[lit-ideas] Re: A political thought (continued)
- From: John McCreery <mccreery@xxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2004 14:23:12 +0900
On 2004/04/30, at 12:38, Omar Kusturica wrote:
> Indeed. What would be the example of such a state,
> anyway ?
No perfect example exists. One can easily point to exceptions that
demonstrate that the boundaries at which people draw the line have been
shifted but not eliminated; the French ruling forbidding Muslim girls
to wear headscarves to school comes to mind. So do the activities of
reactionary political movements that harken back to idealized
ethnically, religiously, or what-have-you "purer" forms of national
identity. Still, the Europeans who slaughtered each other in the name
of religion during the Thirty-Years War and, again, in the name of
nationalist ideologies during WWI and WWII have become a good deal less
obsessive in these regards. Ditto for most Japanese.
To use a Japanese example, a country in which right-wing fanatics not
only venerated the Emperor but controlled the government and launched
wars in the Emperor's name has come along way when the right-wing
fanatics sound cars still blare their messages outside of train
stations but the crowd proceeds on its indifferent way, to go to work,
to get home, to purchase another Vuitton bag, drink another Starbucks
coffee, or decide which of the numerous ethnic cuisines on offer in the
station's restaurants will hit the spot for dinner.
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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