From: Brett Paatsch (paatschb@ocean.com.au)
Date: Sun Jan 05 2003 - 00:55:26 MST
Damien Broderick writes:
> Brett Paatsch says:
>
> > I warm to the humanity in the guy
>
> Is that the bit where he says:
>
> < Mr. Gubrud also states that I am a White Power
> racist... and that I am an admirer of Nazi Germany as
> a model of transhumanism. This is true, up to a point.
> Sometimes I describe myself as a "Post-Nazi."
>
No.
Indeed if I were conversing with him rather than just reading
what he wrote, I'd have pulled him up at the point where he
said he was an admirer of Nazi Germany and said something
like "what an unusual statement, in what respect do you admire
Nazi Germany as a model of transhumanism (or as a model of
anything else which I consider good for that matter)?" Then,
depending on what he said, I might he interested in asking "at
what point do your diverge with what you see as the Nazi
Germany model of transhumanism?" And as an aside, "Why
would you choose to deliberate associate yourself with a
regime that surely you must know most people cannot even
consider without the emotional blinders going up"? How
do you figure that it is worth it to take on such baggage?"
Of course I'm being just a tad disingenuous here because
having read the link you provided I think I can make
reasonable guesses at some of his answers, but possibly
not everyone reading this post will have read the link. It's
longish.
>
> or this bit:
>
> < In those days I was a big fan of Martin Luther King Jr.,
> which was somewhat scandalous in Midland at that time.
> Having a black tentmate was a reality check. It was the
> first step on a path that would lead me, years later, to
> become a racist -- but that's another story... The conclusion
> is that I shouldn't be making such a big deal about this. I dissent
> from consensus reality in many ways. Always have, always will.
> The fact that I dissent on the issue of race is not particularly
> important. >
No.
Although this does have the ring of a true account as the teller
perceives it, to me. I agree with the bit about he shouldn't be
making a big deal about it, but its a bit late having gone that far
he shouldn't have stopped there. Would have been better not
to have started then to have stopped there.
*Why* he chose to call himself a "racist", to raise the "red flag" so
to speak, knowing it was a "red flag" is a bit perplexing, but on the
information I have of the guy I don't think he's particularly
politically savvy. Again, I would have pulled him up in person, (just
as some folk are pulling me up ;-) and asked him for clarification.
Neither of the above statements, especially in isolation, were what
made me say I warmed to the humanity in the guy. But he did say
quite a lot of other things. And the above are only extracts.
>
> It's heart warming, I know, this fearless quest for truth.
I've grinned at this line for nearly a minute now. Beware of sharp
writers baring word traps ;-) They are nearly as "bad" as reporters.
> > If you
> > are asking me whether right now he and I are in
> > agreement in our
> > world views - I don't know but I seriously doubt it.
>
> You don't know?
I don't know what *his* views are today, he seemed to
me to be the type likely to change his mind, to speak over
loosely and with some political naivety about what's on his
mind.
I think its a certainty that in some of the *details*, *my* world
view will be different next year to what it is this year. Sometimes
*details* matter. I think some of the details I've acquired in say
the last year may make me a more effective political animal
for the propagation of the memes I have had longer.
I did like *that* about the guy, he was willing to change his
mind and correct his errors. He was also willing to consider
things *for himself* that most folks, even bright folks, usually
take for granted. I think people *should* go through a process
of asking themselves why it is wrong to be sexist or racist or
species-ist at some stage in their lives, otherwise I can't really
see how they can honestly conclude they've *personally*
rejected such things. And a necessary place to start the why is
it wrong might be "is it wrong?R" (?R - denotes rhetoric
question - I don't need convincing. I've done the exercise).
I have never *personally* inquired into the actual existence of
gas ovens in Nazi Germany during the war for instance. I
think in a universe of things one can choose to question or
seek further verification of *that* was a pretty bizarre choice.
I see the mindset that questions the existence of gas ovens in
Nazi Germany as as bizarre and foreign as the mindset that
doubts that Armstrong actually walked on the moon.
Brett
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