tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135590.post111005116836437937..comments2023-08-03T11:32:31.405-04:00Comments on PRAWN Blog: David Horowitz explainedRich Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04715911716554541999noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135590.post-1110139826955948452005-03-06T15:10:00.000-05:002005-03-06T15:10:00.000-05:00Tristero,
You're absolutely correct in most of wha...Tristero,<br />You're absolutely correct in most of what you write. I did indeed leave out a lot of arguably critical subjects, specifically why a person might hold the viewpoints he does in the first place. I've read many accounts of people "growing up" or "putting aside their illusions" and becoming right-wingers and I wanted to examine people who had changed from left to right for less-than-impressive reasons. <br />You're right, Malcolm X is a sterling example of someone who moved from right to left for very impressive and honorable reasons.<br /><br />As to how my Navy experience relates, I think of the issue as more a case of general tendencies than of specific talents. Once, when I had to contact a co-worker I had known for at least a year and was all stressed out and finally reached her, instead of calling her "Sue" or "Sue Smith", I called her "Ms. Smith". <br />This general tendency of mine to deal with people in a formal manner didn't pop up yesterday and will not disappear tomorrow. This is what I meant by the observation that you take the work seriously or you don't. Now, whether you do the work <I>well</I> is clearly a different story. Also, I did many academic subjects well, but I could never get the hang of foreign languages and was mediocre at math.Rich Gardnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04715911716554541999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135590.post-1110053776440560082005-03-05T15:16:00.000-05:002005-03-05T15:16:00.000-05:00Rich:
A few things:
I for one don't find him puz...Rich:<br /><br />A few things:<br /><br />I for one don't find him puzzling. I've known a lot of true believers, and they're basically the same, tedious person. And you're right as far as you go, but you have not factored in other aspects of Horowitz's personality, for example his black and white approach, his penchant for radical solutions (regardless of left/right polarities), his neurotic and chronic sense of alarm, and his penchant to accuse. <br /><br /><br />While I understand your point about the Navy and doing a good job regardless, I beg to differ. I was a lousy accountant and really couldn't care less whether the sums added up in the fluorescent lightbulb factory where I worked. OTOH, I'm a heckuva composer, and passionate about it.<br /><br />As for changing sides you left out Mr. David Brock, of course. But all of these are far less interesting than the case of the one person in recent memory who truly can be said to have changed profoundly, to the point of redemption. <br /><br />And that, of course, was Malcolm X. He lost his life because of who he became, which was nothing like what he was, and he was still changing when he was killed. May all of us have a tenth of his moral courage, but also avoid his fate.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com