I used to be a Democratic Party activist, door-knocker, committee meetings, the works. As you know, I am not any more, but I never would have said (a) don't try to explain evil, or (b) the policies of the DP are great and to be defended come what may. I had a Rainbow Coalition approach, the DP is pretty awful, and promotes many evil policies (for explicable reasons, but it is the only game in town, and maybe we can turn it around. I still know lots of people who think like that bout the DP--or indeed, in olden days, about the CP.
jks
>
>
>
>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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