Note to the "ladder of force left"

Lou Paulsen wwchi at enteract.com
Thu Oct 18 21:29:20 PDT 2001


-----Original Message----- From: Zak McGregor <zak at mighty.co.za>


>I think it is reasonable to expect that whoever was responsible for the
>deaths of 6000-odd people on Sept 11th should somehow be made to answer
>for that. I don't think that that expectation should put me on no
>steenkin' ladder with no damn Powell!

That's a natural desire. Unfortunately the whole art of war propaganda is to exploit people's natural desires. 84 years ago, people were saying 'I think it's reasonable to expect that whoever was responsible for the sinking of the Lusitania should somehow be made to answer for that.' ...

Anyway, expectation alone doesn't get you on the ladder with Powell. You only get on the ladder when you try to satisfy your expectation by calling upon the military and judicial departments of the U.S. government to exercise force on your behalf. It's sort of like summoning up a demon to do a little chore for you. They're evil, they're untrustworthy, they're stronger than you are, and they have a nasty habit of breaking out of the pentagon, er, pentagram.

l. paulsen



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list