07 October 2002

Wow!  I've spent hours  reading, and it's fascinating stuff.  An innocent one-liner on Instapundit led me here,  a discussion on "why commentators tend to treat public figures and thinkers associated with communism with more respect than those associated with fascism."  But the real meat is on the weblog of  Brad DeLong (a Professor, of Economics at Berkely), and the context is a series of reviews of the recently-published autobiography of Eric Hobsbawm, a British Marxist historian, whom I read about a couple of weeks ago, in The Economist's review of his autobiography. Yet another review, from The Guardian, is here. A fascinating discussion about socialism vs fascism, and why otherwise intelligent and wise individuals were led astray for so long in supporting communism, and, in some cases, still do.  Something that has always interested me, and has relevance in South Africa today, where serious communists still exist, and are very close to the seat of power. Very interesting reading, with links to books on the subject, and a reference to a very readable Tom Wolfe article from 1987 (quite prescient), with the comments descending into very erudite, academic, vicious and brutal arguments - I stopped reading before the end. But, how's this for a thought - the world would have been better off had the Kaiser been victorious in World War I than with the peace of Versailles?  I'd better buy the book(s). 1:51:51 AM    comment []

I've just read all of the Mark Steyn column referenced below, and I still find it quite persuasive.  But I was intrigued by his opening paragraphs: Nelson Mandela says it’s the US and not Saddam Hussein who’s ‘the threat to world peace’. Canada’s transport minister, in his contribution to 11 September observances, regretted that the Soviet Union was no longer around to act as a check on American ‘bullying’. Sweden’s Goran Persson wants to build up the EU because it’s ‘one of the few institutions we can develop as a balance to US world domination’. Sweden was famously relaxed about Nazi world domination and Soviet world domination, but sometimes there are threats so monstrous that even in Stockholm you have to get off the fence. In Germany Gerhard Schroeder is Chancellor today because his party successfully articulated the great menace that George W. Bush poses to the planet. Feel free to insert standard ‘arrogant cowboy’ imagery and other examples of rampant Texaphobia. Let’s suppose for a moment that these fellows are right. The question then arises: So what are you going to do about it? Well, Mr Mandela’s country has been busy selling aluminium tubes for uranium enrichment centrifuges to Saddam. The first secretary of the South African embassy in Jordan is serving as the local sales rep to Iraqi procurement agents. Thanks to these sterling efforts, they’re bringing significantly closer the day when the entire Middle East, much of Africa and even Europe will be under the Saddamite nuclear umbrella and thus safe from Bush’s aggression. Way to go, Nelson!   That's interesting (the highlighted portion).  Where did that info come from?  I haven't read it anywhere else, although I hinted at it myself, 10 days ago. 12:01:16 AM    comment []