[lit-ideas] Re: A Political Thought
- From: John McCreery <mccreery@xxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2004 11:12:08 +0900
On 2004/04/30, at 1:09, Omar Kusturica wrote:
> That we have a moral obligation to consider the
> issues by: "placing oneself imaginatively in the
> position of those in power," I am not sure. In order
> to fully place myself in their position, I would need
> to imagine having their personal history, their
> dubious personal and political commitments, their
> beliefs and ambitions, in other words to become them.
> But if I were George W. Bush, surely I would be doing
> what George W. Bush is doing. What is gained by such
> an approach ? Why is the perspective of George W. Bush
> considered more important for an intellectual to place
> herself in than, say, the perspective of Iraqis who
> are without jobs, electricity etc ?
The rather obvious answer is that the question seems misdirected. There
is nothing in what Aron says that implies that the perspective of
George W. Bush is more important than that of the Iraqis, who, insofar
as they are effective political actors, also have views that must be
taken into account. Aron's comment is directed against those who
imagine that historical forces are irresistible and that history is
made regardless of particular decisions by particular people in power.
That is, for what it is worth, a lesson I first encountered while
reading Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy, a science fiction
masterpiece that begins with Hari Seldon, a "psychohistorian" who has
developed a rigorous statistical theory of history that predicts the
collapse of the first Galactic Empire, followed by an interregnum of
30,000 years before a second Empire arises. He cannot prevent the first
Empire's collapse but does set out to tweak the process by creating the
Foundations to which the title refers--whose mission is to reduce the
interregnum from 30,000 to 1,000 years. The trick is that the Seldon
Plan can only succeed if the masses of people on which the statistical
forces operate remain unaware that they are being manipulated, which
would upset the calculations involved. One particularly telling segment
of the series is that in which a charismatic mutant, the Mule, appears
and threatens complete disruption of the Plan. It is clear at this, and
several other points in the trilogy that there are critical moments at
which the perspectives, decisions, and actions of key players are vital
to the way that this future history unfolds.
This question is also misdirected, I believe, for another reason--the
assumption that understanding implies forgiveness. It is, however, a
commonplace of strategic thinking that to understand the enemy is one
essential element in achieving his defeat. There is room, I believe, in
even the tenderhearted liberal imagination for what one might call
ruthless understanding.
John L. McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd.
55-13-202 Miyagaya, Nishi-ku
Yokohama, Japan 220-0006
Tel 81-45-314-9324
Email mccreery@xxxxxxx
"Making Symbols is Our Business"
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