[lbo-talk] Islamofascism Awareness Week

[Miles Jackson]

Jerry Monaco wrote:
> Simply put, the U.S. state is within some compass of your agency and
> my agency, and the Iranian state is not. Therefore you bear
> responsibility for the actions of the U.S. state. You don't bear
> responsibility of the actions of the Iranian state because it is not
> in the compass of your agency. At least in name, the rulers of the
> U.S. state act as agents for you and it takes more than words to
> negate the effect of that __de facto__ agency. That de de facto agency
> is both moral and practical. There is no collective responsibility in
> the abstract, but there is both relative responsibility and practical
> responsibility for the situations you can have an effect upon, as
> contrasted with the situations that you have no effect upon.
>
>   
This position assumes that we live in a truly democratic society in 
which ordinary people can significantly affect the decisions and actions 
of the U. S. government.  Perhaps I'm getting cynical in my old age, but 
we have ample evidence that the U. S. government does whatever it bloody 
well wants, regardless of needs and attitudes of the majority of people 
in our society.  The state is (mostly?) a tool for the wealthy and 
powerful to consolidate and expand their wealth and power.  So in 
practical terms, you or I taking responsibility for the actions of the 
U. S. state is about as silly as you or I taking responsibility for the 
actions of the Iranian government.   --And even worse: taking 
responsibility for the actions of the U. S. government reinforces the 
pernicious myth that we live in a society governed "of, by, and for the 
people".

Miles