Terrible atrocities don't always wake people up

Submitted by Saul Green (United Kingdom), Sep 12, 2006 at 05:09

Dear Daniel,

First observation is that it all depends what you mean by liberal. As a liberal in the tradition of Isaiah Berlin and Karl Popper amongst others, I certainly do not need such an atrocity to make me aware of what is what! It was first reading The Open Society and its Enemies, and seeing how clearly Popper's work resulting from WW2 and its origins had clear lessons for the 1980's and 90's that 'awoke me from my (leftish) dogmatic slumbers'. They say a neo-con is a liberal mugged by reality. It might be truer to say that a neo-con is the liberal you get after you bash a bien pensant's head against the wall of reality a few times.

Be that as it may, I don't think that terrible atrocities necessarily have that effect on those determined not to see. Indeed every atrocity form 9/11 to the daily sectarian murders in Iraq presents a neat exercise in self and other deception to Noam and the KnowAlls. The logic chopping of the medieval scholastics is a paltry amateur affair in comparison. Those of our opponents who are still (ab)using argument must be countered by critical rational argument. This is not primarily for their sakes but for others listening. Harking back to your carreer opportunity so generously offered by al-Qaeda, the pen (computer keyboard) and sword must both be the weapons of the West.

Best wishes

Saul

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