Every so often, someone will be SO VERY RIGHT that it sets off a sort of harmonic throughout the blogosphere.

The linked article at ProteinWisdom is one such instance. That ol' harmonic be a buzzin' and a' jumpin'.

Rather, it is simply to point out that, philosophically, at least, there is a vast area of intellectual overlap between the foundational principles informing most every totalitarian movement — and that, to many Muslims, bin Ladenism is a form of “progressivism,” though when placed in the paradigm of Islamic thinking, that “progressivism” leads backward rather than forward (and so to western eyes appears reactionary rather than radical — one of the reasons, one can argue, that it is frequently tied to social conservatism). Still, it is a kind of reform movement aimed at the excesses of capitalism and western liberalism — a way to control the natural diversity of outcome brought about when freedom is allowed to govern in fact (instead of being worn like a friendly facade) — and in its core foundational assumptions finds common cause with other material manifestations of those same principles.

Which is why, I suppose, bin Laden sounds so much like Chomsky. The only difference is the godhead and the place of worship.

There you have it, in a nutshell.

Posted by: Joseph at 12:53 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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