[lit-ideas] Re: Daily Kos: State of the Nation
- From: Eric <mr.eric.yost@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 12:36:15 -0500
Omar: People tend to hate those who
harmed them personally, or perhaps those who they
identify with closely like their family, nation etc.
Eric: I've suggested that Mickey Z represented an American urban "type."
For such types, there need be no harm or grievance to induce hate. It's
an attitude. It's a fashion statement. It's a lifestyle. The content
doesn't matter.
Wed a deep sense of personal inferiority or inadequacy to the alienation
brought about by industrialization and uprooted families, add a dash of
Yankee contrarian spirit, stir it up in a middlebrow post-60s culture
that idolizes the Beats and rock culture, place it in a mold formed of
strong egotism -- et voila! -- Mickey Z.
Self described as a "self-educated writer/martial artist/vegan [who] ...
Likes: sunsets, rainbows, and anarcho-syndicalism [and] Dislikes: mean
people, traffic, and factory farming." I mean, c'mon! He hates mean
people, and then gets really mean about the US. He hates factory farming
but lives in NYC. It only takes a paragraph to get the idea.
Omar: Someone who is white might intellectually recognize
that slavery in the US was morally wrong but they are
unlikely to hate the US for that reason. However, it
doesn't seem appropriate that they should look down
upon those who do actually hate the US for that
reason.
Eric: Depends whether their disdain extends to other cultures that have
practiced slavery and to those cultures that actively practice slavery
today. If it's consistent, their disdain is moral; if it's inconsistent,
they are probably just seeking justification for a disdain based in
other motives.
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