On Apr 27, 2007, at 2:18 PM, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
> But you have no problem with people who admire America, such as Noam
> Chomsky, despite what its government does in the world as well as at
> home, nor do I hear you going on about how guilty, ashamed,
> embarrassed, etc. you feel living here. You seem to take America in
> stride, while you can't say the same about Iran. You have a problem
> of blindness that comes from nationalism, it seems to me.
The more you write about Iran, the more I think that you realize on some level that you've backed yourself into a corner, but since you're incapable of admitting that, you keep saying more ludicrous things every day.
I've said many times that I admire Noam Chomsky a great deal, but there are important things I disagree with him on. His fundamental patriotism is one of them. (Another is his belief in the power of mere truth-telling.) But his work at documenting the nature of U.S. imperialism is an enormous contribution.
I don't think I should be personally ashamed or embarrassed for living in the U.S. There are a lot of awful things about American society, and I spend a lot of my life writing and talking about them. I do what I can to improve things, which isn't very much. But I don't see why I should hang my head in shame. I was born here and just about everyone I know and love lives here. My work depends on continuing to live here. And what would it accomplish for me to relocate to a farmhouse in Fiesole, as lovely as it would be drive along the via Antonio Gramsci to go home? If I wanted to get personal about this, I could point out that you *chose* to live here; I'm here by accident of birth. But personalizing politics like that would be stupid and unproductive.
Doug