[lbo-talk] Client State: Japan in the American Embrace

[Charles Peterson]

On 16 Aug, 2007, at 16:29 PM, B. wrote:
>
> But this phrase really caught my eye:
>
> "But there's one last important point: if I can
speak
> for Atrios and most progressive bloggers, their
> perspective is not that they're refusing to 'advance
> the debate.' Rather, their point is that as far as
US
> foreign policy goes, there is no debate. We can
screw
> around on blogs for the rest of our lives, we could
be
> proven correct about 100 more wars, and no one with
> our perspective would ever be allowed on TV.
Likewise,
> Kenneth Pollack could be catastrophically wrong
about
> 100 more wars, and he would still be on Nightline
> every week. That's because being right has
absolutely
> nothing to do with 'the debate.' That's the way it
is,
> and unless it changes, all the time I spent writing
> this was absolutely pointless."

So, then the question is, does the "screwing around on
blogs for the  
rest of our lives" help change the "way it is"?

        --ravi

*****

Blogging is not the end-all.  There are other things
to do that may be more important.  But it is not
nothing at all.  And if that's all one particular
person can or will do at a particular time and place,
perhaps it is the best thing for that person to do at
that time and place.

I thinking reading good writing, such as in Doug's
books, books by Chomsky, Hahnel, Keynes, Marx, and
many other great writers on the left is a great thing
to do.  Even reading The Nation.  (Or, for that
matter, even reading stuff on the other side.  In a
library, preferably.)

So if reading, which only changes structures inside
one's own brain is a good thing to do, how can
blogging not also be a good thing to do?  Even if no
one were to read it, even just writing is exercising
one's own brain (and in a way that reading alone can't
do).  And we hope someone is reading it too.

There are things that are bad things to do.  Being a
bigot, promoting capitalism or imperialism, carrying
water for the ruling class, obeying wrongful orders.

I don't think asking the question about whether
something is pointless is a bad thing to do.  But
promoting the view that something only a little
positive is pointless would be a bad thing to do. 
Promoting such a view is the same as promoting apathy
and helplessness.  It is when we stop doing anything
that we lose.  Sure, promote better things to do, but
don't denigrate lesser things that are still positive.

 They are all that some people may be capable of doing
right here and now.

There's a long road ahead.  There are lots of people
who still believe in capitalism, neoliberalism, Ronald
Reagan, Henry Kissinger, even George W Bush and the
War in Iraq.  And not just in the tiny ruling class. 
I see them every day.  There are a billion things we
can do without even getting on TV.  (And we do
sometimes and in some places get on TV, even if it's a
small fraction of the total TV time.)

Speaking of great TV, Democracy Now! had John Pilger
on Tuesday August 7th.  I don't agree with him 100%,
but he's great anyway.  I get DN! on Dish and on the
web, but should see about getting it onto local public
access or something.

Charles Peterson
San Antonio, Texas

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