[lbo-talk] figure this quote out

[Carrol Cox]

Actually, such statements are (and have been) frequent among many
conservatives. The heart of conservative theory (when self-consciously
developed) is _not_ that the present order is "just" but that to abandon it
is to plunge into total chaos. Since, _within_ a given social order a
radical change in just one 'area' of the social order _can_ have such an
effect. One feature of the "Reformist" mind set is r4latedd: Their inability
to conceive the fact that certain events simply will not  happen except
under radically changed conditions.  They therefore view such hypothetical
changes as occurring with all other conditions unchanged. One might call
this the Legislative Mentality: The change is viewed as though offered to or
adopted by the current Congress. This they correctly see as (a) impossible
and (b) bringing chaos were it adopted. They cannot, even in fancy, conceive
of the social chaos, the riots, the huge marches & demonstrations, the
wrenching changes in daily life which are/would be a precondition for the
change at issue. Nor can they see that it would be those transformations in
daily life, the changed social relations  within  which daily experience
therefore occurs, will have brought about what amounts to a change in "Human
Nature." This occurred in the U.S. between 1945 and 1965. Had Congress in
1945 passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the result would have been social
paroxysms unknown since the Civil War. (The school segregation decision was
such a "leislative change, & it has not, really¸ been implemented even yet.)
The "Dustup" debate, featuring Miles & Julo, of several years ago showed
Julio utterly unable to think outside the constraints on the "Legislative
Mentality," leading to his fantasy of social and/or 'ideological' change
through "Persuasion" or "Argument." 

But by 1965 human nature had (temporarily) changed in the U.S.

Carrol

-----Original Message----- 

From: nathan tankus Friday, February 17, 2012 11:50 PM figure this quote out

"even with taxes at an equal percentage of incomes, the rich contribute far
less to public expenditures than the poor, whereas they benefit much more
from them. For whom, if not for the vain rich, are funds expended on
armaments and the like?" 

Guess who said this. The answer may surprise you, it upset me. -- -Nathan
Tankus