This is a test. The last three posts I've sent haven't been posted back to me, so I'm resending this one. Please forgive the multiple posts if you have already recieved this one.
Ray Evans Harrell, ----- Original Message ----- From: Ray Evans Harrell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Keith Hudson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, December 31, 2001 9:43 PM Subject: Re: Major war? > I like knocking heads but I agree with you about the vitupritive comments. > The problem is that sometimes you seem a follower of what Charles Pierce > called the Belief built on Tenacity. I think also that posts like the > present are a big help in dealing with this. I would call it a post that > states your beliefs within a holistic context. > > I agree with you about the whole and the future however I believe that the > issue is not Nation States but the adjustment of cultural belief systems. > In the article from Argentina the point was made about Argentina's belief in > itself as a society. I think sometime that you English over all attitude > presumes a great deal about what will survive and what will not. > > England and Spain are good cases in point. Both tried to change the world > to make them like home and in the process committed genocide on a great deal > of the planet by using the Belief of Authority (another Pierce definition of > Belief) as the basis for their actions. Frankly, it was only the fact > that there was not a convieniant idiot, like Hitler or Stalin, to make > England into the International Pariah that Nazis and Communists became. > > I believe that a good case can be made for the failure of all current > cultural systems having to do with human culture and action including > science and religion. Political systems have the advantage of practicality > but I think the case can be made for human cultural systems being too > complex for any of the systems that we have applied generally thus far. > Note the war in the Middle East and the coming war between India and > Pakistan as remnants of old systems that ill suited the peoples they > were applied to under colonial rule. One might begin with humility and a > little respect but I doubt that we have the courage for that. Anyway, I > liked your post Keith. Happy New Year! > > Ray Evans Harrell, artistic director > The Magic Circle Opera Repertory Ensemble, Inc. > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Keith Hudson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2001 2:22 AM > Subject: Major war? > > > > The news on BBC radio this morning is that India and Pakistan are now > > poised right on the edge of war and that Pakistan is appealing for > > international help in calming the conflict. It is difficult for us in the > > west (at least, it is difficult for me) to appreciate the intensity of the > > tensions that have existed between these countries for many years, but it > > seems very serious at the moment. (And, even if the present tensions die > > away somewhat, the animosity between them will continue for many years > > longer.) > > > > As many longer-standing FWers will know, I am an opponent of the sort of > > nation-state government that probably came to a climax in the first half > of > > the last century leading to two World Wars. However, I am not an opponent > > of government per se. What I've been trying to suggest for some time now > is > > we need all manner of different sorts of government wit different spans of > > responsibility according to different functions -- for purposes of > > freshwater control, pollution, trade, and so on. > > > > And, in the case of this conflict, we really need a major military power > > that has the capability to order both India and Pakistan to desist from > > further sabre-rattling, and to insist on negotiations between them until > > the conflict is sorted out permanently (my own guess being that Kashmir > > should be given independence). Also, there are many other examples around > > the world where minorities are cruelly persecuted and need to be rescued > > from oppression. > > > > The problem is that America is the only power that would be able to do > > this. Unfortunately America is still a nation-state. Even if it acted > > responsibility and objectively in one conflict or another, its own > > interests would come foremost in many others. > > > > Anyway, that's enough on that. It sounds a serious situation just at the > > moment. > > > > Keith Hudson > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________________ > > "Writers used to write because they had something to say; now they write > in > > order to discover if they have something to say." John D. Barrow > > _________________________________________________ > > Keith Hudson, Bath, England; e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > _________________________________________________ > > > >
