[KS] Jong-il Personality Cult

Frank Hoffmann hoffmann at fas.harvard.edu
Thu Sep 25 21:43:19 EDT 2003


>I must be missing something here. How can something that did not 
>happen (US recapture of the Pueblo) now be scary? Seems like the 
>fact that it was allowed to move should make you less afraid.

Scary -- to me -- is the presumption of an American academic and 
historian (whom I greatly admire for his work) that the U.S. would be 
willing to risk a military "operation" to recapture a long lost piece 
of metal. Scary is the acceptance of such idea (which would violate 
all possible international agreements) as normal and acceptable. 
Scary is the fact that this is being said while we still see what's 
going on in Iraq.

National Public Radio (NPR) did broadcast a number of shows in the 
recent two months about paradigm shifts in U.S. academia and the 
general public. While colonialism and imperialism was being talked 
about as something that we had half half overcome -- certainly 
colonialism -- it is now again being discussed as a positive model. 
"How can we learn from Great Britain's success in building a 
bureaucratic structure in India for what we do in Iraq?" -- Yes, that 
is no joke -- that is what is being discussed on National Public 
Radio. As a historian I could lay back and and say "how very 
fascinating!" But unfortunately it's too near to home.

Frank

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Frank Hoffmann
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