[lbo-talk] agreement with Wojtek (was 'American kids, dumber than dirt'

[ravi]

On 1 Nov, 2007, at 10:33 AM, JBrown72073 at cs.com wrote:
>> Michael Smith:
>>
>> I seldom find myself agreeing with Wojtek
>>
>> [WS:] So what is it exactly that you disagree with me, and what  
>> share of
>> what I post to this list does this represent?
>>
>> PS.  This is a bone fide question, rather than a snide comment.  I  
>> have
>> a certain concept of social knowledge and its modus operandi, and  
>> I want
>> to see if it applies here.
>>
> I often agree with Wojtek, and gain from reading his posts, but  
> because there
> are 2 or 3 areas in which I regularly differ with him (the function  
> of the
> prison-industrial complex ranging into racial issues, general  
> antipathy towards
> people in the US, maybe some other things I can't recall right now)  
> I think of
> him as someone I 'disagree with.'  While it's maybe 5-10% of his total
> postage it looms large in my mind unless I take conscious account.
>

I disagree with Wojtek on most things, but I tend to think of him as  
someone I agree with, since he, like Carl and Carrol, gives the list  
the critically needed spanking that serves as a witty counterbalance  
to the occasional stuffy arrogance. ;-)

Woj, since you asked for it, here it is: while you are commendably  
devoid of certain errors (psycho-analysis or plain old bull-shit as a  
substitute for argument), you, IMHO, fall prey to certain others;  
such as letting your irritation with a particular presentation cloud  
your ability to understand the data or the argument. So, in your  
annoyance with Western commentary-from-afar about what "the third  
world" is/wants/needs (in particular, the commentary that uses the  
"third world" to demonise the US -- here in fact, I am saying almost  
the opposite of JBrown) you overlook (or at least fail to temper your  
comments with) the stronger, genuine arguments that that "third  
world" has with the USA (and the limitations that the USA imposes on  
their development).

	--ravi