John Swift (1729):
A MODEST PROPOSAL
FOR PREVENTING THE CHILDREN OF POOR PEOPLE IN IRELAND FROM BEING A BURDEN TO THEIR PARENTS OR COUNTRY, AND FOR MAKING THEM BENEFICIAL TO THE PUBLIC
As to my own part, having turned my thoughts for many years upon this important subject, and maturely weighed the several schemes of other projectors, I have always found them grossly mistaken in the computation. It is true, a child just dropped from its dam may be supported by her milk for a solar year, with little other nourishment; at most not above the value of 2s., which the mother may certainly get, or the value in scraps, by her lawful occupation of begging; and it is exactly at one year old that I propose to provide for them in such a manner as instead of being a charge upon their parents or the parish, or wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they shall on the contrary contribute to the feeding, and partly to the clothing, of many thousands.
[...]
a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.
fantastic!
9.11.04
Well, they tell me of a pie up in the sky
Waiting for me when I die
But between the day you're born and when you die
You know, they never seem to hear even your cry
Sure as the sun will shine
I'm gonna get myself what's mine
The harder they come
the harder they'll fall,
One and all
harder they come
harder they'll fall,
One and all
And the oppressors are trying to track me down
They're trying to drive me underground
And they think that they have got the battle won
I say, forgive them Lord, they know not what they've done
chorus
And I keep on fighting for the things I want
Though I know that when you're dead you can't
But I'd rather be a free man in my grave
Than living as a puppet or a slave
chorus
8.11.04
"Among those primitive peoples who lead satisfactory, unimpaired sexual lives, there is no sexual crime, no sexual perversion, no sexual brutality between man and woman; rape is unthinkable because it is unnecessary in their society. Their sexual activity flows in normal, well-ordered channels which would fill any cleric with indignation and fear, because the pale, ascetic youth and the gossiping, child-beating woman do not exist in these primitive societies. They love the human body and take pleasure in their sexuality. They do not understand why young men and women should not enjoy their sexuality. But when their lives are invaded by the ascetic, hypocritical morass and by the Church, which bring them 'culture' along with exploitation, alcohol, and syphilis, they begin to suffer the same wretchedness as ourselves. They begin to lead 'moral' lives, i.e. to suppress their sexuality, and from then on they decline more and more into a state of sexual distress, which is the result of sexual suppression. At the same time, they become sexually dangerous; murders of spouses, sexual diseases, and crimes of all sorts start to appear." Reich, Children of the Future
7.11.04
Home Office sought to wipe out 'beastly' commune!
Home Office officials tried to shut down a prototype "free: love" hippy commune in the 1920s, according to official papers released yesterday. Files from the 1920's released to the Public Record Office showed that officials regarded the Whiteways Colony in Gloucestershire as a security risk. The commune had been created in the Cotswold Hills near Stroud around the turn of the century, attracting an assortment of socialists, pacifists, "free thinkers and refugees." "Manners had they none and their customs are beastly," wrote an official in 1925.Police paid a husband and wife £400 to infiltrate the commune in the hope of finding evidence of their unspeakable activities.The couple emerged claiming that "promiscuous fornication " was indeed a feature of life in the colony, but they were unable to produce proof. The Home Office could not even work up popular agitation against the commune, as local residents viewed members as cranks rather than as objects of fear.
Morning Star March 12 1999
Home Office officials tried to shut down a prototype "free: love" hippy commune in the 1920s, according to official papers released yesterday. Files from the 1920's released to the Public Record Office showed that officials regarded the Whiteways Colony in Gloucestershire as a security risk. The commune had been created in the Cotswold Hills near Stroud around the turn of the century, attracting an assortment of socialists, pacifists, "free thinkers and refugees." "Manners had they none and their customs are beastly," wrote an official in 1925.Police paid a husband and wife £400 to infiltrate the commune in the hope of finding evidence of their unspeakable activities.The couple emerged claiming that "promiscuous fornication " was indeed a feature of life in the colony, but they were unable to produce proof. The Home Office could not even work up popular agitation against the commune, as local residents viewed members as cranks rather than as objects of fear.
Morning Star March 12 1999
5.11.04
Bertrand Russell:
I think that there is far too much work done in the world, that immense harm is caused by the belief that work is virtuous, and that what needs to be preached in modern industrial countries is quite different from what always has been preached. [...] The morality of work is the morality of slaves, and the modern world has no need of slavery.
in praise of idleness (1932)
Joy of life... depends upon a certain spontaneity in regard to sex. Where sex is repressed, only work remains, and a gospel of work for work's sake never produced any work worth doing. [...] The psychology of adultery has been falsified by conventional morals, which assume, in monogamous countries, that attraction to one person cannot coexist with affection for another. Everybody knows that this is untrue.
4.11.04
similarly,
i have always been fascinated with the bikini atoll (marshall islands), which could have been a beautiful palm-treed island with real people growing up sexually. instead the necrophiliac protestant yank whore came around, resettled the locals to a faraway locus which- unfortunately- was still close enough to the nuclear explosions to be nastily contaminated during the ensuing tests.
I went to meet the people from this island the other day ...
“Tony Blair wanted to restore peace, freedom and democracy for the Iraqi people, he wanted to get rid of that brute Saddam Hussein. He spent millions on that, but he says he can’t pay for us who are British citizens to go home” Allen Vincatassin – representative of the Diego Garcians.
The Diego Garcians were exiled from their island in the 1970’s after deals between Britain, Mauritius and the US, Mauritius got it’s independence from Britain in 1965, but let Britian keep the Chagos Islands, of which Diego Garcia is one. In return Britain paid Mauritius £3 million. Then the thrifty British government agreed to lease the island to the US for military use in return for an £11.5 million discount on nuclear submarines.
The people of Diego Garcia were tricked and forced off their island to make way for an air base. All the animals on the Island were gassed, contract workers were brought in and two of the longest runways in the world were constructed, recently many of the bombers that have been flattening Iraq and Afganistan took off from Diego Garcia.
The Diego Garcians were sent to Mauritus, where they have lived in slums for the last 30 years. They lived in extreme poverty, starved, died or committed suicide. The British government maintained the pretence that the island had no permanent residents, and the Diego Garcians were visiting workers from Mauritius.
In 2000 the high Court ruled that their expulsion from the Islands was illegal. Neo Labour, invented a ‘feasibility study’ to decide whether the islands could be resettled, it decided that it would be ‘too expensive’ to repatriate the Diego Garcians, it would be harmful to the local ecology (the B52s apparently aren’t), and anyway the islands are in danger from global warming.
While the Diego Garcians have been continually prevented from returning to their island, others have been welcomed. The US military for one, along with thousands of Filipino and Mauritian workers who have been brought in to build and maintain the base, which is ironic, as the actual Diego Garcians are now in the Jobcentre in Crawley. Multinationals such as Cable and Wireless also have a presence on the island serving the bases. Recently there’s been a plan to allow tourists to visit the island, which raises the sick idea of anyone being able to visit the island, apart from the people whose homeland it is, oh yeah anyone who can afford the £4,500 cost of the cruise to get there!
Now they are arriving in Britain, from the slums of Port Louis in Mauritius, in search of a better life. The Diego Garcians were ‘graced’ with full British citizenship, a token gesture for being forced to renounce their rights for access to their island. The first group, including Allen Vincatassin arrived in 2002, they were told by the Overseas Territories Minister, at that time, Baroness Amos, that they would be given no help by central government. Luckily the local council were more sympathetic and gave them temporary accommodation until they found work.
Since then, 200 Diego Garcians have landed in Gatwick and are living in Crawley. Many of them, and the most recent arrivals face destitution, denied access to any benefits from the government who exiled them from their homes, despite the fact that they hold British citizenship. They have been denied benefits because they fail the DSS Habitual Residency Test (HRT) they cannot prove they have been resident in Britain for more than a month, the Diego Garcians are currently challenging this legislation and asking the government to allow them benefits from the moment they arrive.
There are disputes between West Sussex County Council (WSCC), who are currently footing the bill for temporary hotel accommodation, and central government. The government says that they won’t pay and that WSCC have no responsibility either. WSCC have been looking after the Diego Garcians so far, but are worried about the costs of looking after the one thousand more Diego Garcians who might come. It was a central government decision to displace the Diego Garcians in the first place, so financial responsibility should rest with them. By passing all responsibility onto the local councils the government might turn local people against the Diego Garcians, as they might resent having to pay for their benefits, although when SchNEWS went to meet them, the Diego Garcians reported that locals had been friendly and sympathetic.
SchNEWs accountants worked out that to put all the Diego Garcians in the world on full benefits for a year would cost roughly 1 million pounds, that’s about the cost of 2 Tomahawk cruise missiles. Bearing in mind that most of the Diego Garcians currently in Crawley are working and don’t need benefits, and most of them wouldn’t need benefits for a year, the cost would never be as high as 2 cruise missiles, scrap one, and the Diego Garcians would probably be fine.
lots more information and photos from GlobalSecurity.org
also on znet
“Tony Blair wanted to restore peace, freedom and democracy for the Iraqi people, he wanted to get rid of that brute Saddam Hussein. He spent millions on that, but he says he can’t pay for us who are British citizens to go home” Allen Vincatassin – representative of the Diego Garcians.
The Diego Garcians were exiled from their island in the 1970’s after deals between Britain, Mauritius and the US, Mauritius got it’s independence from Britain in 1965, but let Britian keep the Chagos Islands, of which Diego Garcia is one. In return Britain paid Mauritius £3 million. Then the thrifty British government agreed to lease the island to the US for military use in return for an £11.5 million discount on nuclear submarines.
The people of Diego Garcia were tricked and forced off their island to make way for an air base. All the animals on the Island were gassed, contract workers were brought in and two of the longest runways in the world were constructed, recently many of the bombers that have been flattening Iraq and Afganistan took off from Diego Garcia.
The Diego Garcians were sent to Mauritus, where they have lived in slums for the last 30 years. They lived in extreme poverty, starved, died or committed suicide. The British government maintained the pretence that the island had no permanent residents, and the Diego Garcians were visiting workers from Mauritius.
In 2000 the high Court ruled that their expulsion from the Islands was illegal. Neo Labour, invented a ‘feasibility study’ to decide whether the islands could be resettled, it decided that it would be ‘too expensive’ to repatriate the Diego Garcians, it would be harmful to the local ecology (the B52s apparently aren’t), and anyway the islands are in danger from global warming.
While the Diego Garcians have been continually prevented from returning to their island, others have been welcomed. The US military for one, along with thousands of Filipino and Mauritian workers who have been brought in to build and maintain the base, which is ironic, as the actual Diego Garcians are now in the Jobcentre in Crawley. Multinationals such as Cable and Wireless also have a presence on the island serving the bases. Recently there’s been a plan to allow tourists to visit the island, which raises the sick idea of anyone being able to visit the island, apart from the people whose homeland it is, oh yeah anyone who can afford the £4,500 cost of the cruise to get there!
Now they are arriving in Britain, from the slums of Port Louis in Mauritius, in search of a better life. The Diego Garcians were ‘graced’ with full British citizenship, a token gesture for being forced to renounce their rights for access to their island. The first group, including Allen Vincatassin arrived in 2002, they were told by the Overseas Territories Minister, at that time, Baroness Amos, that they would be given no help by central government. Luckily the local council were more sympathetic and gave them temporary accommodation until they found work.
Since then, 200 Diego Garcians have landed in Gatwick and are living in Crawley. Many of them, and the most recent arrivals face destitution, denied access to any benefits from the government who exiled them from their homes, despite the fact that they hold British citizenship. They have been denied benefits because they fail the DSS Habitual Residency Test (HRT) they cannot prove they have been resident in Britain for more than a month, the Diego Garcians are currently challenging this legislation and asking the government to allow them benefits from the moment they arrive.
There are disputes between West Sussex County Council (WSCC), who are currently footing the bill for temporary hotel accommodation, and central government. The government says that they won’t pay and that WSCC have no responsibility either. WSCC have been looking after the Diego Garcians so far, but are worried about the costs of looking after the one thousand more Diego Garcians who might come. It was a central government decision to displace the Diego Garcians in the first place, so financial responsibility should rest with them. By passing all responsibility onto the local councils the government might turn local people against the Diego Garcians, as they might resent having to pay for their benefits, although when SchNEWS went to meet them, the Diego Garcians reported that locals had been friendly and sympathetic.
SchNEWs accountants worked out that to put all the Diego Garcians in the world on full benefits for a year would cost roughly 1 million pounds, that’s about the cost of 2 Tomahawk cruise missiles. Bearing in mind that most of the Diego Garcians currently in Crawley are working and don’t need benefits, and most of them wouldn’t need benefits for a year, the cost would never be as high as 2 cruise missiles, scrap one, and the Diego Garcians would probably be fine.
lots more information and photos from GlobalSecurity.org
also on znet
29.10.04
growing up sexually, a collection of references to sexual livin in "primitive societies" (real people): "150 countries and over 550 ethnographic communities are covered"
The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality, "most ambitious and comprehensive cross-cultural sex survey ever undertaken, in any language or part of the world, this three-volume encyclopedia summarizes the sexual attitudes and behavior patterns of thirty-two countries"
Run your town
"The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre." (1977)
In the papers and t.v.
And all that mass stupidity
That seems to grow more everyday
"It pays to make the U.S. school system a crock of shit because the dumber the people are that come out, the easier it is to draft them, make them into docile consumers, or, you know, mongo employees. There are plenty of yuppies out there with absolutely nothing upstairs. Graduate airheads with Ph.Ds and everything but they don't know anything. And what do they listen to? Certainly not MY records."
"A lot of things wrong with society today are directly attributable to the fact that the people who make the laws are sexually maladjusted."
27.10.04
Dear Limey assholes
Last week G2 launched Operation Clark County to help readers have a say in the American election by writing to undecided voters in the crucial state of Ohio. In the first three days, more than 11,000 people requested addresses.
the response has been mixed, here are some of the funny ones...
"Have you not noticed that Americans don't give two shits what Europeans think of us? Each email someone gets from some arrogant Brit telling us why to NOT vote for George Bush is going to backfire, you stupid, yellow-toothed pansies ... I don't give a rat's ass if our election is going to have an effect on your worthless little life. I really don't. If you want to have a meaningful election in your crappy little island full of shitty food and yellow teeth, then maybe you should try not to sell your sovereignty out to Brussels and Berlin, dipshit. Oh, yeah - and brush your goddamned teeth, you filthy animals."
Wading River, NY
"KEEP YOUR FUCKIN' LIMEY HANDS OFF OUR ELECTION. HEY, SHITHEADS, REMEMBER THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR? REMEMBER THE WAR OF 1812? WE DIDN'T WANT YOU, OR YOUR POLITICS HERE, THAT'S WHY WE KICKED YOUR ASSES OUT. FOR THE 47% OF YOU WHO DON'T WANT PRESIDENT BUSH, I SAY THIS ... TOUGH SHIT!"
PROUD AMERICAN VOTING FOR BUSH
"Please be advised that I have forwarded this to the CIA and FBI."
United States
"Who in the hell do you think you are??? Well, I'll tell you, you're a bunch of meddling socialist pricks! Stay the hell out of our country and politics. And another thing, John Kerry is a worthless lying sack of crap so it doesn't surprise me that a socialist rag like yours would back him. I hope your cynical ploy blows up in your cowardly faces, you bunch of mealy-mouthed morons!"
United States
Last week G2 launched Operation Clark County to help readers have a say in the American election by writing to undecided voters in the crucial state of Ohio. In the first three days, more than 11,000 people requested addresses.
the response has been mixed, here are some of the funny ones...
"Have you not noticed that Americans don't give two shits what Europeans think of us? Each email someone gets from some arrogant Brit telling us why to NOT vote for George Bush is going to backfire, you stupid, yellow-toothed pansies ... I don't give a rat's ass if our election is going to have an effect on your worthless little life. I really don't. If you want to have a meaningful election in your crappy little island full of shitty food and yellow teeth, then maybe you should try not to sell your sovereignty out to Brussels and Berlin, dipshit. Oh, yeah - and brush your goddamned teeth, you filthy animals."
Wading River, NY
"KEEP YOUR FUCKIN' LIMEY HANDS OFF OUR ELECTION. HEY, SHITHEADS, REMEMBER THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR? REMEMBER THE WAR OF 1812? WE DIDN'T WANT YOU, OR YOUR POLITICS HERE, THAT'S WHY WE KICKED YOUR ASSES OUT. FOR THE 47% OF YOU WHO DON'T WANT PRESIDENT BUSH, I SAY THIS ... TOUGH SHIT!"
PROUD AMERICAN VOTING FOR BUSH
"Please be advised that I have forwarded this to the CIA and FBI."
United States
"Who in the hell do you think you are??? Well, I'll tell you, you're a bunch of meddling socialist pricks! Stay the hell out of our country and politics. And another thing, John Kerry is a worthless lying sack of crap so it doesn't surprise me that a socialist rag like yours would back him. I hope your cynical ploy blows up in your cowardly faces, you bunch of mealy-mouthed morons!"
United States
19.10.04
*the corporation: the pathological pursuit of profit and power - features chommers
*apparently the swiss were responsible for the indymedia server theft, "The best guess insiders offer, because of the sequence of events, is that the seizure was provoked by a posting that originated on IndyMedia's Swiss site, and that the seizure request therefore originated with Swiss police."
*apparently the swiss were responsible for the indymedia server theft, "The best guess insiders offer, because of the sequence of events, is that the seizure was provoked by a posting that originated on IndyMedia's Swiss site, and that the seizure request therefore originated with Swiss police."
16.10.04
14.10.04
have you heard about this?
BREAKING NEWS: US Authorities Seize IMC Servers in UK
UPDATE 14th Oct: Hard drives returned
The two servers recently seized by US Authorities were returned yesterday morning to Rackspace (the hosting service where the servers were first taken from). Indymedia is now weighing additional legal options after this illegal seizure of its servers. Many of the original questions still remain.
UPDATE 13th Oct: Indymedia UK Call for Solidarity
Indymedia Press Release: 11/12th Oct
Reporters Without Borders Solidarity Statement: "Home Secretary David Blunkett challenged over Indymedia website closures"
Association for Progressive Communications Statement: "APC condemns "arbitrary" seizure of IndyMedia web servers by US and European law enforcers."
UPDATE 9th Oct: Statewatch Statement on Server Seizures and MLAT
"Why did the Home Office agree? What grounds did the USA give for the seizure of the servers? Were these grounds of a "political" nature? Has the Home Office requested that the servers be returned? What does this action say about freedom of expression and freedom of the press?"
UPDATE 8th Oct: Latest Indymedia Statement
"Indymedia condemns the fact that even 24 hours after two entire servers were taken down, Indymedia is still not getting any information of the reasons for the order. By taking down 2 servers more than 20 Indymedia sites were affected in different countries globally as well as several unrelated projects. Indymedia considers this extremely invasive operation a a serious threat to the Freedom of Speech worldwide. Indymedia insists that the servers are returned"
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Statement (8th Oct)
"We have witnessed an intolerable and intrusive international police operation against a network specialising in independent journalism," said Aidan White IFJ General Secretary. "The way this has been done smacks more of intimidation of legitimate journalistic inquiry than crime-busting."
znet reports...
schnews also covers this story this week
I will be up in London at the ESF, schnews conference and schnews party this weekend... jesse?
BREAKING NEWS: US Authorities Seize IMC Servers in UK
UPDATE 14th Oct: Hard drives returned
The two servers recently seized by US Authorities were returned yesterday morning to Rackspace (the hosting service where the servers were first taken from). Indymedia is now weighing additional legal options after this illegal seizure of its servers. Many of the original questions still remain.
UPDATE 13th Oct: Indymedia UK Call for Solidarity
Indymedia Press Release: 11/12th Oct
Reporters Without Borders Solidarity Statement: "Home Secretary David Blunkett challenged over Indymedia website closures"
Association for Progressive Communications Statement: "APC condemns "arbitrary" seizure of IndyMedia web servers by US and European law enforcers."
UPDATE 9th Oct: Statewatch Statement on Server Seizures and MLAT
"Why did the Home Office agree? What grounds did the USA give for the seizure of the servers? Were these grounds of a "political" nature? Has the Home Office requested that the servers be returned? What does this action say about freedom of expression and freedom of the press?"
UPDATE 8th Oct: Latest Indymedia Statement
"Indymedia condemns the fact that even 24 hours after two entire servers were taken down, Indymedia is still not getting any information of the reasons for the order. By taking down 2 servers more than 20 Indymedia sites were affected in different countries globally as well as several unrelated projects. Indymedia considers this extremely invasive operation a a serious threat to the Freedom of Speech worldwide. Indymedia insists that the servers are returned"
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Statement (8th Oct)
"We have witnessed an intolerable and intrusive international police operation against a network specialising in independent journalism," said Aidan White IFJ General Secretary. "The way this has been done smacks more of intimidation of legitimate journalistic inquiry than crime-busting."
znet reports...
schnews also covers this story this week
I will be up in London at the ESF, schnews conference and schnews party this weekend... jesse?
amusing quarrel, in the words of pd "virtue dictatorship vs. gattaca".
http://www.radicalphilosophy.com/print.asp?editorial_id=10101
"According to a recent article in The Observer (10 October 1999) the fashionable dinner tables of German society are buzzing with controversy over `the death of critical theory and the future of metaphysics'. The article refers to a debate provoked by a conference address given at Elmau in Bavaria last July by Peter Sloterdijk. His paper, `Regeln fur den Menschenpark : Ein Antwortschreiben zum Brief über den Humanismus' (Rules for the Human Theme-Park: A Reply to the Letter on Humanism), was addressed to an international conference on `Philosophy after Heidegger'. Copies of the address began circulating among academics shortly after the conference. Subsequently, two heavily critical articles were published in the national press. Sloterdijk's bad-tempered response to these articles (Die Zeit, 9 September 1999) has generated an animated quarrel, whose participants have included Manfred Frank, Ernst Tugendhat, Ronald Dworkin and Slavoj Zizek, among others."
http://www.zeit.de/archiv/1999/37/199937.sloterdijk_.xml
"Sehr geehrter Herr Habermas,
Gerüchte reisen bekanntlich schnell. Irgendjemand hat einmal gesagt, sie reisen so schnell wie der böse Wille. Inzwischen ist auch mir, als letztem Glied in der geflüsterten Kette, mit einer Verzögerung von nur wenigen Wochen, sogar an meinem Ferienort im Süden zu Ohren gekommen, was Sie über mich und meinen Elmauer Vortrag zum Humanismusbrief von Martin Heidegger verbreitet haben sollen, mit Worten, die eher aus dem polemischen Reservoir Ihres politischen Wortschatzes stammen, wobei der Ausdruck "jungkonservativ" eine große Rolle spielt.
Mit Rücksicht darauf, dass es zwischen uns einmal hellere Tage gegeben hat, sogar die unausgeführte Vorskizze zu einer Freundschaft, und weil ich meine Erinnerungen an die Hochachtung, die ich für Sie als Verfasser einiger für mich und meine Generation lehrreicher Bücher empfand, nicht im Affekt verwerfen will, schreibe ich Ihnen hiermit, um die Voraussetzungen für eine Rückkehr zu dialogischen, nicht diffamierenden Verständigungsformen von meiner Seite her zu erfüllen. Ich tue den ersten Schritt, obwohl es Ihnen der Situation nach oblegen hätte, ihn zu machen. Ich honoriere den Bonus des Älteren, den Sie in Bezug auf mich genießen. Ich betrachte bis auf weiteres Ihre Auslassungen als bloße Irrtümer, die Sie revidieren können, und Ihre Urteile als Ausdrücke eines Zustands, von dem eine Rückkehr in gemäßigte Formen noch möglich ist.
Bitte beachten Sie die Formulierung "bis auf weiteres". Sie drückt aus, dass ich der Obergrenze meiner Toleranz nahe bin. Sie haben, Herr Habermas, mit zahlreichen Leuten über mich geredet, niemals mit mir. In unserem argumentierenden Gewerbe ist das bedenklich; bei einem Theoretiker des demokratischen Dialogs ist es unverständlich. Mit Ihren Reden haben Sie, um nach dem zu urteilen, was ich im indirekten Rücklauf höre, für Aufregung gesorgt. Über Wochen hin, scheint es, haben Sie im Groben gepoltert und im Feinen agitiert. Sie haben zwischen Hamburg und Jerusalem umhertelefoniert, um andere zu Ihrem Irrtum zu bekehren. Sie haben Kollegen, die meine Elmauer Rede bedenkenswert fanden, sogar massiv unter Druck gesetzt. Mehr noch, Sie haben Raubkopien des Textes angefertigt (der Ihnen privatim überlassen worden war) und diese, unter Verletzung aller guten kollegialen, akademischen und publizistischen Sitten, an Journalisten, die Ihre Schüler waren und sind, geschickt, begleitet mit einer expliziten Anleitung zum Falschlesen und mit einer Aufforderung zum Handeln. Sie haben Teilnehmer der Elmauer Tagung mit latent erpresserischen Vorwürfen überschüttet, dass sie in situ nicht so exzentrisch wie Sie auf meine Rede reagiert hatten. Sie haben bei einem Mitarbeiter der ZEIT sowie bei einem Autor des Spiegels Alarmartikel in Auftrag gegeben, bei denen Ihr Name nicht fallen sollte. Zuerst blies Ihr Schüler Assheuer ins Horn, dann hat auch der Mohr seine Schuldigkeit getan.
...
Das Wesen Kritischer Theorie wird in der Dämmerung offenkundig. Darf ich notieren, was ich jetzt sehe? In ihrer älteren Version (Adorno) war die Frankfurter Schule ein gnostischer George-Kreis von links; sie lancierte die wunderbar hochmütige Initiative, eine ganze Generation in verfeinernder Absicht zu verführen. Sie löste eine tiefe Wirkung aus, die wir unter der Formel vom Eingedenken der Natur im Subjekt zusammenfassen können. In ihrer jüngeren Version (Habermas) war sie ein in Latenz gehaltener Jakobinismus - eine sozialliberale Version der Tugenddiktatur (in Verbindung mit journalistischem und akademischem Karrierismus). Beide Systeme, wenn sie mächtig werden, stellen für normale Demokratien Gefährdungsfaktoren dar - das ältere in nur geringem Maß, weil es aus inneren Gründen nie populär werden kann, das jüngere jedoch umso mehr, weil es überaus häufige und populäre Affekte - das Ressentiment und die Lust am Bessersein - organisiert.
...
Dass Sie, dieser große Kommunikator, dieser vom eigenen Nicht-Faschismus durchdrungene Diskursethiker aus Deutschland (Ihr nachweislich brüchiges Axiom lautet ja: Faschisten sind immer die anderen), die Medien so zum Einsatz bringen, wie dieser Vorfall es bezeugt, gibt mir Gelegenheit zu bemerken, wie im Konflikt Ihre liberale Maske zerfällt. Ihre diskursethischen Vorwände rücken zunehmend zur Seite und lassen robustere Motive erkennen. Ich brauche nur in dieser Woche die ZEIT zu lesen und den Spiegel, um zu wissen, woran ich mit Ihnen und Ihren ethischen Projekten bin. Sie haben aufgehört, den zwanglosen Zwang des besseren Arguments zu bemühen. Jetzt sind Sie endlich bei dem nicht mehr ganz so zwanglosen Zwang der schnelleren Denunziation (und der schlechteren Lektüre) angekommen. (Ihr verstorbener Kollege Luhmann würde bemerken: also doch Umstellung von Moraldiskurs auf Agitation.)
Ach, lieber Habermas, würde ich am liebsten sagen, es ist vorbei. Die Zeit der Söhne mit dem zu guten und dem zu schlechten Gewissen geht vorüber. Was ist daran so traurig? Es gilt, ein neues Kapitel aufzuschlagen. Was ich philosophisch als Theoretiker des humanen Traums dazu beitragen wollte, zeigen meine beiden letzten Bücher.
Die Kritische Theorie ist an diesem 2. September gestorben. Sie war seit längerem bettlägerig, die mürrische alte Dame, jetzt ist sie ganz dahingegangen. Wir werden uns versammeln am Grab einer Epoche, um Bilanz zu ziehen, aber auch, um des Endes einer Hypokrisie zu gedenken. Denken heißt Danken, hatte Heidegger gesagt. Ich meine eher, Denken heißt Aufatmen.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen Ihr P. Sl."
http://www.radicalphilosophy.com/print.asp?editorial_id=10101
"According to a recent article in The Observer (10 October 1999) the fashionable dinner tables of German society are buzzing with controversy over `the death of critical theory and the future of metaphysics'. The article refers to a debate provoked by a conference address given at Elmau in Bavaria last July by Peter Sloterdijk. His paper, `Regeln fur den Menschenpark : Ein Antwortschreiben zum Brief über den Humanismus' (Rules for the Human Theme-Park: A Reply to the Letter on Humanism), was addressed to an international conference on `Philosophy after Heidegger'. Copies of the address began circulating among academics shortly after the conference. Subsequently, two heavily critical articles were published in the national press. Sloterdijk's bad-tempered response to these articles (Die Zeit, 9 September 1999) has generated an animated quarrel, whose participants have included Manfred Frank, Ernst Tugendhat, Ronald Dworkin and Slavoj Zizek, among others."
http://www.zeit.de/archiv/1999/37/199937.sloterdijk_.xml
"Sehr geehrter Herr Habermas,
Gerüchte reisen bekanntlich schnell. Irgendjemand hat einmal gesagt, sie reisen so schnell wie der böse Wille. Inzwischen ist auch mir, als letztem Glied in der geflüsterten Kette, mit einer Verzögerung von nur wenigen Wochen, sogar an meinem Ferienort im Süden zu Ohren gekommen, was Sie über mich und meinen Elmauer Vortrag zum Humanismusbrief von Martin Heidegger verbreitet haben sollen, mit Worten, die eher aus dem polemischen Reservoir Ihres politischen Wortschatzes stammen, wobei der Ausdruck "jungkonservativ" eine große Rolle spielt.
Mit Rücksicht darauf, dass es zwischen uns einmal hellere Tage gegeben hat, sogar die unausgeführte Vorskizze zu einer Freundschaft, und weil ich meine Erinnerungen an die Hochachtung, die ich für Sie als Verfasser einiger für mich und meine Generation lehrreicher Bücher empfand, nicht im Affekt verwerfen will, schreibe ich Ihnen hiermit, um die Voraussetzungen für eine Rückkehr zu dialogischen, nicht diffamierenden Verständigungsformen von meiner Seite her zu erfüllen. Ich tue den ersten Schritt, obwohl es Ihnen der Situation nach oblegen hätte, ihn zu machen. Ich honoriere den Bonus des Älteren, den Sie in Bezug auf mich genießen. Ich betrachte bis auf weiteres Ihre Auslassungen als bloße Irrtümer, die Sie revidieren können, und Ihre Urteile als Ausdrücke eines Zustands, von dem eine Rückkehr in gemäßigte Formen noch möglich ist.
Bitte beachten Sie die Formulierung "bis auf weiteres". Sie drückt aus, dass ich der Obergrenze meiner Toleranz nahe bin. Sie haben, Herr Habermas, mit zahlreichen Leuten über mich geredet, niemals mit mir. In unserem argumentierenden Gewerbe ist das bedenklich; bei einem Theoretiker des demokratischen Dialogs ist es unverständlich. Mit Ihren Reden haben Sie, um nach dem zu urteilen, was ich im indirekten Rücklauf höre, für Aufregung gesorgt. Über Wochen hin, scheint es, haben Sie im Groben gepoltert und im Feinen agitiert. Sie haben zwischen Hamburg und Jerusalem umhertelefoniert, um andere zu Ihrem Irrtum zu bekehren. Sie haben Kollegen, die meine Elmauer Rede bedenkenswert fanden, sogar massiv unter Druck gesetzt. Mehr noch, Sie haben Raubkopien des Textes angefertigt (der Ihnen privatim überlassen worden war) und diese, unter Verletzung aller guten kollegialen, akademischen und publizistischen Sitten, an Journalisten, die Ihre Schüler waren und sind, geschickt, begleitet mit einer expliziten Anleitung zum Falschlesen und mit einer Aufforderung zum Handeln. Sie haben Teilnehmer der Elmauer Tagung mit latent erpresserischen Vorwürfen überschüttet, dass sie in situ nicht so exzentrisch wie Sie auf meine Rede reagiert hatten. Sie haben bei einem Mitarbeiter der ZEIT sowie bei einem Autor des Spiegels Alarmartikel in Auftrag gegeben, bei denen Ihr Name nicht fallen sollte. Zuerst blies Ihr Schüler Assheuer ins Horn, dann hat auch der Mohr seine Schuldigkeit getan.
...
Das Wesen Kritischer Theorie wird in der Dämmerung offenkundig. Darf ich notieren, was ich jetzt sehe? In ihrer älteren Version (Adorno) war die Frankfurter Schule ein gnostischer George-Kreis von links; sie lancierte die wunderbar hochmütige Initiative, eine ganze Generation in verfeinernder Absicht zu verführen. Sie löste eine tiefe Wirkung aus, die wir unter der Formel vom Eingedenken der Natur im Subjekt zusammenfassen können. In ihrer jüngeren Version (Habermas) war sie ein in Latenz gehaltener Jakobinismus - eine sozialliberale Version der Tugenddiktatur (in Verbindung mit journalistischem und akademischem Karrierismus). Beide Systeme, wenn sie mächtig werden, stellen für normale Demokratien Gefährdungsfaktoren dar - das ältere in nur geringem Maß, weil es aus inneren Gründen nie populär werden kann, das jüngere jedoch umso mehr, weil es überaus häufige und populäre Affekte - das Ressentiment und die Lust am Bessersein - organisiert.
...
Dass Sie, dieser große Kommunikator, dieser vom eigenen Nicht-Faschismus durchdrungene Diskursethiker aus Deutschland (Ihr nachweislich brüchiges Axiom lautet ja: Faschisten sind immer die anderen), die Medien so zum Einsatz bringen, wie dieser Vorfall es bezeugt, gibt mir Gelegenheit zu bemerken, wie im Konflikt Ihre liberale Maske zerfällt. Ihre diskursethischen Vorwände rücken zunehmend zur Seite und lassen robustere Motive erkennen. Ich brauche nur in dieser Woche die ZEIT zu lesen und den Spiegel, um zu wissen, woran ich mit Ihnen und Ihren ethischen Projekten bin. Sie haben aufgehört, den zwanglosen Zwang des besseren Arguments zu bemühen. Jetzt sind Sie endlich bei dem nicht mehr ganz so zwanglosen Zwang der schnelleren Denunziation (und der schlechteren Lektüre) angekommen. (Ihr verstorbener Kollege Luhmann würde bemerken: also doch Umstellung von Moraldiskurs auf Agitation.)
Ach, lieber Habermas, würde ich am liebsten sagen, es ist vorbei. Die Zeit der Söhne mit dem zu guten und dem zu schlechten Gewissen geht vorüber. Was ist daran so traurig? Es gilt, ein neues Kapitel aufzuschlagen. Was ich philosophisch als Theoretiker des humanen Traums dazu beitragen wollte, zeigen meine beiden letzten Bücher.
Die Kritische Theorie ist an diesem 2. September gestorben. Sie war seit längerem bettlägerig, die mürrische alte Dame, jetzt ist sie ganz dahingegangen. Wir werden uns versammeln am Grab einer Epoche, um Bilanz zu ziehen, aber auch, um des Endes einer Hypokrisie zu gedenken. Denken heißt Danken, hatte Heidegger gesagt. Ich meine eher, Denken heißt Aufatmen.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen Ihr P. Sl."
13.10.04
sexual minimum a basic human right?
"People with disabilities are cared for as children - you're infantilised - and people don't want to see children as sexual beings... by denying a sex life, we deny disabled people their full human rights."
"People with disabilities are cared for as children - you're infantilised - and people don't want to see children as sexual beings... by denying a sex life, we deny disabled people their full human rights."
12.10.04
sorry to go on about this...
HOW DIRECT ACTION CAN SAVE THE WORLD - SCHNEWS TENTH BIRTHDAY CONFERENCE
SATURDAY 16TH OCTOBER 2004, 2PM – 7PM
CAMDEN CENTRE, EUSTON ROAD, LONDON (Kings Cross tube)
SPEAKERS * DISCUSSION * FILMS * FOOD * BAR * ALL WELCOME * FREE!
Direct action works. Active, popular opposition to oppressive rulers has been the motive force of change throughout history and it still is. If you think nicer politicians are gonna save the world and your job is to cheer them on – well, you’ll be a long time waiting for change.
SchNEWS, the weekly direct action newsletter, has been providing information for action to anti-capitalists since 1994. We’ve put this conference together as an opportunity to discuss, plot and organise resistance to the suicidal onward march of capitalism. From the occupation of Iraq to criminalising dissent, from the growth of sweatshop economies to creeping privatisation of basic services, capitalism is attacking more and more people. And more and more people are resisting.
This conference is a chance to hear about that resistance first hand and find out how you can get involved in it.
2pm WORK Our lives, their profits – how we fight exploitation
Anne Jones, mother of Simon Jones and campaigner for workplace safety
Edgar Paez, international secretary of Columbian trade union SINALTRAINAL
3pm WEATHER Climate change - capitalism's legacy to the world
Rising Tide, grassroots network taking action on the root causes of climate change
4pm WAR The warmongers and how to oppose them
*this meeting is chaired by none other than yours truly*
Mark Curtis, director of the World Development Movement and author of Web of Deceit
Ewa Jasiewicz, human rights activist and journalist imprisoned by Israeli government
Jo Wilding, activist, writer and witness to the seige of Falluja
5-7pm WINNING How direct action can save the world
Schnews,
Speaker on opposing the G8 visit to Scotland in 2005
Anne, Edgar, Mark, Ewa, Jo and everyone else!
This event receives no financial support from the government of London. As if.
HOW DIRECT ACTION CAN SAVE THE WORLD - SCHNEWS TENTH BIRTHDAY CONFERENCE
SATURDAY 16TH OCTOBER 2004, 2PM – 7PM
CAMDEN CENTRE, EUSTON ROAD, LONDON (Kings Cross tube)
SPEAKERS * DISCUSSION * FILMS * FOOD * BAR * ALL WELCOME * FREE!
Direct action works. Active, popular opposition to oppressive rulers has been the motive force of change throughout history and it still is. If you think nicer politicians are gonna save the world and your job is to cheer them on – well, you’ll be a long time waiting for change.
SchNEWS, the weekly direct action newsletter, has been providing information for action to anti-capitalists since 1994. We’ve put this conference together as an opportunity to discuss, plot and organise resistance to the suicidal onward march of capitalism. From the occupation of Iraq to criminalising dissent, from the growth of sweatshop economies to creeping privatisation of basic services, capitalism is attacking more and more people. And more and more people are resisting.
This conference is a chance to hear about that resistance first hand and find out how you can get involved in it.
2pm WORK Our lives, their profits – how we fight exploitation
Anne Jones, mother of Simon Jones and campaigner for workplace safety
Edgar Paez, international secretary of Columbian trade union SINALTRAINAL
3pm WEATHER Climate change - capitalism's legacy to the world
Rising Tide, grassroots network taking action on the root causes of climate change
4pm WAR The warmongers and how to oppose them
*this meeting is chaired by none other than yours truly*
Mark Curtis, director of the World Development Movement and author of Web of Deceit
Ewa Jasiewicz, human rights activist and journalist imprisoned by Israeli government
Jo Wilding, activist, writer and witness to the seige of Falluja
5-7pm WINNING How direct action can save the world
Schnews,
Speaker on opposing the G8 visit to Scotland in 2005
Anne, Edgar, Mark, Ewa, Jo and everyone else!
This event receives no financial support from the government of London. As if.
11.10.04
At a speech given in 1961 at the California Medical School in San Francisco, Huxley said: "There will be in the next generation or so a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them but will rather enjoy it."
8.10.04
my cartoon for this week's schnews which also includes lot's of information about the 'alternative' ESF next weekend in London:
The European Social Forum is coming to London next week. “A giant gathering for everyone opposed to war, racism and corporate power, everyone who wants to see global justice, workers’ rights and a sustainable society.” Which sounds pretty good, but behind the scenes the ESF has been hijacked by authoritarian organizations such as the Socialist Worker’s Party. Racist, war crazy corporate whores Neo Labour have even got in on the act through Ken Livingstone and the GLA, who have been involved in organizing and funding the events. And it’s not just grassroots environmental and direct actions groups that are complaining about all this. Recently a coalition of the UK trade justice and environmental NGOs wrote in a letter: “Many British NGOs are keen to get involved in the ESF but have found it difficult to do so because of the lack of transparency and openness in the UK process”.
So, instead of standing idly by while the ESF claims to be the new representative body of “sensitive, political active citizens”, we want to demonstrate “another possible world” - a world which is already here today. The world of Autonomy, Self-Organisation, Solidarity and Sustainability. There’s a whole load of free/donation events happening 13th-17th, for a full programme www.altspaces.net
BEYOND ESF is a free direct action conference and celebration of self-organised cultures of resistance. The 4 main themes are Autonomy & Struggle, No Borders & Migration, Casualisation, and Social Control & Repression. There will be food, cinema and live music each evening. Beyond ESF: at Middlesex University, Tottenham Campus, White Hart Lane, N17. www.wombles.org.uk/auto On the Friday there will be A Day of Dissent Against the G8, featuring workshops, discussions and a benefit party from 11am. Details
TACTICAL MEDIA PRODUCTION 4 days of events will tackle issues around communication rights: from Community and Alternative Media to Surveillance and the Security State to Intellectual Property. An Indymedia centre will be running all week to report on the ESF, autonomous spaces events, as well as covering protests and actions. There will also be a bar with cheap food, social events film screenings, media training and public access internet computers. All this at The Camden Centre, Bidborough St ( Kings Cross), WC1 more and more
RAMPART squatted art and social space will have film shows, music and workshops, food, internet access, audio & video editing and prop & banner making. It is also home to the Mobile Carnival Forum and the Lab of Insurrectionary Imagination RampART is at 117 Rampart Street, Whitechapel E1.
SOLIDARITY VILLAGE Space for co-operative practical projects for a sustainable economy. Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn and LSE Clement House, Aldwych.
WOMEN’S OPEN DAY There’s no money for subsistence farming, caring, volunteering, fighting for justice – but plenty for war. Women speak out together. 10am-10pm, 14th, Kings Cross Methodist Church, 57a Birkenhead St,WC1.
RADICAL THEORY FORUM hosts a series of discussions on the theme of “How can theory inform action?”, followed by a party with films, art, spoken word and music. 11am-late, 14th, 491 Gallery, 491 Grove Green RoadLeytonstone E11. 491 Gallery
FAIRFORD COACH APPEAL HEARING Demonstrate against detentions without arrest –In March 2003 three coach loads on their way to protest at Fairford Airbase were turned back to London. Appeal at the Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand W1. 9-10am, 14th/15th Fairford Coach Action
CRITICAL MASS Bicycle Protest. 15th, Meet noon at the National Theatre (under Waterloo Bridge) for an afternoon ride, or 6pm for an evening jaunt. London Rising Tide
URBAN FORUM Neo-liberal policies mean the public realm is forever decreasing. This forum will debate reclaiming the rights for citizens. 15th/16th The Bartlett, UCL, Wates House, 22 Gordon St, WC1. see here
LIFE DESPITE CAPITALISM - discussions of alternatives to capitalism for today, rather that waiting for the ‘revolution’. 16th-17th, Old Theatre and Clement House at the LSE, Aldwych.
* There’s a radio and Indymedia have a breakfast show during the ESF on Resonance FM 104.4; 8am-9am, 15th-17th.
* 20,000 copies of the Autonomous Spaces free newspaper are available now from autonomous info-points around London. It has full details about all the events happening at the autonomous spaces with a map of venues. Get copies from LARC, Fieldgate Street or RampART, and the Camden Centre (during the ESF)
SchNEWS have our very own conference. “How Direct Action Can Save the World”.
Active, popular opposition to oppressive rulers has been the force of change throughout history. Find out first hand, how to get involved, organize, plot and discuss resistance to the onward march of capitalism.
2-3pm: WORK: Our lives, their profits – how we fight exploitation.
3-4pm: WEATHER: Climate change – capitalism’s legacy to the world.
4-5pm: WAR: The warmongers and how to oppose them.
5-6pm: WINNING: How direct action can save the world.
Saturday 16th At The Camden Centre, Bidborough Street, (nr. Kings Cross) WC1. more details
GLOBAL VOTE 2004
Even if you are not a US citizen, the November 2 presidential election will have a huge impact on your life. The very idea of democracy requires that you should have a say in choosing who determines your destiny. This site therefore allows non-Americans to vote in the 2004 US presidential election.
GLOBALVOTE2004.ORG is totally neutral. You may vote for any candidate. Your vote will be kept secret. And you may only vote once.We will count the votes 48 hours before the election and submit the result to the US media. Just letting US citizens know how the world has voted could influence what looks like a tight race.
click here to vote
Even if you are not a US citizen, the November 2 presidential election will have a huge impact on your life. The very idea of democracy requires that you should have a say in choosing who determines your destiny. This site therefore allows non-Americans to vote in the 2004 US presidential election.
GLOBALVOTE2004.ORG is totally neutral. You may vote for any candidate. Your vote will be kept secret. And you may only vote once.We will count the votes 48 hours before the election and submit the result to the US media. Just letting US citizens know how the world has voted could influence what looks like a tight race.
click here to vote
6.10.04
Fascism & Pornography
"The current attack on the consumers of child pornography is typical of fascist administration. Already we have seen deaths, lives and careers ruined. We've seen people named and tried by the media. It's there - turn on your computer, go to google and zap! there you have it. But don't look. Good heavens, no! That's evil! That's depraved! What's next? Will we prosecute people for looking at billboards?
And all this is from people who say it's okay to conduct "pre-emptive strikes" aginst other people's countries - as long as they're not powerful enough to hit back harder than we can deliver our violence. All this from people who allow Australian citizens to be held illegally in death camps and concentration camps, who allow them to be tortured, who allow them to be subject to fascist show trials. All this from people who lock up innocent people indefinitely in concentration camps in Australia. All this from people who keep the native inhabitants of the country in similar conditions, all out of sight and out of mind. Well fuck them!
Who are the real criminals, the people who look at pictures or the people who administer these kinds of things?
If Balthus's art makes us feel uncomfortable then perhaps we should have a look at repression in our society and how it relates to our discomfort. But hey! Perhaps you shouldb e careful, Gary, about what kinds of pictures you publish on this site. There might be some retrospective legislation and one day they'll come around and take your computers away and name you in the paper. One day they might lock you up. Anything is possible with the kind of administration we have."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)