NP? modernity, terrorism, truth and relevance?

[rich]

john gray wrote an interesting book on al aqaeda

here's a reviewers description of relevance from the Independent

How, then, can al-Qa'ida be "modern", or Western-influenced? John Gray
explains that it is "a by-product of globalisation ... Its most distinctive
feature – projecting a privatised form of organised violence worldwide –
was impossible in the past. Equally, the belief that a new world can be
hastened by spectacular acts of destruction is nowhere found in medieval
times. Al Qaeda's closest precursors are the revolutionary anarchists of
late 19th-century Europe".

Gray continues, "Though it claims to be anti-Western, radical Islam is
shaped as much by Western ideology as Islamic traditions. Like Marxists and
neoliberals, radical Islamists see history as a prelude to a new world. All
are convinced they can remake the human condition... [Soviet Communism,
National Socialism and radical Islam] have all been described as assaults
on the West. In reality, each of these three projects is best understood as
an attempt to realise a modern European ideal" – that is, to use a central,
state authority to reorder human societies according to knowable principles
(no matter how insane they might be).



On Sun, Apr 21, 2013 at 3:05 PM, <bandwraith at aol.com> wrote:

> I agree. These issues are complex and morally challenging, and require
> work to sort out. It's not just a matter of the politically expedient: "The
> enemy of my enemy is my friend," for example, is not necessarily true.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: kelber <kelber at mindspring.com>
> To: pynchon-l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> Sent: Sun, Apr 21, 2013 10:47 am
> Subject: Re: NP? modernity, terrorism, truth and relevance?
>
> What's stupid? The idea that there can be many disparate reasons to oppose
> modernity, in its latest incarnation - the megacorporation?  I didn't say that
> pacifists and al Qaeda, or that feminists and religious fundamentalists are
> comrades-in-arms - they can't be. But in a world where nation-states are going
> bankrupt, where Nature (water, the genetic code) is being privatized, where
> formerly democratic bodies are being bought off, where slavery (sex slaves,
> child labor, prison labor immigrant internment camps) is a significant
> contributor to world "prosperity," there are bound to be some strange bedfellows
> in opposition. Who's opposed to sex slavery, for example? Feminists and
> religious fundamentalists who think women should be kept veiled and locked up.
>
> Laura
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: alice wellintown <alicewellintown at gmail.com>
> >Sent: Apr 21, 2013 8:51 AM
> >To: pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> >Subject: Re: NP? modernity, terrorism, truth and relevance?
> >
> >Wha?
> >
> >You can't be serious. This is stupid.
> >
> >> On the other side, all those who hate the Globocracy: political progressives
> >> (who can get confused, because they're fighting against people who support
> >> many of the progressive issues they feel most passionate about),
> >> environmentalists, supporters of human rights, pacifists, humanists,
> >> Christian wingnuts, fascists, rightwing nationalists, Muslim
> >> fundamentalists, Orthodox Jews, and racists and hate-mongerers of all
> >> stripes. Much as I loathe who's lumped into this side, it's the side I most
> >> support. It's clearly the losing side. Pynchon, with his romanticizing of
> >> indigenous cultures, his disgust at colonialism, clearly falls into this
> >> side.
>
>
>
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