If you’ve wondered why I don’t hang out with friends from my alma mater, UC Santa Cruz (or rather why they don’t hang out with me), the Iraq War and the disagreements with alumni is why.
I won’t recant my opinions in the face of left wing pressure in San Francisco. But I also lament the fact that so many innocent civilians have died. I have family and friends who are Moslem, so don’t lecture me on being detached from it.
You can always identify a free thinker: no friends if any because his or her version of truth is chosen over personal gain.
This is the email I sent to in reply to a call to protest and oppose the war in Iraq:
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 03:04:00 -0500
From: barce
To: UCSC Alumni, Berkeley Bicyclists and Soon-to-be-ex-friends
Subject: Re: Fwd: [Berkeleymass] CALLING ALL BICYCLISTS!
Why should I oppose a war that intends to free 24 million Iraqis
from tyranny? Simply because those in charge are doing the right
thing for the wrong reasons?
Personally, I think all the protests have been useless spectacles,
and that the left has been more reactionary than pro-active since
the Reagan Era. For the most part, I’m pretty disappointed in the
intolerance and unwillingness to compromise that the left breeds.
There isn’t any united discourse or common metaphors that unites
the left in a way that is compelling and meaningful as the right.
What has been appealing to me as far as politics on the right goes
is this: lower taxes, moral clarity, and an acceptance of the United
States as both Empire and Police Man of the World. The right’s emphasis
on winning greatly appeals to me, and I’m pretty sick of being on a
losing side.
I know a lot of your feel alienated. What better way to get over
that than by joining the winning side.
If you don’t want to be a loser, you won’t go out and protest on
your bicycles. Instead you should cut loose, go to a sports bar
and watch the war: More booze, more booty and more fun.
Yours truly,
A free thinker
PS I’ve read Howard Zinn, and I’ve read tons of Chomsky,
too. I’m a San Francisco native, who went to UCSC and has heard it all.
Plus, some of you know me as a bridge biker, so please don’t
think I’m in need of your special leftist enlightenment.