If what you mean isn't automatic hatred of all Americans and all things American, use a term other than "Anti-American." I ask Hardt to do the same.
At 12:27 AM +1100 2/24/03, Catherine Driscoll wrote:
>it's not "fair" to think americans *are* or even agree with the bush
>regime -- of course not -- i'm just saying in a global political
>sense that's not only what "america" (in the sense of anti-american)
>looks like, it's what it in effect is. are you in the UN spieling
>for bombing iraq? no, but "america" is.
One of the popular peace signs has a picture of Bush saying, "Why should I care what the American people think? They didn't vote for me."
At 12:27 AM +1100 2/24/03, Catherine Driscoll wrote:
>will it assuage anything if i say that i recently saw a news
>bulletin in which the newsreader (supported by the icon over her
>shoulder) informed australians that "america" had asked us to "help
>wipe iraq off the map". complaining to the station (which we did, of
>course) isn't very important/effective, but it is a refusal of what
>"australia" is doing (as well as "america"). we can't just say it's
>not about actual australians, because what else is "australia" in
>these kind of negotiations of nation states.
In any nation, there are the rulers and the ruled. The current rulers in Australia want to join the USG despite the massive protests of the ruled, but the vast majority of the ruled don't want to join a blatantly US imperialist war, and their sentiments are reflected in polls (only 24% of Australians would back the war on Iraq even without UN approval, 29% say no to the war on Iraq under any circumstances, 67% would support Australia's involvement only if the war came with U.N. backing -- Cf. <http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/02/23/1045935255701.html>), demonstrations, and other actions (e.g., the Senate's vote of no confidence in Prime Minister John Howard for his handling of Iraq -- "the upper house's first vote of no confidence in a government or leader in its 102-year history" -- <http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SYD4678>).
Speaking of the anti-war protests in Australia, more than 1 million are said to have protested on 2/15 (Cf. "More than 1 Million March in Australia against Bush's War," <http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/marxism/2003w06/msg00310.htm>). The population of Australia is about 19 million, so that means more than one in twenty residents of Australia protested against Bush's war on Iraq. Quite impressive. -- Yoshie
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