Hitchens responds to critics

Carrol Cox cbcox at ilstu.edu
Tue Sep 25 11:44:40 PDT 2001


Justin Schwartz wrote:
>
> Nathan,
>
> I am flabbergasted. The firsttime I read your post excerpted below, I
> thought you were making some such subtle point as, there si no sociological
> explanation of what tips a few people over theedge to do evil (or indeed
> good), because sociology is statistical. That's psychology, not sociology,
> maybe.
>
>

The attempt to combine adherence to the Democratic Party with some sort of claim to progressive politics creates the kind of situation that Sidney Hook ascribed to Communists: academic freedom for communists, he said (if I remember correctly at all) was inappropriate because they actually did not have specific beliefs but only beliefs dictated to them by the CP. The simple impossibility of combining progressive beliefs with DP loyalty generates a bizarre metaphysical position. That is, one must make up "progressive" rationales for every crime against the working class and the world's peoples that the DP commits itself or supports when committed by the Republicrats. Hence the futility of arguing with them. Since they don't believe their own arguments, counter-arguments are simply silly.

Carrol



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