Tanweer wrote: > Second, he holds the notion that the life of a Bangaldeshi has less > intrinsic valuable that of a Western person. This is the old > imperialist and racist view, not different from those propagated by the > worst regimes of history and often the basis of great atrocities.
I applaud the intent of these remarks. However, that the life of a Bangladeshi worker (or of a plain worker from Brooklyn) has less intrinsic value than that of a rich and powerful Western person is not just a view or opinion. We all witness this in practice every day. Cf. Doug's piece in the Nation on how the Westerners in power have been bulldozing the darkies in downtown Brooklyn. The idea that everybody is worth the same is a liberal illusion, although not a terribly bad starting point if working people were to assume it as an ideal to strive for, ideal that will not be realized except through a series of revolutions and definitely not in its fake, self-annihilating, bourgeois form. Inequality is not just a view. It is a reality. It is the problem. That's why socialism, the solution, is so necessary. Value is the tainted, distorted glass through which we (mis)handle or (mis)allocate our human powers. It is a socially objective (independent of our our individual opinions) reality. The true issue with Yglesias' piece is that he assumes inequality with gusto and glee. Disgusting indeed. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
