From: glevy@PRATT.EDU
Date: Mon Apr 24 2006 - 08:03:25 EDT
Hi Bill, Yes, you're probably right about this. But, as Lenin and others were fond of saying: 'good intentions pave the way to hell': the NZ dog food capitalist has unintentionally created a powerful symbol for Africans of the nature of 'aid' from the advanced capitalist economies. In a similar vein, the historical record about whether Marie Antoinette ever said "Let them eat cake" is less important than its meaning to social movements in France. (The record, btw, suggests that she never said it and the quote can be attributed to -- no less a personage than -- J. J. Rousseau, written decades before.) In my community, the NYPD years ago brought in a tank to evict squatters from several buildings on East 13th St. in the Lower East Side. They claimed it was brought to the scene in case the street had to be cleared of cars (makeshift barricades, sort of). The point is that it didn't matter what the NYPD said or even what the truth of the matter was since the _symbol_ of a TANK being used to evict people was so strong that it etched itself into the consciousness of the community (and, quite literally, etched itself into the graphic designs of Seth Tabocman, Eric Drooker and other artists-activists). In solidarity, Jerry PS: I have a first cousin who when he was about 10-years-old or so used to love to snack on dog biscuits. My feeling is that if there were more snacks in the home then he would have not eaten the dog's biscuits. In solidarity, Jerry
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