Press Action ::: The (In)humanity of a Progressive Intellectual

Friday, September 12, 2003

The (In)humanity of a Progressive Intellectual

By Abu Spinoza*

In the Nation article, “Grief Without Portraits,” Mr. Michael Massing writes about Professor Marc Herold’s compilation of the data on Afghan casualties:

"Even if Herold’s figures do turn out to be accurate (and he has since raised the estimated toll to more than 4,000), it could still be argued that given what the United States has accomplished in Afghanistan - the overthrow of the Taliban, the routing of Al Qaida, the restoration of some freedoms, the start of a long reconstruction campaign - the price paid in terms of civilian casualties has been low."

This is a rather revealing insight into the thinking of a “progressive intellectual” for whom the lives of the “other” mean so little.

Imagine if some Taliban intellectual wrote (following Mr. Massing’s “argumentation"):

"Even if Western media sources’ figures do turn to be accurate (and they have since lowered the initial estimated toll from the terrorism of 9/11 to be slightly higher than 3,000), it could still be argued that given what Al Qaida has accomplished in the West - the first attack on a key symbol of Western financial power (the World Trade Center), the first attack on Western military center (the Pentagon), the creation of fear, the reduction of individual freedom and civil rights, and the real and perceived threat of terrorism - the price paid in terms of civilian casualties had been low."

Surely one would, rightly, be horrified, profoundly shocked and utterly disgusted at the underlying inhumanity and immorality of such sentiments and evil prose. But in the pages of a respected liberal magazine, this is okay, since it is directed towards Afghans and distant others.

Mr. Massing goes on next to say about Herold’s work, “At the very least, we need to know how many such [Afghan] victims there are.” Perhaps one can search for a pro Al-Qaida intellectual who’d express similar sentiments. Surely knowing many the number of victims is an important question, but only if one recognizes the inherent value of human lives, otherwise such as exercise merely reduces to something like counting the number of stars in the sky.

One wonders why that it never occurs to Mr. Massing that serious alternatives to the bombing of Afghanistan were available, and that those civilians who died in Afghanistan were too victims of terrorism, no less victims of terrorism than those civilians who died in New York, metro Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania. Until we recognize the fundamental equal value of the lives of “John Smith” and “Muhammad Ali,” between the citizens of the United States and the citizens of Afghanistan, between an Israeli and a Palestinian, between an African and a European, and so forth, we cannot be truly human and do not realize our humanity.

How low some intellectuals in service of power can sink. Yet, we must retain our faith in humanity and draw inspiration from those millions who have marched against imperial wars and terrorism of all kinds, those who organize for freedom and peace, and those (such as Marc Herold ) who tirelessly expose the lies of the “liberal press” through detailed examination of the media and rigorous research of facts and figures.

*Abu Spinoza is an economist. He is a regular contributor to Press Action.

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