From: Matt the Enraged Endorphin (mpkundert@students.wisc.edu)
Date: Thu Jan 09 2003 - 22:28:33 GMT
Mari,
Mari said:
isn't that ["...desire for personal freedom and our desire to alleviate the
cruelty done to others."] the so called "American Way"?
Matt:
Certainly is.
On the public/private split following apart, I don't see how it necessarily
will. Certainly contingent events may make the sustainment of the American
Way impossible. That's why the Western way of life isn't necessarily
possible for all parts of the world. The first generally regarded
requirement is industrialization, a certain level of economic prosperity.
For instance, if a people were not used to democracy, had it thrust upon
them, and then fell into an economic depression, it might be reasonable to
think that these people might start to lose faith in democracy (which they
were never really given the time to cultivate) and start looking around for
an alternative (e.g. the Germans after WW I). What we need to do is
sharpen this practical distinction, make sure that we can keep it intact.
If there's a better way of doing things in America, we need to find out
what they are and try them out. Experimentation is what America is all
about. However, I follow Rorty in thinking the explication of the
public/private split is the last conceptual revolution we will need.
On it being too late, its entirely possible. Contingent circumstances may
have caught up with America. But I still retain some youthful optimism.
Matt
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