The idea that the U.S. can "rule the world," is an absurd notion. I heard that expressed by an intellectual from the Middle-east. The U.S. can act
in the world. That is not an absurd notion. The intellectuals, pained no doubt as they watch history flow above them, don't want any
motion, any action, any use of power, any demonstration of U.S. resolve. Their response
is automatic and calculated and suspect from the beginning. Some of their critiques sound a
true note but it's like the old, dying musician who hits one key note while missing the rest.
The modern intellectuals boxed themselves in with their affection for Marxist dialectics.
It has prevented them from thinking outside the box, leaping imaginatively in a world never
before seen, and lands them at the feet of totalitarian regimes with slobbering praise.
Sartre was full of it. So is the linguist. The embarrassing fact is that they share the
same instincts as the terrorists which can be summarized as, "I am outside, therefore
I will make a bloody mark...."
They are only a concern inasmuch as they have powers in distinct regions and seek to turn
the world against the United States. Their only hope is that the American government will look so bad that they will look good in contrast. And sometimes they succeed to do that very
thing. The individual conscience is always ahead of the bumbling, gangly government. However,
the individual conscience can't insure my freedom or protect me from madmen. So, there's that
equation.
Posted October 25, 2003
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David Eide
eide491@earthlink.net
copyright 2003
March 27, 2003