When the Ayes Have It, Is There Room for Naysayers? (and more on hitchens)

Kirsten Neilsen kirsten at Infothecary.ORG
Fri Sep 28 12:50:00 PDT 2001


When the Ayes Have It, Is There Room for Naysayers? The U.S. climate is chilly these days for those who practice political dissent. By TIM RUTTEN and LYNN SMITH

http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-092801dissent.story

reasonably good article in the la times about dissent in the current political climate features this curious quote from hitchens calling for "debates and vigorous exchanges."


>> [hitchens] he worries that what he sees as a prevailing
"pseudo-unity"
>> will choke off the spirit of dissenting individualism crucial to
>> defeating what he and Rieff term "Islamic fascism." According to
>> Hitchens, "this is a war on civil society, so it is critical that
>> there be debates and vigorous exchanges.
>> What one wants is the spirit of initiative shown by those
>> courageous passengers over Pennsylvania, who disobeyed every FAA
>> regulation about staying buckled in their seats and went down
>> fighting. Without that spirit, what we will end up with is
>> capitulation abroad and authoritarianism at home,
>> which is the worst combination imaginable."

also this ridiculous swipe at "politically correct" education by some guy named david rieff:


>> The campuses, once citadels of opposition to military action,
generally
>> are quiet, in part, said author and commentator David Rieff, because
this
>> generation of students is hamstrung by the "politically correct"
education
>> it has received since kindergarten. "The nice kids have been taught
that
>> all differences are to be celebrated," said Rieff, currently a
visiting
>> professor at UC Berkeley, "and they're in full cognitive meltdown.
Their
>> homeroom teachers and guidance counselors never told them that there
are
>> people in the world who mean them harm."

but really, the article as a whole is pretty good



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