Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Monday, October 03, 2005
"The truth has to be repeated..."
bizarre that this is the topic for the day. synhcronicity or something because i just changed the little quote at the bottom of my emails to…
An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody will see it.
Posted by michael on from scotland 10/03 at 06:49 AMFrank interviews Sheehan and asks an interesting first question:
“The first requires that same seasoned dissident to adopt a beginner’s mind.”
We should try to keep this beginner’s mind for as long as we live...without it our ideas and convictions become stale. There is nothing like an earthquake to shake off limitations.
Posted by JOS on from Isla Grande Airport 10/03 at 08:09 AMG`morning, Mickey & JOS & Michael -
Referring to Chomsky’s work as “pedestrian,” is a truly fascinating thing to do. That’s like watching a man build 100,000 very solid, basic homes for the poor and needy, and calling the effort “pedestrian,” while working for decades to produce a few “splendid,” sophisticated, cutting-edge places for a handful of special recipients.I’ve read a great many criticisms of Chomsky’s work over the years. Some of it was valid. However, none of said criticism was produced by anyone who’s personal effort or courage or sacrifice even remotely resembled Chomsky’s.
Solid piece on Indonesia, Mickey, thank you. Wherever the US government goes, it brings with it murder and horror and misery. With my money. In my name.
This national ID stuff frightens me. Pictures of James Baker frighten me, too…
Posted by joe on from Oregon 10/03 at 10:11 AMNice synchronicity, Michael...and JOS and Joe, I hear you. We must never get so cynical as to think we know it all and Noam is “pedestrian.” Gotta cultivate those “new eyes,” as Proust suggested.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/03 at 12:07 PMHere’s a follow-up on the Holyoke situation mentioned in the comments section here yesterday:
http://tinyurl.com/77ny8Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/03 at 12:12 PMThanks for the link, Mickey.
Tensions are increasing, it seems, and I’d bet there will be a lot more violence. We’re already so very close to outright fascism, they’re not likely to feel hindered by legal or constitutional constraints. There are new, improved, Kent State experiences ahead, coupled with ever increasing radicalism, and much craziness.
I, too, doubt that they’ll pull out of Iraq any time soon. Moreover, there seems to be no reason to believe that they’re going to abandon their designs on Iran or Syria. To accomplish their psychotic goals, they’ll have to take the gloves off, here at home. It’s likely that they’ll do just that…Posted by joe on from Oregon 10/03 at 05:23 PMThey rarely even have to take the gloves off. There are enough heavily-conditioned peons ready to take on that responsibility.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/03 at 06:15 PMThat’s true, Mickey.
“Love it or leave it, Pal!”
And now, I see, we have “The Young Republicans.”Posted by joe on from Oregon 10/03 at 06:53 PMI wasn’t aware that Republicans could be young.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/03 at 07:16 PMMudge? Are you out there?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/03 at 08:58 PMBabar is born like any average pachyderm. He grows up and plays in an idyllic world, along with the other little animals. Nonetheless, this primitive paradise must come to an end once a “wicked hunter” kills Babar’s mother. But even though this initial contact with human adults and their civilization is negative-leaving Babar an orphan-the end result of such destructive activity turns out to be highly beneficial: Babar escapes to the bedazzling city, where fate rewards him with something even greater than what it had taken from him. He comes upon an “Old Lady,” a female figure who takes his mother’s place and eventually adopts him.
From that moment on, Babar is going to “progress.” His inital desire is to be “well-dressed,” and the Old Lady gives him all the money he needs. In the first few pictures he walks on four feet, but no sooner has he lost his horizontal nakedness and seen his clothed twin in a mirror, than he becomes aware of his stature, his skin, his clothes. Babar rises up on two feet. He mimics men and begins to adopt biped mannerisms. This is when his education begins. Somehow, without losing his animal appearance, Babar will be transformed into a polite and decent human being. He uses a napkin, sleeps in a bed, does exercises, has his picture taken, bathes in a tub with a sponge, drives his own car, and dresses in the latest fashions. He’s a pampered elephant, because the Old Lady “gives him whatever he wants.” Babar responds by leaving behind the ignorance of his instincts, following the teachings and examples of the world that has given him refuge, and learning how to behave in the proper manner. He also picks up some practical skills: A learned professor comes to teach him how to read and write, add and subtract, and interpret history and geography.
Could there be anything less pernicious?
Young readers are encouraged to conduct themselves in a similar manner: They should be obedient and intelligent, have good manners, get dressed by themselves, and eat with a knife and fork. Supposedly the child starts from the same point as Babar, free from social influences, and only gradually begins to lose his savage and ignorant ways in order to become a responsible member of society. He crawls on all fours and then, still babbling, begins to walk. One innocent identifies with another, and together they grow up. But be careful: There’s more to this process than mere socialization. In a corner of the picture in which the learned professor teaches Babar 4+3, there is a map of the world where one can distinguish the continent known by it’s Greek name: Africa.
At this point in the story it is necessary to furnish the reader with a few uncomfortable historical facts. The year in which this charming tale was written was not once upon a time but 1931. And in case the reader did not already know, it should be added that fifty years ago the countries of Africa-the supposed land of the elephants-had not yet achieved independence. They were still colonies.
This is why Babar is something more than a child growing up. In contrast to his tiny admirers-first they were French, then British, then North American-he is dealing with a native country that has not evolved along with him and continues to be primitive, tribal, and naked.(The Empire’s Old Clothes by Ariel Dorfman, pgs. 17-19)As he grows older, the admirer of Babar will not only find palpable evidence that there are “developed” countries and others which do not exhibit the characteristics of progress or modernity, and are therefore perceived as “backward,” but also that there is a set of “solutions” to such an “abnormal” predicament. Even before he can read, however, the child has come into contact with an implicit history that justifies the motives behind an international situation in which some countries have everything and other countries almost nothing. (The Empire’s Old Clothes by Ariel Dorfman pg. 22)
Posted by tm on from underground 10/03 at 09:01 PMhey, mick...tm. yeah, mudge...where are ya?
Posted by JOS on from PR 10/03 at 09:13 PMHey JOS.
Good stuff, TM. The conditioning comes from all angles. Last year, I posted something here that went like this:
Walked past a homeless man in the East Village. Atop his shopping cart sat the board game, “Operation.” Got me thinking about how we’re programmed. Playing games like Operation (Western medicine), Monopoly (capitalism), and Risk (global conquest)...setting the parameters for expected and accepted American behavior.
I’ll see everyone tomorrow…
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/03 at 09:17 PMAs G.B. Shaw once wrote, “... a thing that nobody believes cannot be proved too often”. Like a lighthouse, “here is the way it is”, over and over, simple like. When the audiance is ready, Chomsky is there. He sure did well in a BBC poll of who should run the world, somewhere in the top ten!
Posted by Peter (the other) on from Ca 10/04 at 02:01 AMHey Peter. Do you have a link for that poll? I’d love to see it.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/04 at 04:42 AMThat would be the poll here.
Posted by Peter (the other) on from Ca 10/04 at 05:05 AMThanks, Peter...I’ll post something about this very soon.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/04 at 05:23 AMThis is an interesting post. True, to the reader seasoned in many books Chomsky does seem “pedestrian”, he does repeat himself a lot. This does not decrease the importance of what he’s written, its just that he’s better for those who have been succesfully indoctrinated than those who have read lots of dissident stuff, anarchist theory, etc. Anyhow, don’t those people who voted for him to “run the world” know he’s an anarchist? That he’d refuse such a position? People who would say anyone should run a world government are missing the main point of everything Chomsky has written, that hierarchies/authorities are inevitably oppressive and must be done away with. The fact that people could even say that he should run the world after reading him points to a weakness in his works, that his anarchist ideas don’t show through his writing enough.
Posted by JNR on from PDX 10/04 at 12:13 PMThanks for joining in, JNR. Interesting point you make. However, I believe it is possible that all those folks who voted for Chomsky to “rule the world” have not read him in-depth and/or are so conditioned to a particular way of thinking that they project such values even onto dissidents.
I plan to post more about that poll tomorrow (Wednesday). Please stop by again and share your thoughts.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/04 at 12:35 PM
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