Re: Liberal agony - how to have my cake and eat it too. Re: IsThere Still a Jewish Question? by Ellen Willis
On Nov 12, 2006, at 1:35 AM, utopia1@attglobal.net wrote:
This is a very pomo list. You post something of substance, and Doug
and others reply to their own personal narrative, at many removes from the posting that they claim to be replying to.
You just love that epithet, “pomo,” don’t you? Last July, when you
circulated your Weather Underground piece, you may remember we had an
exchange on your use of the word to describe the revived
organization. When I asked you what you meant by it, you complained I
was demanding you undertake a “research project.” As far as I can
tell, you use it when something annoys you.
In this case, what I offered seems kind of obvious and somewhat
comical; here’s an ardent leftist, Palmer, who is attacking Ellen Willis,
saying she needs to see a shrink and to stop “laying her trip on the Left,”
and he is clearly unaware that she is dead.
I don’t know Steve Palmer, and you’re leaping to a lot of conclusions
about the central tendencies of a group of people based on his post.
Is it pomo to object to generalizing grandly when n = 1?
All this is suggestive of a larger point that I have been making
— the distance from feminist reality of people like Palmer and many
others on this list. I mean, who would have to die for Palmer to notice it? We
could have an experiment: suppose, I hope not, Gloria Steinem died: how long
would it take for Palmer to get the news? And how would this compare with
the rapidity that he learned of the death of some minor Marxist?So, Doug, instead of addressing your own personal narrative — parking charges for high horses etc. , “discourse,” etc. — do you have
anything to say about the above substance? I thought you were into social science.
This is really bizarre. “Many others on this list”? Steve Palmer can
account for himself, but several feminists, some of them even female,
have taken exception to your rants. I consider myself a feminist, and
think you’re delusional. We’ve paid Ellen Willis the compliment of
taking her seriously, and arguing with her where we disagreed, which
is how she would have wanted it, I think. You’ve been unable to
produce all those reams of outside feminist disapproval you promised
the other day. I suspect they don’t exist.
And the high horse remark was substantial. Several times you’ve gone
into high dudgeon mode, finding all manner of offense against decency
and principle when people say things you don’t like. It’s self-
righteous, preachy, and completely unproductive.
Doug