[lbo-talk] Countering the Politics of Fear (was Tariq Ali at UCLA today)

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

On 10/28/06, Michael Pugliese <michael.098762001 at gmail.com> wrote:
> http://www.google.com/search?q=iran+repression+universities+teachers
>  Your Persian Prince has himself called for it.
> http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/05/news/Iran_University_Purge.php
>  Robert Jensen, noted it,
> http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2006-10/08jensen.cfm
>   Though if those left-liberal Profs. taught Porn Studies he'd be for
> it as well.
>  >...But while the ideologies and traditions of the two societies are
> quite different, it's interesting that Ahmadinejad justified his
> desire to deal with dangerous professors because of the university
> officials' "tendency to introduce politics into academic affairs." The
> phrase is reminiscent of a common complaint aimed at folks like me,
> that we "politicize the classroom."

But how has the President of Iran actually dealt with professors since
his remarks in question?  A Cultural Revolution on the scale of the
Cultural Revolution in China or that in Iran's own past?

Western leftists tend to be over the top, some on child sexual abuse,
some on Iran, some on other things.  It seems to me it's much better
to focus on actual instances of child sexual abuse or political
repression or anything else, based on best available data from
reliable sources, rather than engage in over-the-top fear mongering.
Reality itself gives you enough problems -- why invent imaginary ones?
-- 
Yoshie
<http://montages.blogspot.com/>
<http://mrzine.org>
<http://monthlyreview.org/>