[Peace-discuss] War crime

[n.dahlheim at mchsi.com]

Clarification on politicians as well as industrialists and bankers being key supporters of totalitarianism in 
Europe has been noted.  

Anyway, I agree with your "cynicism".  Perhaps Justice Jackson spoke with a tinge of hypocrisy in 1945; 
but, when you look at people like Jesus and Buddha weren't they right in pointing out the fundamental 
hypocrisy of human behavior?
 
          Nick


----------------------  Original Message:  ---------------------
From:    "Laurie at advancenet.net" <laurie at advancenet.net>
To:      "'Morton K. Brussel'" <brussel at uiuc.edu>, <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
Subject: RE: [Peace-discuss] War crime
Date:    Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:04:41 +0000

> Why should my cynicism have bounds?  Are you suggesting that I should play
> the role of Candide and go around saying and believing that we live in the
> best of all possible worlds?  True to my intellectual background and
> training as a social scientist and critic, I call everything into question,
> accepting nothing as a taken for granted; I treat it as problematic in order
> to understand what it takes to make it intelligible and possible as well as
> meaningful.
> 
> I disagree with you as to what is or is not relevant in this context.  I
> find chanting such quotations no matter if they are good or not and if I
> agree with them or not to be very effective rhetorical tools without some
> specific action plan relating the statement to a course of action and a way
> to accomplish it. The articulation of such quoted statements does not
> constitute action aimed at resolving an issue or problem per se for me; at
> best they serve as a call to action aimed at mobilizing new recruits or as
> means for generating solidarity among the anointed.  I do not think that
> Carl posted to this list to recruit new converts.   He might have done so
> because he felt that there was a need to generate solidarity among the choir
> and encouragement among the true believers; but I am not sure that it is
> needed with this group of list members.
> 
> In part, I do disagree with the statements and question the motivations
> behind their being articulated.  While I am not going to question the
> originator of the quotes and say that Jackson made them hypocritically; I
> will say that the substantive meaning and significance of the statement in
> light of history is hypocritical and serves to cover up the fact that in the
> real world might does tend to make right in real politics and the spouting
> of moral platitudes and absolute transcendental standards does not change
> that empirically.
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Morton K. Brussel [mailto:brussel at uiuc.edu]
> > Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 5:29 PM
> > To: laurie at advancenet.net; 'C. G. Estabrook'; peace-
> > discuss at lists.chambana.net
> > Subject: RE: [Peace-discuss] War crime
> > 
> > Your cynicism seems to have no bounds. What you say may be relevant in
> > some
> > contexts, but it seems to me it is not relevant here. Do you disagree
> > with the
> > statements? Do you believe that they were made hypocritically?
> > 
> > --mkb
> > Morton K. Brussel
> > Professor emeritus of physics
> > Loomis laboratory of Physics
> > 1110 West Green Street
> > Urbana, IL, 61801
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