Opposing the Protector of Global Capitalism in Principle Re: On Selective Pacifism & other Oddities

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

At 10:41 AM -0600 11/27/01, Carrol Cox wrote:
>My argument is that _most_ objections to this or that war are not
>pacifist objections at all: for example (to explore ancient history) it
>would have made perfect since in the mid-19th century to both vigorously
>oppose the Mexican War (which Grant called the most unjust war ever
>fought by a large nation against a small nation, but of course Grant
>didn't know about the current war) _and_ to have _supported_ with equal
>vigor the War to Suppress the Insurrection of the Slave Drivers. (The
>usual names, Civil War and War Between the States seem to me to distort
>the nature of that war.) Pacifism or anti-Pacifism has nothing to do
>with it. The phrase "Selective Pacifism" is sloppy writing, in fact I
>would say intellectually corrupt, because it obscures the sharp
>distinction between vicious wars fought for vicious and/or stupid
>purposes and wars in defense of legitimate causes.

The question is whether or not to oppose US imperialism -- the latest 
(& hopefully last) Empire -- in principle, in so far as it is the 
chief military protector of global capitalism, maintaining its 
disorder at any cost.  Even if few or no Afghan and other civilians 
and combatants were being killed now, US imperialism would still have 
to be resisted.  You find both pacifists (e.g., Gordon Fitch, Carl 
Remick) and non-pacifists (e.g., Carrol Cox, Charles Brown) among 
those who oppose US imperialism in principle; you can probably also 
find both pacifists and non-pacifists among those who don't do so.
-- 
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>
* Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/>
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>