From: bfrg9732@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Brian F. Redman)
Subject: The Rationalizing Animal
Summary: Edward S. Herman article from Z magazine
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 15:07:02 GMT
Keywords: treachery trickery deceit deception



The Rationalizing Animal
========================

by Edward S. Herman
Excerpted from "Z" Magazine, October 1992 issue

"Z" magazine is an independent political magazine of critical 
thinking on political, cultural, social, and economic life in the 
United States. It sees the racial, sexual, class, and political 
dimensions of personal life as fundamental to understanding and 
improving contemporary circumstances; and it aims to assist 
activist efforts to attain a better future.

Subscriptions (1 year - 11 issues):
In U.S. -- $25 (Student and Low Income $18)
Canada & Mexico -- $40
International -- $50
Libraries & Institutions -- $35
Single issues -- Back issues $4 per copy

To subscribe or order back issues, write to
Z Magazine
116 ST BOTOLPH ST
BOSTON, MA  02115  U.S.A.

================================================================

Herman begins the article by bringing up Aristotle's apology for 
human slavery as an example of both how long rationalization has 
been going on as well as how even quite intelligent people are 
not immune from it. Although Aristotle did acknowledge the 
reasonableness of the point of view that "slavery is a 
travesty of basic principles of law" and that "...command 
based on mere force is 'indefensible,'" still "he ended up 
allowing slavery to be legitimate."

Herman argues that now, in the second half of the 20th century, 
"...as global capital has become more mobile and competitive, the 
domestic lower classes [i.e. U.S. workers, increasingly including 
those possessing college degrees] are taking more of the brunt of 
preserving elite privilege. This is done in the name of 
competitiveness and efficiency, and because of our inability to 
afford largess to the non-entrepreneurial sectors of society in 
this age of mutual sacrifice. We are also witnessing the 
recrudescence of racist themes of natural inferiority that help 
sustain inhumane and ruthless policies toward the poor."

"In short, there has been no marked change over the past 2,300 
years in human's power to preach a moral ethic while serving 
their self-interest. A small minority do live a life in which 
self-sacrifice is important, and a much larger number live by 
conventional moral rules which sometimes involve small 
sacrifices. Where large interests are at stake, humans are a 
rationalizing, not a moral, animal."

As a modern example of moral inconsistency, Herman cites the 
rightwing "pro-life" movement. "What seems to weaken the rights 
of the child relative to the fetus, in the rightwing perspective, 
is the immediate takeover of 'family values' for the ex-fetus. 
These are not aimed primarily at the health and well-being of 
family members -- they are the rules upholding the patriarchal 
family structure and lines of authority, with male dominance, 
female subordination and dependence, the disciplinary rights of 
the patriarch, along with behavior in accord with 'traditional' 
morality. Devotion to 'family values' is therefore perfectly 
compatible with approval of and even enthusiasm for the higher 
immorality of personal and state terrorism."

Thus, for the U.S. rightwing, the status of "person" is 
restricted to "...fetuses, corporations, and selected categories 
of adults."

Herman includes a "Doublespeak Appendix" which offers the 
following definitions:

* FAMILY VALUES -- The hierarchical structure and rules of      *
*    behavior of the traditional patriarchal family. These      *
*    rules are entirely compatible with the support of          *
*    apartheid, carpet bombing, death squads, torture, and      *
*    other forms of violence against post-fetal life.           *

* PERSON -- A fetus, corporation, or an adult brought up in     *
*    an environment of "family values."                         *

* RATIONALIZATION -- An explanation of why that which is good   *
*    for me and mine is nature's intention.                     *

* SECRET GOVERNMENT -- Bureaucratic and legislative             *
*    operations that serve the powerful without public          *
*    disclosure, debate, accountability, or even legality;      *
*    an increasingly dominant fraction of government.           *

=================================================================

Synopsis/Review by Brian Redman
(bfrg9732@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu)
"Ah yes, Armageddon. I remember it well."