[lit-ideas] Re: Max Boot
- From: "Simon Ward" <sedward@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2007 20:03:06 -0000
Brian,
I think it's important to make the distinction between evil as a description of
a person's soul - the supernatural proposition - and evil as an intent - the
acts of a person. Many on the left would say that certain motivations are evil
in the sense of being far removed from the correct or right action. Nobody, I
suspect would willingly denote the supernatural element.
And if I'm not familiar with those crazy KosKids, does that mean I'm not a
Leftist?
Simon
----- Original Message -----
From: Brian
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2007 3:37 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Max Boot
Simon, I agree with you that the Left does not have a concept of evil,
however that does not stop Leftists from using the language of evil. Several
years ago Christopher Hitchens wrote a thoughtful essay defending the use of
the word as "the best negative superlative that we possess." He starts the
piece by writing
There is probably no easier way to beckon a smirk to the lips of a liberal
intellectual than to mention President Bush's invocation of the notion of
"evil." Such simple-mindedness! What better proof of a "cowboy" presidency than
this crass resort to the language of good guys and bad guys, white hats and
black hats? Doesn't everybody know that there are shades and nuances and
subtleties to be considered, in which moral absolutism is of no help?
Apparently everybody does know that, since at election times the same liberal
intellectual will, after much agonizing, usually cast his vote for whichever
shabby nominee the Democratic Party throws up. And he will do so, in his own
words, because this is "the lesser evil." So, it seems that we cannot quite do
without the word, even though it's worth noticing that some people only employ
it in an ironic or relativist sense, as a quality that must be negotiated with,
accommodated, or assimilated.
Nobody on the Left will say Bush is evil? Come now. It has happened right
here at lit-ideas where Mike Geary has called Bush evil and Julie and John
McCreery chimed in heartily. Ursula and others have done it as well. I think
you underestimate Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS) on the Left. And you
apparently aren't acquainted with the kook fringe bloggers who personify this
condition - a quick trip over to DailyKos and a dose of those crazy KosKids
will disabuse you.
~Brian
On Jan 1, 2007, at 2:51 PM, Simon Ward wrote:
I doubt you'll find many on the left who have a true concept of evil in the
sense of a profoundly flawed soul. That's far too spiritual. Instead, those on
the left will talk about motives, sometimes in a conspiratorial manner, but
often in terms of economic greed, not personally, but in a partisan way. It's
motive that matters far more than the individual, because motive covers the
broader range of decision making activities. Nobody on the left would say that
Bush is evil, many, if not all, would say that he is a misguided idiot.
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