Slow bloggin' ahead
Classes have begun here at Reed College. And that means assloads of work. It's all worth it though. I'm taking a history class on the Vietnam war, and after two hours of reading last night, I'm already seeing some things relevant to our situation today. Sort of like how the Truman doctrine of 1947 is like a prequel to the War on Terror. (in that case, any problem in Europe and the World suddenly gets labeled Communist as opposed to every militant organization that Bush and the corporations don't like getting labeled terrorist)
The difference is good things did happen as a result of the Truman doctrine. For instance, that was the basis of support for the Marshall Plan. I think because of the Hawks saying how the post-Afghanistan or post-Iraq war rebuilding would parallel the Marshall Plan, it may cause us younger, anti-war, progressive liberal types to sort of underestimate what the Marshall Plan did, which was completely rebuild a European economy that was about ready to fall from internal postwar strife.
My brother and I went to Stuttgart at the end of December, and one of the first things we noticed, after spending a long time in Hungary, was how hospitable and welcoming the Germans were. My brother made mention of this to a German man, and his response surprised me. The Germans were still incredibly grateful to the Americans for the Marshall Plan, he told us, they owed their entire culture to it.
Maybe this one man didn't have his finger well on the pulse of German culture, maybe this was an isolated opinion, but it still took me aback. If we were actually Marshall planning Afghanistan instead of militarily occupying Kabul and letting chaos reign outside the city, we might actually get some Arabs to think we were benevolent and generous instead of imperialistic and evil. Let's face it, the last good thing to happen to Afghanistan was the Communists. Everything in that country that doesn't resemble a nation trapped in the Middle Ages, like paved roads, hospitals, and the like, came from the Soviet Occupation, and we helped bomb quite a share of it to bits last October.
Well, this was quite a stream of conciousness blog, and the whole point is to tell that there won't be quite as much updates in the near future. In the meanwhile, check out Tom Tomorrow, August Pollack, Atrios as well as the invaluable Cursor and Counterpunch. Enjoy
Classes have begun here at Reed College. And that means assloads of work. It's all worth it though. I'm taking a history class on the Vietnam war, and after two hours of reading last night, I'm already seeing some things relevant to our situation today. Sort of like how the Truman doctrine of 1947 is like a prequel to the War on Terror. (in that case, any problem in Europe and the World suddenly gets labeled Communist as opposed to every militant organization that Bush and the corporations don't like getting labeled terrorist)
The difference is good things did happen as a result of the Truman doctrine. For instance, that was the basis of support for the Marshall Plan. I think because of the Hawks saying how the post-Afghanistan or post-Iraq war rebuilding would parallel the Marshall Plan, it may cause us younger, anti-war, progressive liberal types to sort of underestimate what the Marshall Plan did, which was completely rebuild a European economy that was about ready to fall from internal postwar strife.
My brother and I went to Stuttgart at the end of December, and one of the first things we noticed, after spending a long time in Hungary, was how hospitable and welcoming the Germans were. My brother made mention of this to a German man, and his response surprised me. The Germans were still incredibly grateful to the Americans for the Marshall Plan, he told us, they owed their entire culture to it.
Maybe this one man didn't have his finger well on the pulse of German culture, maybe this was an isolated opinion, but it still took me aback. If we were actually Marshall planning Afghanistan instead of militarily occupying Kabul and letting chaos reign outside the city, we might actually get some Arabs to think we were benevolent and generous instead of imperialistic and evil. Let's face it, the last good thing to happen to Afghanistan was the Communists. Everything in that country that doesn't resemble a nation trapped in the Middle Ages, like paved roads, hospitals, and the like, came from the Soviet Occupation, and we helped bomb quite a share of it to bits last October.
Well, this was quite a stream of conciousness blog, and the whole point is to tell that there won't be quite as much updates in the near future. In the meanwhile, check out Tom Tomorrow, August Pollack, Atrios as well as the invaluable Cursor and Counterpunch. Enjoy
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