Re: [microsound] [ot] what is worse?

[jean paul l'asthme <jplasthma@xxxxxxxxx>]

> 
> it's not so much a question of blame, but a question
> of pointing out that 
> global capitalism constitutes a brutal attack on
> over half the planet's 
> population, and that brutal attack continues almost
> relentlessly in the wake 
> of the brutal attacks on U$ soil. there is injustice
> in that. that was 
> graeme's point (or do i misunderstand you, g?)

i agree with this and i think that anyone aware of the
problems inherent in certain power and trade
structures
could not likely disagree with it and back it up... i
suppose what i meant more (though didn't adequately
explain) was that i think there is a delineation that
must be made between the two (i believe) different 
issues of global corporate injustice and the shopping
and buying habits of the average person.  certainly
there is BIG problems with the way the global economy
maginalizes, brutalizes and exploits the less
developed world, no one is arguing with that.  the
issue that i think ought to be recognized, is that
many people don't even realize that this is the sort
of behavior that they're buying habits encourage.
to a certain extent, corporate media has taken
measures
to ensure that people don't readily make these sorts
of
connections, and alternative media channels usually
require effort that most people don't want to, don't
know how to, or haven't been told to exert.  the real
problem lies in the marketing of these products, and
the illusion of choice that people are given.  there's
so many different colors and fashions to choose from,
but ultimately they seem mostly to lead back to the
same twisted corrupt paths.  how do you let people 
know this on a large enough scale that you can make
a difference? and can you blame someone for doing 
things that they likely don't even know they're doing?

as far as the relevance of this to tuesday's attacks,
of course they must be faced together as two heads
of the same ugly beast...  there is a lot of bad shit
in the world and it all plays out to effect everything
else in the end.  my suspicion though, is that by and
large, the biggest issue at hand was u.s. foreign 
policy, and i think without big changes, we are likely
to be susceptible to further tragedies.

my original reply was written mostly with the idea
that it was not the time to discuss those things, and
i still think that, but i recognize your insistence
that innocent people fall by the wayside unreported
in the wake of the attacks, and i frankly don't know
how to respond to that.
with love,
gregory

> 
> >while i think it's necessary to
> >be conscientious, i can also understand the
> attitude
> >of the consumer who doesn't have the time nor the
> >energy to pay attention to these sorts of things.
> >i am a little disturbed at your apathetic attitude,
> 
> you totally missed the boat man. graeme is
> *criticizing* the apathy of 
> people who will carry on with "bizness as usual" in
> the wake of these 
> attacks. and as for the "consumer" who doesnt have
> the "time or the energy", 
> i cant accept that as an excuse. once one becomes at
> least marginally aware 
> of the structure of global capitalism, there is no
> excuse for not at least 
> *trying* to make more ethical purchases or
> confronting the system in some 
> way. the "time and energy" that we find so precious
> over here is bought at 
> the expense of millions of people in the so-called
> "third world". our whole 
> "way of life" is totally parastical. that may be
> part of the motivation 
> behind the attacks we've seen, as reprehensible as
> they are.
> 
> >and for what it's worth, i don't think it's the
> time
> >to criticize the marketplace.
> 
> whose interests are served by this attitude? not
> those of the innocent 
> victims. not those in the third world who are about
> to become innocent 
> victims, as in afghanistan.
> 
> >right now should be a
> >quiet time to figure out what's next, and to say
> >goodbye to what's past.
> 
> grame has already figured out what's next. that was
> the point.
> 
> i agree that we need to be extremely sensitive and
> cautious after what we've 
> seen this week, but i dont think thats an excuse to
> avoid confronting unjust 
> structures of power. for me, the best thing we can
> do to honour the memory 
> of innocent victims is to confront *all facets of*
> the structures that 
> victimized them.
> 
> phil
> 
>
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