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This essay is available elsewhere as On Violence. It touches on topics like student protest movements, left-wing violence (and what Marx would have thought abo
by leftyted 6y ago
This essay is available elsewhere as On Violence. It touches on topics like student protest movements, left-wing violence (and what Marx would have thought about it), race relations in the US, racism more generally and whether all political power ultimately comes down to violence or coercion.
I found it fascinating when I read it years ago and, since then, I've been slowly reading through everything else Hannah Arendt wrote. It's astonishing to me that something like this was published in print. These days I think you're better off scouring the internet for blogs if you want to read something interesting and provocative.
- toyg 6y ago> astonishing to me that something like this was published in print Why? The problem in the West is not typically printing something (at least after WWI and the end of most political censorship), but getting people (particularly influential / respected members of the elite) to read it.
- leftyted 6y agoI wasn't making a comment about censorship just that, as far as I know, no one is writing anything half this interesting in publications like the nyrb
- toyg 6y agoAh yes... the ‘80s and the end of the USSR have sadly wiped out most intellectual discourse on the prime principles of society, from a mainstream perspective.
- xyzzyz 6y agoThese are still actively and continuously discussed in right wing and conservative circles, it’s just these are today denied the label of “intellectual” and “mainstream”.
- paganel 6y ago> more generally and whether all political power ultimately comes down to violence or coercion. I also strongly recommend Max Weber, if I’m not mistaken he originated the idea of “monopoly of violence” (or at least he was the one that made it famous). His ideas about domestication/rationalization are also worthwhile.