From: joedees@bellsouth.net
Date: Mon 09 Dec 2002 - 18:39:44 GMT
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Jeremy Bradley <jeremyb@nor.com.au>
> > I am glad that you pointed this matter out as many people conflate
> > the
> two.
> > I am a socialist, but not a Marxist. Likewise I am on the 'left',
> > but only because the ones who I disagree with most claim that they
> > are 'right' (not to be confused with correct).
>
> it's an important distinction. in the aftermath of 9-11, the left is
> getting slammed and slandered everywhere. finding convenient ways to
> associate the left with failure makes the journalists who spew their
> right-eousness look like they are actually making a valid criticism.
> and as the left is far and away outnumbered in the media by the center
> (which most see as the left) and the right, there is little in the way
> of public discourse and defense. perhaps part of the issue is that the
> Left does not tend to centralize and does not tend to package its
> message in sound-bytes read by puppets.
>
> because substance is not included within the "news" that most people
> receive from the media, people have been trained to read for
> "association." the conjunction is a useless part of the language now.
> as long as you can equate two encapsulated buzz-words, you have all
> the news that's print to fit. lumping in the Left with Marxism is one
> of those associations which have no substance. the strategy works
> because when forced to defend these allegations, the right pulls out
> another spin tactic: find a marxist and prove they are on the Left.
> Since that, too, is read through associations. the associative
> equation goes from: Left=Failed ideology to Person X=Left=Failed
> ideology.
>
> there are many other left myths, based on the same associative spin.
> here are a couple:
>
> 1) the anti-war left supports terrorism.
> This despite the fact that criticism of the Taliban had been slung
> from the Left since its inception...that human rights groups have
> always decried the mistreatment of women in fundamentalist
> regimes...that even the marxist and academic left were critical of the
> dangerous games being played by the US in their funding of local
> warlords. however, since this time the US has pronounced war on an
> ideology that is justifiably dangerous, it's forced anti-war efforts
> to change strategy...instead of emphasizing that war is a mistake, the
> anti-war left has to explain alternatives to perform the same end. and
> such alternatives require attention to substance, which is just not
> something that the media carriers care for.
>
> And, of course, it's not just the left that supports terrorism...it's
> drug addicts, too. commercials have shown, by association, that drugs
> are sold by dealers who get their drugs from people who finance
> terrorists. associative equation: drugs=supports terrorism.
>
> The same equation was never made for oil. a more accurate one would
> be: oil=supports nations which support terrorism.
>
> 2) the left are proponents of a failed economic system (marxism)
> This despite the massive anti-globalization movements dominated by
> non-marxist thinking. the public has been trained to think that you
> are either a capitalist OR you are a communist. thus, the associative
> equation: Anti-Capitalism=Communism.
>
> > Oh BTW are you A, B or A and B, and are you positive or negative?
>
> i am the "A" in "A and B," positively.
>
> > PS: Just for the record, I don't think that capitalism will work
> > either
>
> i agree...mostly because it propels centralization and larger
> populations, requires exploitation, and is very good at becoming a
> pandemic.
>
> alfred
>
Capitalism, like democracy, is the worst of all possible systems, with the
exception of every other system that has ever been tried...
>
> ===============================================================
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===============================================================
This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
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