Re: Chinese Psycho

cog on 2005-06-06T10:28:12

"but, the reviewer whines, why doesn't anyone mention any of the good side-effects of Mao's grand deeds?", from TorgoX's journal.

This reminds me of something I once saw in a Portuguese TV show. It was the 25th of April and they were having a special on it.

There was a lady saying really bad things about the old regime.

When they got to read emails from the people at home, they got one from a 17 year old kid saying:

"That lady should shut up. She keeps complaining about Salazar, but she should be speaking instead of the good things he did for our country."

The presenter turned to the lady and said: "What do you have to say about this?"

She replied: "Yes, he may have done some good things for our country, but he also gave the order to kill my father."

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uncomfortable

osfameron on 2005-06-06T13:07:05

From the article:

But even monsters can create good they may never have self-consciously aimed for or wanted.

I don't understand why Will Hutton is now "insane in the membrane" because he should suggest this. Cog's anecdote is moving: the victim of a monster may have no obligation to be understanding. But unless you believe that all world leaders past and present divide themselves neatly into Saints and Demons, then it isn't ridiculous to want to look at the historical context.

Re:uncomfortable

cog on 2005-06-06T13:20:10

it isn't ridiculous to want to look at the historical context

No, it isn't. But it is ridiculous to demand for a victim to be understanding and, even more, to praise the "good actions" of those monsters.

And it is also ridiculous to shove the victims under the carpet and focus only on those so called "good actions", as the kid was doing.

MO, anyway :-)