Posted on 11/19/2005 6:29:48 PM PST by JBGUSA
ONE of the greatest living US writers has praised terrorists as "very brave people" and used drug culture slang to describe the "amazing high" suicide bombers must feel before blowing themselves up.
Kurt Vonnegut, author of the 1969 anti-war classic Slaughterhouse Five, made the provocative remarks during an interview in New York for his new book, Man Without a Country, a collection of writings critical of US President George W. Bush.
Vonnegut, 83, has been a strong opponent of Mr Bush and the US-led war in Iraq, but until now has stopped short of defending terrorism.
But in discussing his views with The Weekend Australian, Vonnegut said it was "sweet and honourable" to die for what you believe in, and rejected the idea that terrorists were motivated by twisted religious beliefs.
"They are dying for their own self-respect," he said. "It's a terrible thing to deprive someone of their self-respect. It's like your culture is nothing, your race is nothing, you're nothing."
Asked if he thought of terrorists as soldiers, Vonnegut, a decorated World War II veteran, said: "I regard them as very brave people, yes."
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.news.com.au ...
The one "conservative" story I remember was Harrison Bergeron, from "Welcome to the Monkey House" where meritorious people were handicapped to dumb them down to average.
Too bad he didn't follow his better instincts, but instead becamse a despicable extremist.
Naaah. Let 'em talk all they want. Plaster it all over the place. The more they talk, the more people will understand who they are and what they really believe.
Kurt Vonnegut is senile.
People like him ought to be arrested and tried for treason.
Kurt Vonnegut has always been one of my favorite authors, and is a steady (if unusual) advocate for humane treatment of his fellow man.
The popular press likes to take some of the outrageous statements these guys make and use them to stir up others. Do not fall for the trickery of the evil main stream media types ~ and learn to ignore negative or insulting statements coming from those who are bipolar. Remember that they aren't always "that way". I know that it's hard to do, but it's the moral thing to do.
Now I know why I never liked his books.
His father was mentally ill, and his son Mark is apparantly in remission from a pretty serious bout with mental illness.
Just about everyone who has followed Kurt's writing over the years knows this, and also knows how to read his material so that the bipolar (and other) problems don't get in the way.
I think he also has had some pretty good editors over the years ~ and given the "rewrites" some of his sections have had, Philip Jose Farmer must have done some of them, or they both shared the same editor.
Imagine the incoherent and demented conversation Vonnegut and Murtha would have. I'd pay to hear it.
Too bad he didn't follow his better instincts, but instead became a despicable extremist.
Those are my thoughts on Vonnegut as well. I, too, remember reading about Harrison Bergeron. He has now become a cog in the machine that he once warned people about. That's just sad.
If the highest thing one can aspire to in your culture is to commit suicide while murdering the innocent, then I might gently suggest that the culture in question is darn near worthless.
Self-respect? They are killing themselves because they hold themselves in high regard? That's a mighty strange expression of pride. Either that or the guy thinks that they do all this because they simply have a death wish. Well, that's fine by me. But, for pete's sake, if you're going to off yourself because you feel worthless, at least show some respect for those around you by letting them make that decision on their own instead of taking them along for the ride. Sheesh.
Is Kurt a moderator then on DU?
Are these people crazy or am I? I don't even think we are of the same species as most of these Anti American wackos.
The part of Harrison Bergeron I'm referring to is the use of "handicaps" to lower smart people to the level of everyone else to "equalize" them.
Seems back in the day liberals were trying to maximize each person's contribution for the good of all. Now they're trying to drag everyone down to the same common denominator. Vonnegut understood that then. Too bad he's gone off the deep end.
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