Trevor on Fri, 18 Jun 1999 23:50:20 +0500 |
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Re: Syndicate: moral responsibility |
On 18-Jun-99, McKenzie Wark wrote: >Interesting question. But consider: if there is no >collective responsibility, there is no collective >identity either. If you want to make the statement >"I belong to X", surely one has to take some >responsibility for X. One is, after all, claiming to >be a part of it. >Sure, one can renounce any part in responsibility, >but then one is no longer a Serb, an Australian, etc. >This is the debate that's going on in Australia now: >can we accept responsibility for a genocide that >started 200 years ago? If not, then who are we? How >can we claim the good parts -- this old and venerable >democracy, one of the oldest in the world -- without >also its crimes? Surely there is a difference between ACCEPTING responsiblity and being ACCUSED of responsibility. I believe modern Australians are wise to accept responsibility for the genocide -and to try and compensate the successors of those that survived. On pragmatic grounds -this is a wise thing to do, because it is indeed part of their history and denial is not a healthy basis for future development. It also enhances the possibility of a healthier relationship between the two cultures, and so presumably is of mutual advantage. Recent immigrants from countries not involved at the time should perhaps also be prepared to at least acknowlege the responsibility for deeds done before their arrival by members (or forefathers) of the group they intend to join -because they also share in the advantages gained. Being a Brit, I also cannot deny that my presumed forefathers (and foremothers) were responsible for transporting people to Australia (and other places) -even though I know of no personal family involvement. To deny these transportations would be damaging to an understanding of my background and to my relationship with those that have suffered from these actions. On the other hand -this surely does not mean that ANY successor of the original Australian population has the right to attack and kill me, my family, any recent immigrant or white Australian because we are ALL responsible for what happened there (recently -or at any time in the past). Having grown up in Britain I would certainly NOT want to change my nationality to that of the country in which I now live. However, by living outside England -although within the "European Community" I seem to have lost my "democratic right" to vote in ANY national election. So am I responsible for the British government -or the Dutch government -or any government? But what must we think of someone who genuinely believes that by fighting against their fellow countrymen they are supporting "freedom and democracy" -who needs to escape because the fight is lost -and then on arrival in a new homeland discovers that both the new homeland and the side they fought for were not without their crimes and misdemeanours. Are they then to be held responsible for the deeds of ALL sides -a "justified target" for any fanatic, from either side, who wants revenge? What happens then to their "identity" -with whom must they now identify -can the "old" identity be surgically removed? Or the children from mixed parentage? Must they shoot themselves for what mammie's great-great-grandfather did to pappie's great-great-grandmother? We can also ask "What is a group?". When Adelaid plays Melbourn at football where is the "Australian identity" which sudenly appears when Australia plays Pakistan for the cricket cup? Perhaps if Mars invades Earth then both Serbs and Albanians get to be on the same side! And what is this "collective identity"? Surely it comes largely from shared experience? If a country has experienced a civil war -then both sides have different "collective responsibilities" -but still a "shared experience" which in a paradoxical way may still unite them. Surely, a large part of this "communal experience" is formed by the "National Media" (which in a broad sense also involves the educational, linguistic, cultural and religious communities as well as broadcasting and publication media). Not everybody has access to internet -but even if they do, how can one separate truth from lies, if one does not know who is behind the message? Can people, even in an apparent "democracy", be held responsible for their actions (even when abhorrent) if these are the result of a constant stream of one-sided propaganda? Who is responsible when schoolchildren start killing their teachers, their parents and each other? We are all guilty and we are all (well, almost all) innocent. If media is the key -then how long will the local "communal experience" survive in the midst of the global media-wars? Who THEN will be responsible if there is no localised "collective identity" any more? While the media wars rage (and we cannot expect them to stop) -how can one EVER know that the side one is fighting for is the "right" side? When both sides fight for "Peace", "Justice" and "Truth" -then ANY involvement is dangerous -and likely to lead to shattered ideals. Unfortunately, non-involvement does not automatically absolve one from responsibility either. Personlly, I prefer it when "artists" explore the complexities, the nuances, the dialectics and the paradoxes involved in the human situation -in order to produce an intelligent "anti-propaganda" which in the long term will contribute to a more "responsible" and thoughtful society. When the world goes mad, surely we don't need more simple slogans -or more direct action, fanning the flames. The idea of "collective responsibility" may be rather useful for the military -because it removes the inconvenient distinction between soldier and civilian. If we accept it -then in future almost any act of (military) terrorism against civilian populations can be justified. However, rejecting "collective" terror against groups of civilians (with any collective or individual identity) does not imply a rejection of (Australian, or any other) social justice. For our own protection it is time that we started thinking seriously, in the hope that we will soon be able to behave responsibly, before it is too late! Trevor Batten ------Syndicate mailinglist-------------------- Syndicate network for media culture and media art information and archive: http://www.v2.nl/syndicate to unsubscribe, write to <syndicate-request@aec.at> in the body of the msg: unsubscribe your@email.adress