Can't we move on to something more productive? Plaintively,
On Mon, Nov 26, 2001 at 06:00:06PM -0500, Max Sawicky wrote: > Max Sawicky wrote: > > Selective pacifism reflects confusion. > > Consistent pacifism is not confused; it's just wrong. > > where is the confusion? if i state a theory and explicitly specify the > outliers, would you call that confused? if i were to say "i am a pacifist > in the sense that i oppose all use of violence except when used in > self-defense in situations where there is a direct threat to my life and > limb", would you a) disagree with my use of the word pacifist? or b) call > my position confused? --ravi > > > No and no. You can make up your own definition any time you like, > as you like. > > My understanding of the doctrine is that your case would > be inconsistent with pacifism, traditionally defined by its > exponents. But your case is not necessarily a deal- > breaker, since it goes to an extreme form of non-violence > (analogous to the dictum that you can't punch > somebody in the face if he spits in yours). > > We are talking about something larger in scale and more > nebulous than a direct threat directed specifically to an > individual. I would say if you oppose some forms of > organized violence on the grounds that organized > violence is automatically wrong, but you also allow > exceptions, then you are confused. But you are > not vile. > > I called the anti-NATO voices confused at the beginning > of the Balkans fandango because they proclaimed opposition > to violence per se, but focused their ire on NATO, the net result > being to support (however unsuccessfully and unintentionally) > Serbian aggression. Now I call the voices opposing the US > military campaign confused because, opposition to the WTC attacks, > OBL, the Taliban, and al-qaida notwithstanding, the objective > effect is to acquiesce to the survival of fascists dedicated to > the indiscriminant murder of Americans of all races, creeds, and colors. > > mbs > -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
