--- Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
> It could be that, despite all their occasional
> huffing and puffing,
> that the European elite is happy to stand aside and
> have the U.S. act
> as the world's tough guy. They get the global
> hierarchy enforced, yet
> get the opportunity to seem all high-minded. Canada
> too.
>
[WS:] This is a fallacious argument, Doug, that rests on two questionable assumptions. The first assumption is teleologism or a belief that the cosmic order is willed by some rational human-like entity, be it a deity or evil elite. Just because someone benefits from a ceratin arrangeemnt it does not mean that this arrangement is a product of that person's purposeuf actions. Likewise, just because someone does not actively oppose a ceratin arrangement, it does not mean that he is an accomplice in maintaining that arrangement.
The second assumption embodies telescoping or a perspective so distant that it dwarfs and obscures the real life differences, e.g. when watching from space, physic al features of Earth's surface that pose substantial challenges or benefits to humans are barely distingusihable. Likewise, from a global capitalism dominance" perspective of the ivory tower or ideological purity - any real diffrence among political instituions appears dwarfed and insignificant.
A good example of that reason is Pascal's wager http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_wager which rests on two different weights assigned to two option: the mortal life as we know it, and the heavenly life promised by religion. Since the latter is assigned a value that is infinitely greater than that of the former, chosing the "heavenly" life appears a rational choice.
The fallacy of this line of thinking rests in that human capacity to trump facts with works of fiction and imagination may be boundless and persuasive - but this does not change an iota in reality. As my former philosophy professor used to say, one cannot attach a real chain to one painted on paper.
Wojtek
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