> We've been through this a million times before, but I'll say it briefly
> one more time. It's not enough to get "facts" out there. Many Americans
> just don't want to hear or know about the nasty things our government
> does. On some factual level they might actually "know" - but that
> knowledge is compartmentalized. They want to believe in the deep,
> fundamental goodness of the USA and avoid information to the contrary.
> Analagously, they're quick to believe that all America's "enemies" are
> one in the same, whether it was the Bolsheviks through the 20th century
> (a catch-all term that included labor militants, immigrants, and queers)
> or the "terrorists" of the 21st (Saddam = al Qaeda).
Right on. And this is why the American Left doesn't get much traction with the American public with our earnestess over America's many sins. We have been able to radicalize and wake up more people thanks to the alternative media, but for many Americans it will take something incredibly serious to jar them from their complacency.
This is why 9-11 was so interesting, because it really made the American capitalist utopia skip a few beats. It was like somebody dumped a cooler full of Gatorade on everybody at once. One interesting thing that developed in the wake of 9-11 was all of the e-mail traffic that broke out of the normal networks. I personally got lots of e-mail from people who were exchanging e-mail with people outside of their regular networks. I had some interesting conversations with people who were very puzzled about what had just happened.
Doug's comments reflect my thinking about how the left interacts with the public. We tend to be too nice, reasonable and logical. The right wing prefers to make nutty attacks on the left as a main tactic of their politics. How do we respond to that? With a bibliography of Chomsky books? Giving people the facts and engaging in rational arguments is all good, but an emotional strategy has it merits too. Just look at how pissed off the right wing gets when liberals and leftists ridicule them.
Look at the success of the books this year from Ivins, Moore, and Franken.
So, is anybody up for doing a collaborative blog that would make fun of the right wing?
<< Chuck0 >>
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