Showing posts with label machiavelli. Show all posts
Showing posts with label machiavelli. Show all posts

Monday, November 18, 2013

Machiavellian . . .

. . . terror



(from wikipedia.com)
"Machiavellianism", is a widely used negative term to characterize unscrupulous politicians of the sort Machiavelli described in The Prince. The book itself gained enormous notoriety and wide readership because the author seemed to be endorsing behavior often deemed as evil and immoral.


(from The Hidden History of 9-11, Edited by Paul Zarembka)
". . . It is vital in a democracy to question the state's own account of itself - to engage in what I call, oppositional theorizing.  Rather than accepting the official story of 9-11, which contains so many unsatisfactory elements, the left ought to theorize the attacks on New York and Washington from an oppositional standpoint. "Citizens are free . . . so long as nothing is hidden from them. Thus, they must watch, surveil, expose and reveal" (Dean, 2000, p. 16).  Sadly, the established left has done the opposite. Respected left commentators have embraced a radicalized version of the White House 9-11 account of September 11. (sic)  Claiming the attacks are payback for globalization exposes the left to charges of supporting terrorism.  Even while denying stereotyped views of Islam, the left hardly doubts bin Laden's "cartoonish parody ... [of] Muslims as angry and violent" (Gusterson, 2004, p. 144).

The left embraces a distorted notion of political violence that sees it as an understandable response of the weak to provocations of the powerful.  Yet, what I have called Machiavellian state terrorism is a common feature in history.  Acts of terror are vulnerable to manipulation, and far more likely to be a weapon of state rulers and their agents, than the oppressed masses.  As a legitimized protection racket, the state may be tempted to inflict harm secretly on its own citizens in order to achieve unpublicized but highly desired goals.  Rival power holders may find it inconvenient to confront lies which help maintain the current regime.  This is likely the case with September 11, which provided American power a convenient excuse to conduct ware on Afghanistan and Iraq that had been planned well before.  The left abjures conspiracy theory (while enabling the official bin Laden story) but oppositional theorizing - questioning government and looking for connections between events, perceiving the world "to be organized beneath the surface" (Sturken, 1997, p. 77) - is a critical feature of what it means to be vitally active in the political universe. . . "







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Monday, November 4, 2013

Once. . .

. . . upon a time. . .


(from The HIDDEN HISTORY of 9-11 edited by Paul Zarembka)
". . . [A] wise prince," advises Machiavelli, must whenever he has the occasion, foster with cunning some hostility so that in stamping it out his greatness will increase as a result."  I introduce a theory of terrorism inspired by Machiavelli's observation.  September 11 may be an example of expedient destruction ordered from within the state, a macabre instance of a state protection racket.  What I call Machiavellian state terrorism is terror/assassination performed for reasons different from the publicized ones; often initiated by persons or groups other than those suspected of the act; and - most important - secretly perpetrated by, or on behalf, of the violated state itself.  Machiavellian state terror advances the ruling agenda while disguising itself as the work of individuals or groups opposed to the state's fundamental principles.  I present as an example, an obscure 1971 assassination in Paris that obliquely foreshadows some critical elements of the official story of 9-11.  I conclude with a discussion on the importance of oppositional theory for maintaining a lively and democratic public discourse. . .'





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Ray Jozwiak: Black & White Then Back

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