Posted on 07/08/2002 4:52:12 PM PDT by commieprof
An open letter to my critics:
Let me please take this opportunity to thank you for your feedback and to clarify a few points that seem to be at issue. Thank you to those who have sent messages of support, and to those of you whose criticisms are based in argument and reasoning, rathern than in name calling and death threats. Thank you to those of you who noticed that I took care in my pledge not to identify with terrorists, suicide bombers, or Islamic regimes, but with the ordinary people around the world, including those here in the United States. And thank you, I guess, to those of you who are praying for my salvation. I tend to see a better world as being possible here on earth and am not waiting for the second coming so that the meek can inherit their due. But at least you aren't threatening my life, and I appreciate that.
To those of you who are sending me hate mail equating me with the enemy, however, let me attempt to make the following clarifications. It is true that the format of a pledge does not allow one to present arguments full-blown. People may have misunderstood my meaning and intent because of the brief and condensed nature of the genre.
I take my freedoms to dissent in this country very seriously. I do not want to live anywhere else in the world, your invitations to exile notwithstanding. I am a citizen with the right to protest what I see as unjust and inhumane policies, both economic and military. You are correct that I am relatively privileged; I would not have the same rights to dissent and protest in countries like Afghanistan, although if I lived there, I would be part of social movements to resist oppression whether in the form of Islamic fundamentalism or U.S. bombs. Activists in the countries I named often stress the importance of critique and dissent here in the belly of the beast. I feel a certain obligation, an obligation that comes with freedom, to speak out alongside of those with less freedom to speak. I pledged solidarity not with any nation's leaders or terrorist organizations, but with the ordinary people, who are not being liberated by U.S. sanctions and bombs or by U.S. support for the Israeli occupation. I see the people in Afghanistan who were bombed as they celebrated a wedding two weeks ago as being as human as those who died in the World Trade Center, for whom I also have tremendous compassion.
I should add that people in developing countries are not being liberated by the opportunites provided by U.S.-dominated world capitalism. I do not have space to go through all the evidence for these claims, but if you have an open mind, I suggest you read some Howard Zinn, especially People's History of the United States and his more recent Terrorism and War. Suffice it to say that if you have read any history you know that the U.S. either put in place or supported with money and guns the very dictators you decry today, including the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. The United States has taken part in the undermining of democratic (defined as supported by the majority of the people, not in terms of the free market) regimes in Latin American and the Carribean almost as a matter of course (Chile, Haiti and the Philippines for example), not to mention in Asia and Africa. The list is too long to recite here.
Those of you who are offended that you might have to fight and die for my freedoms clearly have misunderstood my anti-war stance. I do not want you to be sent to other countries to die or kill, because I think those actions are not in defense of our freedoms; more often it's about protecting oil profits (even Bush Sr. admitted as much about the Persian Gulf War, which resulted in more than a million and a half civilian deaths). I don't want you over there killing civilians in my name, when my freedoms are not what is being defended at all. Neither are yours. Even though you may hate me, I don't want to you die for someone else's profits.
I do not agree with the analysis that "our way of life" offers hope and salvation to those living in other countries under dictators and in poverty. When four percent of the world's population controls more than 60% of the world's wealth, when the nation states that harbor the strongest enterprises defend those interests with force, when U.S. foreign policy and economic policy are designed to drive countries into unsalvageable debt or rubble, it is impossible for me to remain uncritical. Too often, it is not the fault of bad leaders, bad values, wrong religion, or corrupt people in other nations that brings them ruin, but the policies of production for export over meeting human needs, the support of the U.S. for dictators like the former Suharto in Indonesia, who massacred more than 200,000 people but was, according to the state department, "our kind of guy" because he supported Nike and Freeport MacMoran's exploitation of the people there. I could go on. When Madeline Albright said that the deaths of 5,000 children a month in Iraq as a result of U.S. sanctions were a reasonable price to pay for U.S. foreign policy objectives, I reacted with the same level of disgust that you are bombarding me with now.
I think we have to face these hard realities about "our way of life" if we are truly to understand "why they hate us" and to prevent acts of desperation and hatred targeting civilians in the future. I am not defending terrorism (which, if defined as the targeting of civilian life in retaliation for political and economic grievances, would apply to U.S. conduct in every war it has fought). But it seems reasonable to consider that "they" (Iraqis, Palestinians, Muslims in general) might hate the United States for the havoc it has wrought in the Middle East. Some examples: First supporting and arming Hussein when he was fighting our enemies and killing the Kurds, then slaughtering Iraq's civilian population and bombing the country back to the stone age. First supporting and arming Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan when they were fighting "the communist menace," then bombing their civilian population. . . You get the idea. The support for Israel and its wars and occupations against Palestinians against United Nations resolutions and international law doesn't win our government any friends, either. It is always wrong to terrorize civilians in response to such abuses. Yet the history is part of the answer to the question and a change in U.S. foreign policy must be part of the solution.
If you cherish the freedoms of the United States, it would be hypocritical of you to be intolerant of the expression of opinions that differ from yours. I am a well-educated, thoughtful human being. I am well qualified to teach at the University ("universe"-ity), which should be a place for thoughtful and respectful sharing of diverse views. My students get trained in critical thinking: the capacity to take in a number of perspectives and weigh evidence and reasoning on their own, which they would not be able to do if there were not at least a few dissenters among us here. I mean, the business school gets the big bucks and military- and corporate-funded research dominate the campus. It's a rare class where a student would find points of view that challenge the corporate and geopolitical hegemony of the United States. So I feel sorry for the students whose parents would keep them from attending my classes or the University of Texas because of what I wrote. Don't you have faith that your children can think for themselves? Don't you trust them with a range of positions and approaches to knowledge? Haven't you prepared them to defend your family's values? Any viewpoint is welcome in my classes so long as the arguer can provide evidence and reasoning in support of claims. Contrary to popular mythology, I do not routinely fail conservative students; I do welcome their voices in class so long as respect for others and standards of argumentation are sustained. Actually, the smarter conservative students tell me that they enjoy a good challenge, which they take as a sign of respect. And believe me, I am a member of a tiny political minority on campus that is nowhere near acting like the "thought police" envisioned by the hard right. The kind of fear I hear in the emails I am receiving and on the conservative listservs I have been monitoring is based on a complete overestimation of any single professor's influence.
In sum, I am not the enemy of freedom; to the contrary, I am among its staunchest supporters. I think freedoms should be expanded, not curtailed, in this time of crisis. I worry that now with the modified Patriot Act (which allows security agencies to perform warrantless searches, detentions, and wiretaps, among other things) and the new mega- security-intelligence agency consolidation, that we may not have these freedoms to dissent very much longer. I will raise questions about U.S. foreign policy and corporate globalization as long as I can. It is my prerogative, my right, and, as I see it, my responsbility.
A brief comment on patriotism, or nationalism: To me it seems untenable to say that I have more in common with George W. Bush, Martha Stewart, or Kenneth Lay than I do, say, with a teacher in Afghanistan or a student in Iraq or a UPS driver here at home. Likewise, they might share interests with me and have little in common with Saddam Hussein or Al Quaeda. As a socialist (not a Stalinist, and there is a difference), I have a positive vision of international solidarity and struggle against greed, war, exploitation, and oppression on a world scale. In my view, patriotic fervor dehumanizes people around the world so that their deaths or their hunger or their homelessness can be blamed on them and forgotten.
It's not like me to base an argument on the words of the "founding fathers" but let me remind you that it was Thomas Jefferson (leaving aside his fondness for slaves for a moment) who believed that criticism and dissent were at the core of democracy. He even thought that the citizenry should take up arms against a government when they thought it was becoming too tyrannical. It took a revolution to make the democracy you cherish, and in my view it will take another to make real democracy (political and economic) for the majority of the world's population.
Ben Franklin wrote that when a nation prioritizes security over liberty, the consequences could be dire for democracy. Contrary to my correspondents, I do not believe that order is the ground from which all liberty springs. History teaches quite another lesson--it took a civil war, for example, to end slavery. And "order" is a god term not of democratic societies but of fascism. Unfortunately, I believe that in this extremely sensitive time people are all too willing to embrace a notion of security--not only against terrorists but also against critical ideas and thoughtful dialogue--over liberty.
I hope that this set of expanded arguments makes for more thinking and fewer personal attacks. Of course, I hoped to provoke a response and I welcome deba†e and dialogue. I do not feel like a victim and I am not complaining about being criticized. However, I hoped to get a *real* response, not just hate and intimidation in the name of freedom.
I encourage activists with views similar to mine to come out into the light of day. The urgency of speaking now far outweighs the flak we will get for standing up.
With best regards,
Dana Cloud
Do you know who she is?
No, it didn't. Slavery was becoming untenable in any event and would have been ended, probably within another decade or two if the civil war had not been fought. It certainly didn't require a civil war to end the practice elsewhere in the Western world.
And another thing, the Gulf War was surely fought to protect the oil supply, which is quite different than spinning it as "protecting oil profits." This country has been more than willing to let oil companies go bankrupt because of low prices for oil, so the socialist crap about fighting for evil profits is just that.
It would appear that this is a response from the professor herself.
Here is a link to a previous thread on the subject.
That's as far as one needs to read this tripe. He and Noam Chomsky are on the same planet.
Was there a point to this mass of prose?
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
That about sums it up. I feel sorry for anybody who has to "learn" from you.
Buy a mirror.
Figures....
I have. It's horrible. Absolutely horrible. Quite possibly the most worthless "history" of the United States ever written. But hey, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck like it, right?
Why not wash that awful taste out of your mouth by reading Paul Johnson's infinitely better work?
I'm not big on death threats, American's die so other American's can speak their mind.
Plus I love the nic. And showing up to defend herself (himself?, sorry)
She teaches our children at UofTexas, Austin...Communications, Lesbian and Gay activist, Member of the International Socialists..
Puke,retch....GRRRRRRollin FOR the USA!
Thank you. The third most important resource needed to keep this nation running, after water and air, is oil.
Thanks to you too for the info. I commend her too. I hope it's worth a read later.
If you lived there? That's it? You put in so much passion in your post, yet your passion is not enough to buy a ticket and head over there and become a "part of social movements....". Obviously you are not as idealistic as you pretend to be. You would rather live under our "oppressive gov't" then fight for your ideals over there. Weak.
I pledged solidarity not with any nation's leaders or terrorist organizations, but with the ordinary people,
Our gov't is elected by those very "ordinary people" you pretend to pledge solidarity with.
who are not being liberated by U.S. sanctions and bombs or by U.S. support for the Israeli occupation.
You are right, our sanctions are not effective, but keep in mind that that they are in place because of the people like you who did not want us to finish the job we started in the Gulf War. As for the "Israeli occupation", you show your lack of knowledge about the conflict. Why don't you go get a history lesson at your university and look into what Trans Jordan was created for.
I see the people in Afghanistan who were bombed as they celebrated a wedding two weeks ago as being as human as those who died in the World Trade Center, for whom I also have tremendous compassion.
Comparing accidental manslaughter with first degree murder? Weak.
I will raise questions about U.S. foreign policy and corporate globalization as long as I can. It is my prerogative, my right, and, as I see it, my responsbility.
We are well fed over here and have roofs over our heads, and so do nations which cooperate with us. Why don't you go to a third world nation and help them out? You are an arm chair liberal, as most of your kind is.
As a socialist (not a Stalinist, and there is a difference), I have a positive vision of international solidarity and struggle against greed,
Isn't it interesting that those who live in the (greedy) capitalistic societies are much better off then those who lived in communist/socialist societies? Explain please. war,
Being against war is not enough. War brings clarity. There can be no peace until the war is won. If you stop a war without a clear victor, it will pick up later on (ie: the Gulf War and the Middle East conflict).
exploitation, and oppression on a world scale.
I haven't heard your kind criticize the arab tyrannies. How come? You socialists treat UN as if it is a legitimate organization. Tell me, out of all the UN members - how many are democracies, and why should we subject ourselves to the agenda of tyrants and dictators?
In my view, patriotic fervor dehumanizes people around the world so that their deaths or their hunger or their homelessness can be blamed on them and forgotten
Sounds very humane, yet makes little sense. The fact that we do very well here in the States, and are aiding those in need around the world ADDS to the patriotic fervor - not takes away.
History teaches quite another lesson--it took a civil war, for example, to end slavery.
Very good. You recognize the fact that a war is sometimes necessary. As I stated before - war brings clarity. Let's rephrase your sentence a little - "History teaches quite another lesson - it took a war on terror, for example, to end terrorism". Wonderful.
I assume this was posted in order to "hold class" for those here who have misunderstood your position. Allow me to point out something about your post; there is scant evidence or reasoning defending the positions you advocate. So what is the point of your post other than reminding folks that the right of dissent is essential for liberty to exist.
I suggest if your going to post these types of rebuttals and want to be respected and welcomed you should include some meat for us Neanderthals to chew on.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.