I didn't intend to get into a rancorous debate at this time or in this place; I'm only trying to work through my own ideas and make some sense of where we are. But since I believe my statements have been distorted I want to recap and elaborate a bit on my main premises and then bow out of this discussion. (BTW, Hayden, in response to your question, I will be trying to get my heart back into preparing for my upcoming qualifying exams, which unfortunately are time-constrained and do not leave me much time to pause and reflect.) 1. America has done nothing to justify Tuesday's attacks--indeed nothing could--but an understanding (which, again, is _not_ a rationalization) of why they occurred must go beyond the individual or group psychology of the perpetrators (they're extremists/they're nuts) to see why the United States and its productions have incurred the wrath of many. 2. I do not want public discussion on the issues I addressed to open up because of this tragedy; I want it to open up because I think it is overdue. I'm hoping that after a reasonable interval we can consider these questions; unfortunately, mainstream political discourse and the corporate-dominated media do not leave me with _much_ hope of this. 3. I do not consider myself to be "arrogant" (nor, actually, a very good leftist) just because I believe that the Adam Smithian model of free individuals making unconstrained economic decisions in a free and open marketplace is a remarkably naive model of how the world works. I do not believe in the Marxist notion of "false consciousness" either. Reality is somewhere in between--people have choices, but they have a very limited agency to determine the range of the options from which they can choose. Given a world system in which wealth is very unevenly distributed, U.S.-based corporations and government are in a strong position to influence those choices to their own benefit. You say people freely choose American products; I say those choices may be "free" in some sense but they are also highly constrained. I don't believe this is arrogance; in fact, I'd say the same about my own economic choices. I eat Big Macs (OK, Quarter-Pounders) too. If I have politicized this discussion inappropriately, I am truly sorry. I am mostly writing as a way of working through my own ideas and my own melancholy. I hope everybody takes some time to reflect this weekend--whether this involves a faith tradition or simply introspection. Subsequently, I hope everyone is able to attain a modicum of normalcy in the days and weeks ahead. --joe ironically channeling Warren G. Harding after all of this...
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