[D-G] analysis state of affairs Billy Budd

Mike Lansing badger2 at mail2world.com
Tue May 7 13:29:29 PDT 2019


Very busy at this time and may not be able to respond for several weeks.
<-----Original Message-----> 
>From: Johnatan Petterson [internet.petterson at gmail.com]
>Sent: 5/5/2019 5:30:35 PM
>To: deleuze-guattari at lists.driftline.org
>Subject: Re: [D-G] analysis state of affairs Billy Budd
>
>hello Mike
>
>
>i wonder what do you think about this writer
>
>he published an article on the intercept
>
>
>i think it is interesting in light of the upcoming elections in EU:
>
>my opinion is that the universalism like Macron defends, and about
which
>Hazony is talking
>
>is down next elections here in Europe. Deleuze himself by the way was
>against Human Rights Organisation,
>
>and saw the introduction of the East of Europe ( see for that
>'Negotiations'1989)
>
>as a chief source of wonder for the becomings in the continent.
>
>
>the question is why there aint no political parties attacking
universalism
>
>besides the parties of the illiberals.
>
>there could be ecologists, leftists, and center (that is 'democratic'
or
>'liberal' family ) parties capable to defend
>
>an other vision of Europe, but the yellow jackets 'communication'
between
>people is a bit 'wrong' because unleashing everyone in the net of LePen
>
>who are so cynical folks.
>
>so the leaders of these liberal parties are freaking out, frightened
as says
>
>here Mister Hussain by the sliding of opinions which is the disaster
>
>of an nothingness of will, or a will to nothingness. as pointed by
Melville
>in
>
>Billy Budd with the so dirty (alien 'violet' eyed) officer Claggart
sudden
>attack Billy unduly who is described as a nobleman of the
>
>sails.
>
>Capitain Vere is the one uncapable to make the right decision, and
>sacrifices Billy.
>
>the crowd of sailors nods. (the end)
>
>the new version of Europe would instead be one more centered on nation
>states
>
>which would indeed each acquire more independence
>
>
>there would remain capitals , for debates and thoughts , for exchange
>between those states,
>
>which shall strongly be needed.
>
>
>
>
>the logic behind Mister Hussain is that the US having chosen
Independence
>from ONU and such,
>
>will loose 'previous' credit
>
>within the chief of those defending Europe, and these folks
>
>from the other ships are betting on 'autodestruction'
>
>be it the ship Israel, or the one of Europe
>
>
>let's be preserved from all that violence !!
>
>
>JPett
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Murtaza Hussain <https://theintercept.com/staff/murtaza-hussain/>
>
>
>May 5 2019, 3:00 p.m.
>
>RIGHT-WING ISRAELI AUTHOR WRITES "THE VIRTUE OF NATIONALISM" - AND
>ACCIDENTALLY EXPOSES ITS PITFALLS
>
>
>
>OVER THE PAST decade, far-right nationalist movements have swept into
power
>across the world, from the United States to India, from Brazil to
Europe.
>Every movement needs its texts. Today, the nationalists seem to have
found
>one: "The Virtue of Nationalism," by the conservative Israeli
philosopher
>Yoram Hazony. Among other plaudits, the book was recently awarded 
>"Conservative
>Book of the Year
><https://www.c-span.org/video/?459062-1/isi-conservative-book-year-
>award>"
>by an influential conservative campus organization. If nothing else,
the
>award is an indicator of where conservative thought is headed.
>
>Hazony has a gift for unpacking complex ideas in an accessible way. The
>problem is that his ideas are not very consistent. They are also
>potentially dangerous, especially for people living in small, isolated
>countries like his own.
>
>Nationalism has a reputation for starting wars, a painful historical
legacy
>that caused the idea to fall out of favor. But "The Virtue of
Nationalism"
>makes the case for embracing it again as a positive force. Hazony
argues
>that nationalism is the only defense against "imperialism" - defined
today,
>by Hazony and some other nationalists, as the tyranny of universal
values
>and liberal international organizations like the United Nations, the
North
>Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the International Criminal Court. The
>book is a rallying cry against a world of universal rights and laws. It
>calls instead for each individual nation to govern itself as it sees
fit.
>Such an arrangement will bring greater peace to the world, Hazony
suggests,
>as each country focuses on tending its own garden instead of going on
>ideological adventures abroad.
>
>
>There's an important subtext running through the book: Hazony's anger
over
>international criticism of Israeli human rights abuses. Despite the
>incredible international support extended to Israel over the years,
Hazony
>feels that recent criticisms of its abuses amount to "a shaming
campaign of
>a kind that few nations have historically experienced." For this
insult,
>he's ready to cast all the liberal institutions of the world - the ones
>that have been sustaining and defending Israel for decades - as its
mortal
>enemies. He appears positively gleeful about the potential destruction
of
>liberal internationalism at the hands of the new nationalist vanguard.
>
>Hazony's disdain for international norms and the organizations that
promote
>them might already be winning out. President Donald Trump is in the
White
>House; Brexit is casting a pall over the European Union; China is
focused
>on its own development with little else in mind; and authoritarian
leaders
>are taking power in northern Europe, South Asia, Latin America, the
Middle
>East, and elsewhere.
>
>When I noticed high-profile conservatives in the United States praising
>"The Virtue of Nationalism," I picked up a copy, expecting to be
grudgingly
>impressed by an argument that I disagreed with. It failed to deliver on
>even that modest goal. The whole argument instead felt like an extended
>tantrum. In that sense, at least, it partly reflects the mood of the
>historically untutored nationalist movements that are upending
politics all
>over the world.
>
>THE CASE FOR the new nationalism is justified by an old ideology: the
>anti-imperialism of the right. This version of anti-imperialism is
distinct
>from its left-wing variant. Right-wing anti-imperialism holds that
>outsiders have no legitimate interest in what countries do within
their own
>borders. Unlike liberals and leftists, they recoil from the idea of
global
>standards for human rights and governance. In their worldview, the
major
>imperialists of today are the international institutions that seek to
>impose such standards - notably the EU and the U.N.
>
>
>These institutions, Hazony argues, are "a version of the old
imperialism"
>which bludgeons the sovereignty of nations. Their tools are global
>governance and the ideology they seek to impose is liberalism. In the
words
>of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, they are the "globalists," a term
>that Hazony also uses. The heroes fighting this global empire,
meanwhile,
>are anti-EU political movements, Trump supporters, and illiberal
>governments like Brazil and Hungary.
>
>"The Virtue of Nationalism" is in large part a work of nostalgia -
calling
>back to and justifying historic notions of nationalism. As for the
baggage
>that entails, Hazony gets around it by claiming that the two world
wars it
>helped foment happened because the countries involved weren't really
>nations. Germany under the Nazis was actually an "empire" because it
sought
>to interfere in the affairs of others, as the EU does. Even World War I
>happened not because of a scramble to steal the wealth of overseas
>colonies, the traditional historical explanation, but because
Europeans had
>been seduced by the idea of making their way of life universal.
>
>
>There are, of course, perfectly valid reasons to criticize institutions
>like the EU and NATO. These international bodies are often justly
accused
>of entrenching inequality or privileging the interests of their most
>powerful members. Still, it's hard to take seriously the claim that
being a
>member of the EU is anything like being subjugated by Genghis Khan.
>
>Unlike medieval villagers conquered by the Mongols, countries today
>fiercely compete to become members of the EU and NATO. They seek
membership
>for the considerable economic and political benefits it brings. But
they
>also do it because they're afraid of traditional nations like Russia,
which
>is not as peacefully inward-looking
><https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_military_intervention_in_the_Syr
ian_
>Civil_War>
>as
>Hazony's book might suggest, despite having shed any pretense of
wanting to
>spread a universal ideology. Seeing nationalism as a force for peace
>requires looking at both the past and present with some heavy blinkers.
>
>AS ANY GOOD nationalist would be, Hazony is extremely defensive of his
own
>country: Israel. Here's how he portrays the Jewish state's
predicament: In
>a world overrun by liberal globalists, Israel stands out as a place
that
>jealously defends its own sovereignty. For asserting the right to act
as it
>sees fit, it has been shamed by the international community and its
>tyrannical human rights rhetoric.
>
>Remarkably, for a book that talks about Israeli nationalism so much,
the
>word "Palestinian" appears a grand total of once in its text: when the
>author asks in frustration why the world keeps haranguing Israelis
about
>Palestinian statehood.
>
>
>Alongside Israel, there are two other countries Hazony claims that have
>been similarly victimized by the shaming campaigns of liberals and
>globalists: apartheid South Africa and Serbia under the dictatorship of
>Slobodan Milosevic. The reason for this is liberal racism. "The reason
>these people were singled out for special hatred and disgust, and for
>special punishment, is that white South Africans and Serbs are seen as
>Europeans, and are held to a moral standard that is without any
relation to
>what is expected of their African or Muslim neighbors," Hazony writes.
It
>is axiomatic to him that whatever crimes white Afrikaners or Serbs
commit
>must obviously pale in comparison to the barbarism of black Africans
and
>Muslims.
>
>For all his righteous defense of nationalism, Hazony's argument against
>liberal imperialism is not even consistent. The U.S. invasion of Iraq
in
>2003 was justified in no small part on the grounds of spreading
democratic
>values, even at the cost of hundreds of thousands of dead and maimed
>Iraqis. Incredibly, Hazony doesn't seem to consider that imperialism.
In
>the book, he suggests that the real imperialists during the war were
the
>U.N. and EU officials complaining about American unilateralism. "Their
>problem," Hazony writes, "is that the United States acts as an
independent
>nation."
>
>IT'S WORTH NOTING that Hazony's hostility towards liberal
internationalism
>is consistent with the calculus of Israel's current leadership. Prime
>Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made no secret of his enthusiasm for
>nationalist leaders like Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro and Hungary's Viktor
>Orban. These strongmen are apparently a refreshing change from the
liberals
>who - having created, sustained, and defended Israel for decades -
continue
>to make annoying inquiries about Palestinian statehood and human
rights.
>
>
>Israelis pining for the return of right-wing nationalism should think
>twice. It's not clear that their country would do so well in such a
world.
>The U.S.'s crucial support for Israel is frequently justified not on
pure
>grounds of American national interests, but because of the two
countries'
>supposed "shared values," their democratic characters - however
specious,
>in Israel's case - chief among these. As the world's lone superpower,
the
>United States has been waging wars in the Middle East for decades in
the
>name of promoting liberalism and democracy. These wars have sometimes
been
>justified as defenses of Israel, or have at the very least converged
with
>Israel's proclaimed security interests. If the U.S. shifts to a purely
>nationalist footing, this shared ideological interest disappears.
>
>What might the foreign policy of a nationalist U.S. look like? A
country
>focused more strictly on its own self-interest may find it more
profitable
>to make peace with the populous, oil-rich nations of Iran and the Arab
>world rather than fighting endless wars against them over ideological
>differences. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump gave hints of
>these kinds of sentiments and the response to his candidacy suggests
that a
>desire for this approach also lurks among significant segments of the
>American public. If the U.S. ever truly turns nationalist and abandons
the
>liberal universalism that Hazony finds so oppressive, it would have
less
>impetus to maintain its current approach towards the Middle East. A
country
>with few friends like Israel would then have much more serious
problems on
>its hands than it does today.
>
>
>In Israel and beyond, the nationalist movements that we see across the
>world today are united by a sense of grievance. Spoiled by years of
>relative security and prosperity, even those who owe their very
existence
>to liberal indulgence now consider the slightest demand asked in
return to
>be a form of tyranny. If nothing else, Hazony's book does a great job
of
>encapsulating the psychology of the new nationalists.
>
>"The Virtue of Nationalism" isn't all bad, then. The book also restates
>some familiar criticisms of life in liberal societies, which stand
accused
>of failing to provide a sense of meaning and shared purpose. Such
critiques
>will always be poignant on some level. It's a monumental irony,
however, to
>see people in small, isolated countries like Israel now openly express
>nostalgia for the old world of nationalism. If history is any guide,
they
>should be careful what they wish for.
>
>
>cfr
>
>https://theintercept.com/2019/05/05/israel-virture-of-nationalism-book/
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