>promote an appreciation of Madonna? I could swear I spend a lot of
>time trying to educate people about capitalism and imperialism. I
>may fail at it, but I keepy trying.
>
>I swear, there seems to be an epidemic of monaural thinking around.
>
>Doug

I was referring to the "cultural imperialism" thread that you started, as I believe that discourse on "cultural imperialism" (for, against, ambivalent, whatever) tends to be a red herring.

Anyhow, the burning question for me is how to regenerate & propagate a Marxist conception of imperialism, which I think is the best antidote to both the "anti-imperialism of fools" and the "socialism of fools." For instance, a good number of pro-Palestinian folks sadly fall into discourse that borders on the "socialism of fools," by arguing (by default, since they don't know any better) that the U.S. government aids Israel because of the strong Jewish lobby (the smarter among them say it's because of the strong Zionist lobby, but substituting Zionist for Jewish doesn't improve on the statement one bit) or something like that. -- Yoshie

* Calendar of Anti-War Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Anti-War Organizing in Columbus Covered by the Media: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/media.html>



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