[lit-ideas] Re: The new fascism
- From: Carol Kirschenbaum <carolkir@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 06 Nov 2004 15:51:07 -0800
Andreas wrote:
>Let's study the USA today. Let's see how fascism grows. Let's watch >where
this will go.
ck: I agree with your post, Andreas, and have a similar reaction against
religiosity since that stupid election. Comparisons to the Third Reich and
Hitler don't go deep or far enough, true. It seems to me that thiis values
schism in the US is reflective of the schism between ancient Athens and
Sparta, and perhaps the next 4 years will be our equivalent of the
Peloponnesian War. (Caveat: my knowledge of classics is rusty.) Sparta won
that war--and Athenian culture, with its democratic ideals, were nearly
beaten out of existence.
In its stead was a culture that lauded a kind of social Darwinism, and
ignored or murdered imperfect human specimens, in accordance with its value
beliefs. (Is there a current and future US parallel in a privatized Social
Security, and a dedication to eliminating Medicare, services for the poor
and disabled? I think so.)
Sparta extolled a warrior culture. In response to that, did Athens have a
chance of "winning" that war? And I ask, do liberals today, embodying more
Athenian values, have a chance to prevail or even survive in the US?
Does this admittedly broad parallel ring true to any of you? If so, it's
past time to think about how Athenian values can possible compete favorably,
in a mostly media war, against those of the new Spartans--and where does
this extreme, baroque Christian evangelism fit into that value system? To
paraphrase a smart leader in a recent video, one defeats an enemy by
learning what's important to him, and hitting him there. But that's only
half of it.
Best,
Carol
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
