[lbo-talk] The Matrix of Terror

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" <furuhashi.1 at osu.edu>
>
>>  But this has a disturbing side. In the essay "On Nihilism" Mr.
>  > Baudrillard announces that in the face of "hegemonic" power, there is
>>  but one response: terrorism. He writes, "I am a terrorist and
>>  nihilist in theory as others are with their weapons." Similarly, in
>>  "The Matrix," Morpheus tells Neo he must regard all inhabitants of
>>  that virtual world as enemies that may be killed; anyway, most people
>>  are "not ready" for the truth. Morpheus is even wanted by the
>>  Matrix's ruthless agents for "acts of terrorism." While we are meant
>>  to cheer him on, neither Mr. Baudrillard nor the Wachowskis nor the
>>  philosophical essayists explore the ethical limits of these
>>  all-too-familiar convictions....
>>
>  > (Edward Rothstein, "Philosophers Draw on the Film 'Matrix,'" _New
>>  York Times_ 24 May 2003,
>>  <http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/24/arts/24MATR.html>)   *****
>>  --
>>  Yoshie
>
>====================
>
>The presumption is, of course, that the State's claim to a monopoly 
>on violence is legitimate and is
>not itself a manifestation of nihilism, as Wolfowitz, Rummy et al 
>demonstrate all too well.
>
>Ian

Are you saying that -- "the State's claim to a monopoly on violence 
is legitimate" -- is the presumption of Baudrillard or _The Matrix_ 
or Rothstein?
-- 
Yoshie

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