[lit-ideas] Re: Five Years Ago
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 18:02:25 -0700
Mike,
I can't speak for all Conservatives, but if I create an essay-type analysis
of some issue; then I intend to follow the rules of good writing which
involves logical development and support of all points likely to be
questioned. I often had to create documents that would withstand the
scrutiny of Engineers, Contract, Pricing and Program managers. At other
times I had to review Engineering packages that presented arguments for why
a given change should be approved by the Air Force. During many periods I
was the final arbiter on whether something made sense and was logically
developed.
Knowing something and doing it are two different things. But in the recent
study of Islamism, et al., I have made an effort to seek out the best
sources. Thus I can argue, if source a, b and c are true then X. As time
went on, I was able to add d, e, and f and become more confident. The fact
remains however, that a through f may not be true. And so I have attempted
to check the countering arguments. In some cases some later reading has
brought certain points into doubt.
One of my assumptions had to do with the number of Islamists out there and
the number that were activist in the sense of being Jihadists. Initially
all I could find was speculation. John Esposito speculated that there
weren't very many and Islamism wasn't a serious danger (The Islamic Threat,
Myth or Reality) Others like Bernard Lewis, Daniel Pipes, Youssef Choueiri,
and Amir Taheri argued that Islamism was a serious threat and its presence
in the Middle East was growing. Since Esposito has been largely discredited
the view that Islamism was a serious danger seemed the most reasonable one
to take. In Aerospace we were supposed to design for a worst-case scenario.
Protecting against Islamism seemed to require the same sort of thinking.
Perhaps we don't know with any certainty, but it is safest to assume the
worst.
Recently, and I'm intending this merely as an example, I read Olivier Roy's
Globalized Islam. He represented a position that from the reviews I didn't
think I could agree with. However, someone I respect, Francis Fukuyama
praised Roy and indicated that he was convinced by him. It is largely Roy
and Kepel that caused Fukuyama to break ranks with the Neocons. So I had to
read Roy, and I did find him persuasive in some important areas.
I was perhaps most influenced with the evidence Roy presents to show that
the Islamists deviate from Sayyid Qutb's teaching that National boundaries
should be ignored and the ummah, the Islamic people, should just push
outward in an irresistible Jihad until all the world is converted. Roy
provided examples to show that no Islamist group has shown the slightest
interest in doing that. When an Islamist group gets a little power then it
wants to protect its borders -- like Khomeini's Iranian revolution, Hamas or
Lebanese Hezbollah. I did notice this, but I remembered the Islamic doctrine
of hegira, which means that when you have a setback, you go into hiding and
rest up for the next time you are in a position to attack. But Olivier
Roy's argument convinced me that his analysis and not my earlier one was
correct.
Am I a Marine through and through? I think more that I have various
personas that I go into. I rarely use the Marine any more, but he's still
there. Another might be the Senior Engineer examining the writings coming
across his desk. I used to be a Free-Diver but maybe that persona is
retired, as is the motorcyclist (I gave my last motorcycle to my son when I
retired in 1998). Then there's the Poet most recently coming to the rescue
of the Norse Berserker who wanted to take his hammer and lay about him with
it; which is difficult to do on the internet. There are probably others,
but "through and through?" I don't think so.
You will recall that a long time ago, during perhaps all of the 60s I was a
Leftist. If I were to run into some of the engineers I knew back then, I
wonder if they would still be Leftists or if they too would have changed. I
tend to think they would be the same. They were much more into drinking
beer than reading anything serious. But could I see them supporting
Islamism in the way David Horowitz describes many Leftists doing today? No,
that is too hard to imagine.
Lawrence
_____
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Mike Geary
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 4:26 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Five Years Ago
LH:
Well, yes, tis true. I'm not terribly impressed with the Left's ability to
reason. I may have let that drop now and again. They don't seem able to
develop an argument and support it very well.
My dearest, darling Lawrence,
Larry K used to say: "Liberals think that Conservatives are evil,
Conservatives think that Liberals are stupid." That's the most intelligent
thing LK ever said. But I don't think you're evil or stupid. I think
you're just fixated. But that's your problem, not mine. Golf goes on at
Burning Tree regardless of what we think. You keep asking for some program
-- Larry K used to do the same. What is it with you Larrys? I don't have a
goddamn program. I repair refrigerators and air conditioners and restaurant
equipment, I don't know anything about international relations. I vote my
values, I expect the government I elect to come up with programs that
reflects those values. Republican governments very seldom do. They seem to
have some other people's values at heart. Even Clinton was at best only a
marginal man of my values. If only Johnson hadn't been derailed by
Vietnam, this might be a decent country.
But to the point -- do you really think that your positions are reasoned?
Do you not imagine -- and we already know you have a great imagination --
that you are Marine through and through simply because you are and not
because you thought your way there? Don't you know that we think as we are?
Putamus tamquam sumus. I think Bob Dylan said that.
With much love,
Mike Geary
still living on the left side of Memphis
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