With all due respect for a nicely-written piece by someone who
epitomises the virtues of humanism, I never know what to think
about Eco's brand of peace-loving. OK, so "war should become a
universal taboo" and "murder is an unacceptable crime" -- but under
some circumstances, it's suddenly... if not OK, at least
understandable? That just seems to beg the question of who decides
what those circumstances are -- which is, I think, the question
that troubles all of us.
So I appreciate his warm, avuncular tone but unfortunately I still
don't buy the notion that nice comfy professors of semiotics in (I
believe) Bologna -- who are not the targets of any terrorists,
whether few or many -- are the right people to make life or death
decisions for millions of other people who ARE the targets of
terrorists. And while I admire the rhetorical skill by which he
equates failing to agree with the European line to "trampling
dissent", I don't actually see very much dissent-trampling
happening in the US (as opposed to trampling on civil liberties, of
which there's quite a bit). So thanks for the advice, Uncle
Umberto! Always nice to read your stuff.
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