> I consider myself a patriot, and I even admire a lot > of aspects of American elite history, but I'm not > offended by Zinn's deflationary approach, and it > mystifies my why many self-styled social democrats > and > liberals are. It's not at all in the same category > as > raving about fascist Amerikkka. Besides, far as I > know > no one really questions Zinn's accuracy and > scholarship except for an incidental detail here and > there, isn't that right?
Speaking of social democratic renegades, Sidney Hook was fond of quoting something Morris Cohen used to say when he was accused of being too negative: "You will recall that among the labors of Hercules he was required to clean out the Augean stables. He was not, let me point out, required to fill them." That's all that really needs to be said in defense of Zinn's approach. It would be a shame if PHUS were the last critical work on US history read by a would-be radical, but I see nothing wrong with it being the first. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business $15K Web Design Giveaway http://promotions.yahoo.com/design_giveaway/
