Barber, Said, Ahab

[The Great Quail]

Mutualcode at aol.com writes:

>Featured interviewee: Benjamin Barber, author of the prophetic
>and pre- Sept. 11th book: _Jihad VS MCWorld_, among other titles.

I just read that a month ago, and I found it very tedious. Barber 
made some good points, but I think he oversimplifies things greatly 
in order to cram the whole world into his dichotomized categories. 
His habit of using "McWorld" over and over again becomes very 
annoying as well, like he's almost desperate to coin a phrase. And 
calling it "prophetic" is giving it too much credit -- after all, 
certain Islamic groups have been waging a "jihad" against elements of 
the West for the last few decades. This didn't start on September 11.

In a related topic, I just finished Edward Said's "Covering Islam," 
which I would classify as nearly a "must-read" right now. I thought 
it was a very well-balanced and logical essay -- Said really takes 
apart the way the Western media, government, and academia treat 
"Islam" as a menacing monolithic force. I can't say I always agree 
with Said, but he's a hell of a writer and makes some fantastic 
points here.

By the way, I love this discussion about Ahab and Blicero! Much 
thanks to Thomas and Rob, especially!

--Quail