is it ok to be luddite

[jbor]

> We have a simple internal device, which tells us what is morally acceptable,
> and what is not.

We who? Kaczynski?

> The fact that we have accepted
> double morality in political dealings (Kosovo vs. Tchetchenia; China vs.
> Tibet)

Again, we who?

The two "we"s are different. The first "we" refers to you and I:
individuals. Individually. The second "we" refers, I guess, to the UN, or
"the West", or some equally frangible conception of global consensus in
populist, pseudo-democratic terms. Personally, I think you can count out a
lot of the first "we"s from that second "we".

I would imagine that the thing with the Boston Tea Party would be not what
George III thought, but what the American populace thought.

best


----------
>From: Jedrzej Polak <jedpolak at mac.com>
>To: jbor <jbor at bigpond.com>, <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>Subject: Re: is it ok to be luddite
>Date: Sun, Jun 11, 2000, 6:14 PM
>

> We have a simple internal device, which tells us what is morally acceptable,
> and what is not. Fortunately, journalistic "ethics" has not replaced simple
> conscience so far, though I can imagine that there are people relying on
> eight o'clock news as far as their moral choices are concerned.
>
> I think that our problem here is the popular reception of unorthodox public
> behavior, and not the moral evaluation of it. The fact that we have accepted
> double morality in political dealings (Kosovo vs. Tchetchenia; China vs.
> Tibet) should not obscure the necessity of applying moral judgements to each
> individual case, and even to each individual moral choice. Moral choices
> tend to be dynamic (as the case of Tad Kaczynski shows), and while I can
> condemn Kaczynski for his  methods, I can easily subscribe to some of his
> ideas. And please do not forget that from the very beginning  of our history
> every act of disagreement with the status quo, has been considered to be a
> revolutionary and terroristic  outrage. I bet George III (when he was sane)
> considered the Boston Tea Party in exactly the same categories.