I'm kind of curious what national prejudices I am regurgitating and saying are natural. I said, "Russians and Jews are conceptualized as distinct ethnic categories in Russia (and elsewhere in the former USSR). This is the reason it is so...," not "the Jews killed Christ and try to fleece the goyim and Russians are all a bunch of drunks."
The former is a nonarguable statement of fact, like "the sun is in a state of continuous nuclear fusion." It is a fact whether it is good or bad, or neither, or both.
----- Original Message ---- From: James Heartfield <Heartfield at blueyonder.co.uk> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Sent: Tue, February 2, 2010 8:42:09 PM Subject: [lbo-talk] Enough With the China Shtick Already!
Doug 'What's disturbing is the way Chris regurgitates prejudices as if they were somehow natural and not in the least problematic.'
I don't know if I am the right person to stick up for Chris, but it is always worth knowing what IS the case, as well as what OUGHT to be the case (to use Hume's distinction).
It is worth knowing that for most of the time ideas of national identity were, in a largely unreflective way, seen as synonymous with racial identity, and that in many parts of the world, and for many people, that is still true. ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk