Yes. At points in this discussion I've felt like I was debating a right-winger who insists that all forms of communism are the same.
It is the human habit to simplify and dehumanize one's enemies, whoever they may be.
--- On Wed, 7/9/08, Seth Ackerman <sethackerman1 at verizon.net> wrote:
>
>
> Marvin, this is unfair. The way you frame the question is
> right, but
> your conclusion is all wrong. It's true - in the heat
> of conflict, the
> critical impulse is (must be?) muted, whereas moments when
> conflict is
> muted create space for critical inquiry. But you seem to
> think that's a
> bad thing?
>
> Chris is saying, let's try to analyze fascism as
> history, with a
> dispassion that wasn't possible in 1936. Your response
> seems to be - no,
> let's talk about that history with all the blinding
> passion of 1936, as
> if what we say now could still weaken the struggle against
> the
> encroaching brownshirts. Is it the job of a left
> intellectual to fife
> and drum for 60 year old battles and never try to see
> things more
> clearly than was possible for those who found themselves in
> the thick of
> the fight?
>
> Seth
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