tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post7268882741361010460..comments2024-03-28T10:07:24.955-04:00Comments on Northern Reflections: War Is PeaceOwen Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-74438655210336091852011-10-30T07:59:52.278-04:002011-10-30T07:59:52.278-04:00In one sense, any conflict is a "war." ...In one sense, any conflict is a "war." But the idea of war certainly suggests a matter of degree.<br /><br />Deliberative bodies deal with conflict all the time. But the sine qua non of any democratic institution is that the participants possess legitimacy.<br /><br />The Harperites start from the position that their opponents are illegitimate and must, therefore, be destroyed.<br /><br />As Caesar warned Marc Antony, "Such men [and women] are dangerous."Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-35027584559028031632011-10-29T19:09:33.936-04:002011-10-29T19:09:33.936-04:00Historically (or anthropologically) speaking, I th...Historically (or anthropologically) speaking, I think a case can be made that politics *is* in fact an extension of war by other means. Violence has often been seen as the most appropriate way to end or manage disputes. Politics, insofar as it is a technology that helps us live together without killing each other (as much) is a fairly recent invention, in the grand scheme of things.<br /><br />I think the problem with Harper is not so much the means he chooses to employ (though his abuse or complete disregard of the democratic process is problematic in itself). The problem with Harper et al has more to do with the ends they pursue, rather than the means they employ. They identify a dispute as a conflict of a certain sort, choose a side, and fight to destroy the enemy.<br /><br />You're right. They would rather side with management against labour than accept that both management and labour are legitimate actors, integral parts of the system that deserve respect.<br /><br />-mgAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-85594216642852204392011-10-29T18:26:59.986-04:002011-10-29T18:26:59.986-04:00These folks have no sense of irony. They do, indee...These folks have no sense of irony. They do, indeed, appear to have read 1984 as a how to manual.<br /><br />The next four years will see lots of changes -- changes which will diminish the dominion.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-31786464213344467262011-10-29T15:28:11.962-04:002011-10-29T15:28:11.962-04:00Scary. You almost have to think that the CPC have ...Scary. You almost have to think that the CPC have a copy of 1984 in their office, except as a how-to guide. War Is Peace. Ignorance Is Strength. The more they hide from facts, hide facts behind closed committee doors, stop the gathering of facts, fire people who point out inconvenient facts to the media, "separate" scientists from their place of work... they want Canadians to be ignorant, and they're willing to be ignorant themselves, as long as they get power. <br /><br />And with the CWB, where they've neglected any serious, evidence-based, economic arguments (somehow farmers will both get more money for their grain AND bread prices will go down), they've forted up behind an emotional appeal to freedom. So in a few years once the multinational grain corps have moved in, Freedom Is Slavery. The lower grain prices, and the higher grain shipping, grain storage, and oil prices, will leave small farmers lucky to keep their shirts after the mortgage.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com