[IMC Bombay] Aw right

Tue, 15 Apr 2003 14:55:55 +0530

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Your language notwithstanding, my little time with American Lefties, left me
with impressions that could hold water to your own. People are people
everywhere. Lefties, being biologically people, are also the same everywhere.
As a young student in the US, I was mesmerized and addicted with the Ms.
magazine and the Steinem thing and then I heard Camille Paglia and then i hear
Naomi Wolf and then as I reached Three-Oh, I realized I had stopped listening
to myself and then whatever "emancipation" and "individuation" I craved, I
already had. Imagining owning the world in your closet and not knowing it! What
I did remember clearly was the complete anarchy and bitchiness and
competing-for-attention that went on in not just the academic feminism but also
other "leftie/activist" circles. I belong to no circle but found that
increasingly, my boring utterly male-dominated [profession, sans activism, was
ideal!

Something I had mentioned earlier: America is US, as in us. Immigrants built
that nation, desired it to be so, and those who did not like it, went off to
Canada, sorry Canadians! The so called white man is ethnically quite diverse
when you peep into his church and dining room - he eats Matzo balls and marries
that Sicilian woman , OK from Brooklyn, but semi-arranged nevertheless..and so
on. 

So while I still hold on to my earlier opinions, by calling the thirdworlders
"sanctimonious" is  also not on the agenda. I think it is fairly high time we
accepted the Americans, left-handed people, homosexuals, penguins,
toungue-piercers as one of us and just get on with living for that is what life
is about.
-Yashodhara

-----Original Message-----
From:	Mukumbe [SMTP:mukumbe@yahoo.com]
Sent:	Tuesday, April 15, 2003 2:20 PM
To:	imc-mumbai@lists.indymedia.org
Subject:	[IMC Bombay] Aw right

Vickram, I don't think too many people make the
distinction between the nation and the people. I see
too much wholesale sneering among self-professed
lefties in India, too much self-righteousness and
sanctimoniousness as if the mere fact of being born
into and living in a 'third world' nation gives them
some kind of moral superiority. Too much finger
pointing at people who people who choose to live in
America - as if the very landmass is tainted or
something. 

What America is today, every power hungry conclave
would be, if they could. Powerlust isn't restricted to
America. Greed and hypocrisy exist in every nation.
America's just perfected the art. When the RSS
condemns the war - you know that everyone against the
war isn't against it for the right reasons. Don't
forget it was these saffron mofos who first started
making a noise about MNCs.

Sneering at all Americans or at people who may prefer
to live there is really ugly. I've been called an
'imperialist' and a Coke-craver by some bearded
Malayali fucker who probably beats his wife - just for
mentioning I live in the US. Less crude people have
simply sneered, even if they have never done anything
meaningful with their lives except be brown. These are
also the people who simply do not know how to work
collectively - and always set up a hierarchy whatever
they do - even if its 'activism' - where they talk
mystifyingly about Marx and play out their Che
fantasies while plebs do the hard sweaty work and
remain anonymous.

This is just one out of many many similar incidents -
sanctimonious Indian lefties could maybe learn
something from America - where - through the struggles
of so many people - daily interactions and small,
everyday practices (at least among progressives) are
far more egalitarian and cognizant of the notion of
individual dignity than I've ever seen in India, among
groups of any political persuasion. Kancha Ilaiah has
said something very similar. But I'm sure such views
are swiftly dismissed because how can a woman and a
Dalit possibly know what's good for them? 

If these people don't know how to manifest the notion
of equality and collectivity in daily life - the
difference betwen them and the power hungry corporate
elites they condemn is only one of quantity/intensity
and not of quality. 

Maybe all these sanctimonious sneerers at the US
should take a good hard look at their own bigotry as
well and do something about it. 

Now I'll step off my soapbox.

__________________________________________________
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_______________________________________________
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Your language notwithstanding, my little time with American Lefties, left me with impressions that could hold water to your own. People are people everywhere. Lefties, being biologically people, are also the same everywhere. As a young student in the US, I was mesmerized and addicted with the Ms. magazine and the Steinem thing and then I heard Camille Paglia and then i hear Naomi Wolf and then as I reached Three-Oh, I realized I had stopped listening to myself and then whatever "emancipation" and "individuation" I craved, I already had. Imagining owning the world in your closet and not knowing it! What I did remember clearly was the complete anarchy and bitchiness and competing-for-attention that went on in not just the academic feminism but also other "leftie/activist" circles. I belong to no circle but found that increasingly, my boring utterly male-dominated [profession, sans activism, was ideal!\par
\par
Something I had mentioned earlier: America is US, as in us. Immigrants built that nation, desired it to be so, and those who did not like it, went off to Canada, sorry Canadians! The so called white man is ethnically quite diverse when you peep into his church and dining room - he eats Matzo balls and marries that Sicilian woman , OK from Brooklyn, but semi-arranged nevertheless..and so on. \par
\par
So while I still hold on to my earlier opinions, by calling the thirdworlders "sanctimonious" is  also not on the agenda. I think it is fairly high time we accepted the Americans, left-handed people, homosexuals, penguins, toungue-piercers as one of us and just get on with living for that is what life is about.\par
-Yashodhara\par
\par
\pard\li360\cf0\protect\f1\fs16 -----Original Message-----\par
\protect0\pard\protect\fi-1440\li1800\tx1440\b From:\tab\b0 Mukumbe [SMTP:mukumbe@yahoo.com]\par
\b Sent:\tab\b0 Tuesday, April 15, 2003 2:20 PM\par
\b To:\tab\b0 imc-mumbai@lists.indymedia.org\par
\b Subject:\tab\b0 [IMC Bombay] Aw right\par
\protect0\pard\protect\li360\f0\fs20\par
\par
Vickram, I don't think too many people make the\par
distinction between the nation and the people. I see\par
too much wholesale sneering among self-professed\par
lefties in India, too much self-righteousness and\par
sanctimoniousness as if the mere fact of being born\par
into and living in a 'third world' nation gives them\par
some kind of moral superiority. Too much finger\par
pointing at people who people who choose to live in\par
America - as if the very landmass is tainted or\par
something. \par
\par
What America is today, every power hungry conclave\par
would be, if they could. Powerlust isn't restricted to\par
America. Greed and hypocrisy exist in every nation.\par
America's just perfected the art. When the RSS\par
condemns the war - you know that everyone against the\par
war isn't against it for the right reasons. Don't\par
forget it was these saffron mofos who first started\par
making a noise about MNCs.\par
\par
Sneering at all Americans or at people who may prefer\par
to live there is really ugly. I've been called an\par
'imperialist' and a Coke-craver by some bearded\par
Malayali fucker who probably beats his wife - just for\par
mentioning I live in the US. Less crude people have\par
simply sneered, even if they have never done anything\par
meaningful with their lives except be brown. These are\par
also the people who simply do not know how to work\par
collectively - and always set up a hierarchy whatever\par
they do - even if its 'activism' - where they talk\par
mystifyingly about Marx and play out their Che\par
fantasies while plebs do the hard sweaty work and\par
remain anonymous.\par
\par
This is just one out of many many similar incidents -\par
sanctimonious Indian lefties could maybe learn\par
something from America - where - through the struggles\par
of so many people - daily interactions and small,\par
everyday practices (at least among progressives) are\par
far more egalitarian and cognizant of the notion of\par
individual dignity than I've ever seen in India, among\par
groups of any political persuasion. Kancha Ilaiah has\par
said something very similar. But I'm sure such views\par
are swiftly dismissed because how can a woman and a\par
Dalit possibly know what's good for them? \par
\par
If these people don't know how to manifest the notion\par
of equality and collectivity in daily life - the\par
difference betwen them and the power hungry corporate\par
elites they condemn is only one of quantity/intensity\par
and not of quality. \par
\par
Maybe all these sanctimonious sneerers at the US\par
should take a good hard look at their own bigotry as\par
well and do something about it. \par
\par
Now I'll step off my soapbox.\par
\par
\par
\par
\par
\par
\par
__________________________________________________\par
Do you Yahoo!?\par
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo\par
http://search.yahoo.com\par
\par
_______________________________________________\par
IMC-Mumbai mailing list\par
IMC-Mumbai@lists.indymedia.org\par
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-mumbai\par
\par
}

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