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roachboy · 12-16-2004, 08:21 AM

these screening procedures are not about providing a greater degree of security.
they are about ratcheting up the sense of being under seige
they are about providing the illusion of safety
they are about the appearance of action
they are about materially drawing a line that seperates muslims from other people
they are about generating a level of social approval for the drawing of this line that seperates muslims from other people.
they are about creating a self-confirming situation with reference to this group which is now inside and outside the community, everywhere and nowhere
they are the quintessence of bushworld.
they are about grounding racism in a version of "common sense"

it does not take a rocket scientist to understand that the premises of an argument about possible security measures is transformed fundamentally when that argument passes into law.
the effects of the law are seperate from arguments that might have prompted the law.
i might in principle understand that, at a certain low-wattage level, some kind of institutional response might be a good idea to allay anxiety but certainly not to prevent another attack in any meaningful way.
but i would and do oppose the translation of this argument into law.

bushworld requires an enemy. most parallel versions os this kind of regime have also required an enemy. the symbolic function of that enemy is not what the laws promulgated "intended" if you follow the text of the laws, that is. the social function of these laws lay elsewhere. it did not matter, then or now, that the definitions that underpinned the laws were incoherent. it did not matter that that incoherence was central to their social function.

what did matter was that lots of people were willing to not only submit to the legal situation without question, but that they internalized teh social effects, collapsed them into the law itself, refused to think about either.

12-16-2004, 08:21 AM	#58 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	these screening procedures are not about providing a greater degree of security. they are about ratcheting up the sense of being under seige they are about providing the illusion of safety they are about the appearance of action they are about materially drawing a line that seperates muslims from other people they are about generating a level of social approval for the drawing of this line that seperates muslims from other people. they are about creating a self-confirming situation with reference to this group which is now inside and outside the community, everywhere and nowhere they are the quintessence of bushworld. they are about grounding racism in a version of "common sense" it does not take a rocket scientist to understand that the premises of an argument about possible security measures is transformed fundamentally when that argument passes into law. the effects of the law are seperate from arguments that might have prompted the law. i might in principle understand that, at a certain low-wattage level, some kind of institutional response might be a good idea to allay anxiety but certainly not to prevent another attack in any meaningful way. but i would and do oppose the translation of this argument into law. bushworld requires an enemy. most parallel versions os this kind of regime have also required an enemy. the symbolic function of that enemy is not what the laws promulgated "intended" if you follow the text of the laws, that is. the social function of these laws lay elsewhere. it did not matter, then or now, that the definitions that underpinned the laws were incoherent. it did not matter that that incoherence was central to their social function. what did matter was that lots of people were willing to not only submit to the legal situation without question, but that they internalized teh social effects, collapsed them into the law itself, refused to think about either. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite Last edited by roachboy; 12-16-2004 at 08:29 AM..