Liberalism is not reactionary -- it's simple common sense. That's why there is no need to recapitulate it here.
At 4:57 PM -0400 10/22/02, Anthony Kennerson wrote:
> >If you put too much premium on "the utmost respect for feelings of
>>others" (which naturally includes the utmost respect for feelings of
>>the most conservative) as a requirement for publication of sexual
>>expressions, you in effect concede much ground to those who prefer
>>the strait and narrow.
>
>Oh, I see....respecting sexual diversity is conservative now??? What
>does that mean, Yoshie....that trashing sex radicals and confining
>sexual expression to narrow bounds (however "progressive" they may
>sound) is revolutionary??? Besides, in the real world, we have to
>live and work with people who do not share our particular lifestyles
>or political opinions. We have to respect those who indeed do choose
>the straight and narrow....even while we fight for the rights of
>those who follow the kinky and wide. It's those who would IMPOSE
>the straight and narrow on everyone else whom I oppose. Not
>everyone can be as radical as you, Yoshie...or me. (And I'm
>definitely NO liberal, either...I wouldn't be joining this list if I
>was one, now, wouldn't I???)
What is sexual diversity? The sexually conservative -- for instance, those who are opposed to abortion, homosexuality, public exhibition of nudity (including women's breasts) in art or in reality, etc. -- are surely part and parcel of today's landscape of sexual diversity in the United States. In this sexually diverse America, what does it mean in practice to pay "the utmost respect for feelings of others," including the feelings of the most conservative?
Do medical providers, who are opposed to abortion, have the right to withhold information about abortion from women who seek it? Do they have the right not to perform abortion, even to save the life of a woman in need of it? Should access to abortion be publicly funded, covered by Medicaid and other forms of health insurance? In campaigning for universal health care, should we exclude abortion from coverage, to avoid controversy? If so, why? If not, why not?
At 4:57 PM -0400 10/22/02, Anthony Kennerson wrote:
> >It's probably through the concentration of private property in fewer
>>hands that much of censorship of expressions, not just sexual
> >expressions, gets accomplished. Not in my franchise, not in my
>>shopping mall, not on my TV channel, not in my newspaper, etc....
> >That's the limit of liberalism.
>
>Really, Yoshie??? Do you really think that anti-sexual censorship --
>or other forms of censorship -- is only a figment of mulitnational
>capitalism???
I'm not saying that anti-sexual censorship is "only a figment of multinational capitalism." Those who own nothing may very well attempt censorship -- it's just that those who own nothing probably have much less power to accomplish what they want, whereas those who own the means of production have the most power to shape public discourse. Can you think of many movies and TV programs that have portrayed a woman having abortion without much suffering? Can you think of TV programs in which gay and lesbian characters have lovers with whom they have passionate sex? As a matter of fact, though, despite the still narrow range of acceptable sexual expressions on the corporate media, the corporate media have come to profit from a much wider range of sexual expressions than before, whereas those who oppose capitalism and imperialism can still safely expect to be excluded from them. There is no right to free speech at work either.
At 4:57 PM -0400 10/22/02, Anthony Kennerson wrote:
>I simply state that by writing off the majority of the population
>simply because they don't share your particular theory, your chances
>of building a legitimate popular left that can really effect change
>becomes nearly nil.
I don't write off the majority of the population. I'm simply asking what it means in practice to respect the feelings of the most sexually conservative. No breast-feeding in public, no sex education that does not preach abstinence in public school, etc., in case the feelings of the most sexually conservative get offended by them? -- Yoshie
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