Comments on: Mother, Should I Trust the Government?

By: lwaaks

lwaaks — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:08:37 +0000

Thanks for your reply. I don’t know enough history to debate you regarding counter-productive measures of anti-communism but your points sound reasonable. As I recall, the Marshall Plan was rife with special interests. As for Gabriel Kolko, I don’t trust his scholarship after reading a 1970s book by Robert James Maddox that examined several cold war works by New Left historians. He showed that most, including Kolko, fudged their foot notes in a very egregious manner. I’m not sure if Kolko was the worst offender but it left a bad taste in my mouth about “scholars.” Lying for justice?

By: Kevin Carson

Kevin Carson — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:39:18 +0000

I wouldn’t be surprised if Agee had Soviet ties, but I would guess that Covert Action Information Bulletin was still a useful source of information on the CIA. But you can substitute “William Blum” for “Phil Agee” if you want.

And I’m sure there was some genuine anti-communism involved in the motivations of American policymakers. But the thing is, as Gabriel Kolko pointed out, there were many possible forms of anti-communist foreign policy, and the specific form they took coincided with the pecuniary interests of the ruling class. And the specific form of their policy, in fact, was actually at cross-purposes to a purely anti-communist aim in many cases, since it blocked most genuine attempts at land reform and labor activism through non-communist means, gave aid to the propertied classes at the expense of the majority, and left Moscow as the main ostensible source of aid to reformists. Stalin, likewise, was no doubt a sincerely convinced communist; but it goes without saying that his idea of communism dovetailed very nicely with his personal power interests.

By: lwaaks

lwaaks — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:16:02 +0000

I enjoyed this article immensely because it articulates so well what I have thought for a long time: It’s easy enough to indict the state for its official, public (self?) sanctioned doings rather than dream up various nutty conspriracy theories. However, a few critical comments: Wasn’t Philip Agee shown to have been a Moscow stooge? And, isn’t it possible that some of the cold war misdeeds were guided by a genuine desire to thwart a real, not imagined, Communist thrust for domination? Stalin was, no doubt, a convinced Communist and even took time to oversee and edit Marxist books/works while in power.

By: planetaryjim

planetaryjim — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:45:56 +0000

In a recent discussion, one of my friends suggested that Linux is the operating system for anarchists, Mac OS for Greens, OS/2 for Libertarians, and Windoze is for the two wings of the Boot on Your Neck party. It then occurred to me:

When the Democrats take power from the Republicans, it is like Microsoft sending a Windows update to your computer. Security holes are blocked and exposed, everything slows way down while the update loads, nothing essential really changes, and half the things you thought you could count on working can’t load properly.

Sometime next year we should organise a rally and march *away* from DC. Toward some free enterprise mecca. Vegas?

By: Cogitator

Cogitator — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:55:44 +0000

When you start out telling me that you think birthers are nuts, I have to think that either you don’t have the stones to stand up to those who would criticize you for that position, or you just aren’t paying attention. Either way, it is hard to continue reading something written by someone who has already lost a great deal of my respect. Nonetheless I did read, and good points were made.

By: Alex Peak

Alex Peak — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 06:41:56 +0000

Mr. Carson writes, “[A]nyone who can seriously look at Obama’s economic team and its policies, and suspect him of being a closet ‘Marxist,’ probably shouldn’t be allowed to use scissors without adult supervision.”

I must take issue with this sentence, or at least the scissor portion of the sentence. A person can know nothing of Marxism and still be very competent scissor handler.

Cheers,
Alex Peak

By: Gene Mayes

Gene Mayes — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:31:56 +0000

Great piece, Kevin. I have some thoughts on the bearing of arms, but I’ll save that for another time.

By: Sheldon Richman

Sheldon Richman — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:13:26 +0000

Simply great, Kevin. You’ve nailed it again. I love the description of the two wings of ruling party.
Sheldon

By: planetaryjim

planetaryjim — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:32:06 +0000

Or Northwoods. Or watch the videos on the Branch Davidian massacre. Or read “Legacy of Ashes” or any other analysis of the misdeeds of the CIA.

I think you misunderstand Olbermann’s basic problem. He’s a jock. To understand this point, watch him as a sportscaster. He’s gung ho. His team should be winning. If his team isn’t winning, there is something unfair going on. His analysis of politics is based on the same jock mentality. Team sports are a poor expression of individual liberty.

You are right about many things in this essay, Kevin. I believe that if people don’t exercise their right to keep and bear arms, they’ll lose it. Jefferson commented on Shay’s rebellion that people have to keep a spirit of resistance to remind the political class from time to time what happens if they become tyrants.

By: Mike Gogulski

Mike Gogulski — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:07:25 +0000

@Ricketson: Links fixed, but your comment left, so as to encourage greater stimulant consumption.

What a piece, Kevin! As compared with the crimes America’s elites commit in plain sight, any notional conspiracy action seems much the lesser fish to fry.