[lbo-talk] Prose Style, was Time to Get Religion

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Thu Dec 7 12:39:17 PST 2006


On Dec 7, 2006, at 3:37 PM, joanna wrote:


> Doug Henwood wrote:
>
>> According to that piece on Chomsky's political philosophy by I
>> can remember who in NLR about 10 years ago, Noam believes that
>> we're all hardwired for freedom, and it's only external
>> distortions (e.g., a bad state) that inhibit us from realizing
>> this inner essence.
>
> Observe Ivan as he grows up and you will realize that Noam was right.

Well, no. Ivan is coming to subjectivity, as Judy B put it, through subjection: we are his teachers, his authority figures, his mirrors. He crawls away, then looks back anxiously. If we - esp Liza - leave, he gets nervous. He will rebel soon enough, but his basic personality formation is coming through people he is completely dependent on. And he'll carry that, for good or ill, for the rest of his life.

Doug



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