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Mel Gibson must be screaming, "NOT FAIR! Why can he say these things and go unpunished in Hollywood but not me?" On Sun, May 7, 2017 at 4:27 PM, Jeff via Marxism < marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote: > ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > ***************************************************************** > > Thanks for sending this David. I read the article in full, but really the > headline says it all. Now, if he had instead said "Zionist" or "Israeli > lobby" then I would have let it pass (though not exactly agreeing with the > statement). But just the fact that he was totally content to use the > "Jewish" label clearly reveals that he is not of the left. > > An important lesson for the modern era to be learned, one that repeatedly > challenges my previous assumptions, is that high profile figures > (especially in arts and entertainment) with contrarian or outspoken > anti-establishment positions, cannot be assumed to be speaking for the > left. Many years ago it seemed simple: anyone speaking out against war or > imperialism, for freedom and civil rights, against international treaties > and trade deals, against government secrecy, or denouncing official > corruption, were clearly part of the left and probably had good positions > on most other issues. Of course I knew of exceptions, but they didn't > amount to anything. "Anti-government" meant anti ruling class, which could > only mean pro working class. > > So it was easy to be enthusiastic when hearing these sorts of words from > an Oliver Stone, Michael Moore, Julian Assange, or Glenn Greenwald. What I > (and many other leftists) missed is that these people's provocations may > have well served their careers and public images, but did not derive from > their involvement in our struggles or from any left party or organization. > The left can well take credit for creating an atmosphere where challenging > government secrecy, militarism, and corruption would have broad popular > appeal. But that favor doesn't automatically get returned. > > And of course in recent years, these ambiguities have greatly intensified > in terms of political movements on the extreme right which have hijacked > what we had deemed to be leftist rhetoric. That's an additional issue which > has received more than a small bit of attention on this list. But here I'm > not considering the organized right-wing, but just those well known figures > who consider themselves above political action on the ground. It is easy > for them to take a left wing position here, a right wing position there, > and mix them all up (especially through the medium of conspiracy theories!) > in a collage that advances their careers and glory. But which can only be > confusing to the left, should we be so careless as to champion such > individuals over the millions of activists who will never achieve any such > degree of recognition for their work which is both unpaid and liable to get > them thrown in jail or worse. > > - Jeff > > > > > > On 2017-05-07 20:13, DW via Marxism wrote: > >> >> Oliver Stone: Jewish Control of the Media Is Preventing Free Holocaust >> Debate >> >> Outspoken Hollywood director says new film aims to put Adolf Hitler, who >> he >> has called an 'easy scapegoat' in the past, in his due historical context. >> >> _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/opt > ions/marxism/sranz18%40gmail.com > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
