At 01:13 PM 7/2/97 -0700, Stephen E Philion wrote: >Thanks for this post Wojtek. In your comments you seem to want to >disassociate yourself from "this society," but I would not recommend that. >I am part of this society, like many others who strongly oppose this form >of barbarism, and I think it would be far better to associate yourself >with certain parts of American society, namely those of us who are >politicized and possess a social conscience that you should identify with. >I don't identify with the America that allows such barbarism to occur, nor >am I willing to allow it to be defined as "American," even if it is state >sanctioned. etc. >From a rational point of view, I must agree with your position. It is, however, emotionally difficult to try sorting things out when you witness acts of collective barbarism, such as a bunch of hicks cheering an execution or the bombing of an ancient civilisation to the stone age. In the same vein, those who experienced the Staat Pogrom Nacht (aka Kristallnacht) had probably little patience to sort out who was and who was not involved -- their overwhelming desire was probably to pack their things up and leave. I, of course, recognise the fact that acts of collective barbarism, from human sacrifice (aka executions) to lynching mobs, pogroms, and ethnic cleansing have been, for the most part, carefully orchestrated from above, by aristorcrats, industrialists, intellectuals, and government officials -- in a word, by (not-so) "enlightened" elites. It is also my impression, however, that the US may differ from that pattern, beacuse bigotry that fuels this sort of behaviour seems to be reproduced by what is fashionably referred to as "civil society" -- in this particular case, a large network of civic organizations such as KKK, churches, country clubs etc. that socialise people into jingoism, intolerance, and self-righteousness. In most European countries, such networks often set up by the Church, were cracked down by national governments who sought to consolidate their own hegemony in the 18th and 19th centuries. Consequently, most of European bigotry could not survive on its own, they needed a boost from above, the governments and ruling elites. To demonstrate that, contrast Italy and Germany in 1930s, or Yugoslavia in 1990s with the fascist movement (Le Pen) in France. What Italy, Germany and Yugoslavia have in common is lacking from France -- and that is the support of government officials, leading intellectuals, and the media. That difference explains why fascism became dominant movements in Germany, Italy and Yugoslavia, but has been rather marginal in France. In the US, by contrast, the government, the media, and the academe seem to be genuinely striving to keep bigotry at bay (for self-interest rather than altruistic reasons, to be sure, but that is beside the point) -- cf. the federal intervention in racial issues in the South, or the low tolerance of the mainstream media for racism and bigotry. Racism and bigotry seem to thrive outside the mainstream formal institutions -- in churches, country clubs, and numerous fraternal organisations. Consequently, while I certainly agree with your notion of the need for solidarity with those elements that oppose bigotry and kindred forms of collective barbarism, we must also recognise the deep roots bigotry has in this society. regards, wojtek sokolowski institute for policy studies johns hopkins university baltimore, md 21218 [EMAIL PROTECTED] voice: (410) 516-4056 fax: (410) 516-8233
