> How can an American be a radical without a critique of the gross excesses of
> our society? "Moralizing" blames individuals for their choices, which isn't
> right, but there's an awful lot of revolting crap that comes down the pike
> every minute.
I don't see how "revolting," know matter how society-wide its application, is not a values-based (moral) measure. My problem with accusing people or a country of "excess" is that you--in this instance, you personally--have determined a proper level of consumptive behavior and anything that goes beyond that is, what, evil? bad? Whatever the word, its deciding how others should conduct themselves. And once, excessive levels of, say, food have been discovered and declared, it'd be pretty easy to judge other excesses: sex, art, etc.