To American Liberals
Liberalism is comparable to the Solar System, in terms of the good it did for humanity. It encourages and sustains progress and it is only because of progress that we don’t stone adulteresses to death, think that bleeding is the best cure for everything or buy and sell people anymore. I am a Liberal in the strict sense and a progressist in all senses. Of course, Liberalism, just like any other socio-political set of philosophies, errs from time to time and there are a few issues over which modern American Liberals hold views which puzzle me. Here they are, in no particular order.
1. Genetically-Modified Food Aid to Starving Populations in Third World Countries
The usual stance on this issue in liberal circles is opposition. And liberal objections to genetically-modified food are pretty serious too. For instance, the effects on the consumer are not entirely known and unpredictable things might happen, as it is many times the case in genetic engineering. That’s a solid objection and so is the fact that a few companies might monopolize and control world food production or the possibility that new advances might be used by rich countries against the interests of poor ones. The list of complaints is, of course, much longer than that, but these are some of the more serious issues raised by opponents of GM food aid. That is mostly us, the Liberals. So I guess my question is: What the fuck are we thinking? They’re dying of hunger! Do you really think a six-year-old who is dying in agony because her mother has run out of tree bark will be terribly encouraged by the fact that you, the conscientious and well-meaning Liberal, have prevented the unintended transfer of trans-genes through cross-pollination? I really doubt it. Yes, there are issues with GM food and only a madman would deny that. But let’s not forget that human life should take precedence over any of those issues in any modern value system, especially in a liberal one. Let’s save lives now and fix the issues when we can. It seems to be a much more important priority to keep the six-year-old alive than to prevent the Corporation from acquiring influence, wouldn’t you say? I hear that 27,000 people are estimated to die of hunger every single day. It happens right now, as you read this. It happens as we, the conscientious and well-meaning Liberals, oppose giving them the food that would save their lives.
2. Islam, the Religion of Peace
A euphemism that is quite wide off the mark for a cult of death. I know, harsh words, and please feel free to disagree. But hear me out first. We hear that the extremists have hijacked Islam and brought it to the deplorable level of perversion that allows for educated middle-class people, some of them with Ph.D.’s, to fly planes into buildings. We hear that Osama bin Laden’s brand of Islam is not too popular with the masses and that most Muslims are as outraged as we are about terrorist attacks. (That is most likely true, but, interestingly, there have been virtually no official Muslim condemnations of the September 11 attacks on the United States.) So let’s assume that what we hear is true and try not to hold a whole religion responsible for the actions of a few. Let’s talk about the book at which moderates, those whom we’d expect to have done away with anachronistic concepts, look for moral directives and inspiration. Let’s talk about the Koran, the unerring word of God. If you think cruelty, savage barbarism, racism, injustice and intolerance are only found in the Bible, think again. All you have to do to change your mind is to simply read the Koran. Open it pretty much anywhere. It is debatable whether it reaches the degrees of depravity and immorality we find in the Bible, but you’ll see it’s not much better. After you’ve spent an afternoon reading the Koran at random, reflecting on the fact that 1.4 billion people find it the ultimate user’s manual will feel pretty uncomfortable. No honest individual will be able to read it and look someone in the eye while maintaining that Islam is a religion of peace. Yes, luckily most Muslims don’t follow their holy book. They pick and choose the parts they like and disregard the rest by using their moral sense, which is independent of the religious doctrine. But, if by religion we mean the set of tenets outlined in the Koran, their religion is anything but peaceful by any standard. Our disliking of the Bush administration and of the Christian right, our dedication to tolerance and our willingness to live and let live are not excuses for deluding ourselves about Islam’s alleged peaceful nature.
3. Air America
It’s old news already that Air America is filing for bankruptcy. That may be due to the fact that, as rumored, advertisers have blacklisted it for fear of being associated with a radio network that embraces extreme left-wing propaganda. Or it may be due, more likely, to the fact that Air America is extreme left-wing propaganda and its audience gave up on it. I was quite excited about it when it went on air in 2004. A voice of reason raising from a sea of bullshit, who wouldn’t want that? That lasted for about four days, if I remember correctly. Then I went back to NPR and The Daily Show to allay my grief. I know that there are a lot of fellow Air America “disappointees” out there and I will venture a speculation as to the cause of that. My suspicion is that people who are inclined towards progress tend to be more perceptive, more educated and less gullible, and I’m obviously not interested in how elitist or politically incorrect that sounds. (The truth is in many cases “elitist.” I’m willing to bet quite a lot on the fact that, were there a scientific study done in that direction, my speculation so far would be proven accurate.) In general, they frown upon “spin.” If Liberals wanted a Fox News for Liberals, the owners of Fox News would have made it. They didn’t. So some genius figured it would be good to have a liberal outlet just as fair and balanced as Fox News and it would sell like hot brownies. The results are there for everyone to see: yelling, cutting people off, the horrendous “sound bite” approach, the immunity to reason and evidence, and, with all due sympathy, the downright hateful, foam-at-the-mouth manner of discourse have driven Air America to bankruptcy. It’s a pretty scary picture when Al Franken is your moderate. So the question I’m addressing progressives is “What took you so long?” Were the few and far-between islands of common-sense on Air America that enticing that you kept listening for two years? Or is that species of commentary, emotional and reactionary, the kind of thing a progressive should appreciate? Were he here, Galileo would have kicked our asses for indulging in Air America.
Oh, and please, let’s stop saying Nicaragua with that rolling r, as if to imply empathy and consideration. The word Nicaragua with a regular American accent sounds much better in the mouth of an American and is just as acceptable.
Sãru’mâna!
September 25th, 2008 at 1:25 am
good site pzmfdw