Let’s Hear It for Structuralism
In Chip Berlet’s article in the November, 2007 issue of Z Magazine, “Crackpots, the Left, and ‘Jewish Banker Cabals’”, we read about several conspiracy-obsessed, anti-semitic bad guys; then we get a list of approved activists. The latter are exulted because of their “analysis of complex systems of power, rather than a fixation on individuals who may or may not be involved in conspiracies”. In telling us who is acceptable and who isn’t, the author puts himself squarely in the category of those who fixate on individuals, while showing a low regard for the intelligence of his readers.
The meme that good activism embraces structuralism and eschews “conspiracism” is not new. See Part 3 of Michael Parenti’s Dirty Truths (1996) for a deconstruction, especially the section labeled Let’s Hear It for Structuralism. The context is the JFK assassination rather than 9/11, but much applies today. Here’s an excerpt:
Chip Berlet repeatedly denounces conspiracy investigations while himself spending a good deal of time investigating Lyndon LaRouche’s fraudulent financial dealings, conspiracies for which LaRouche went to prison. Berlet never explains why the LaRouche conspiracy is a subject worthy of investigation but not the JFK conspiracy.
Note also:
- Michael Parenti’s lecture on the assassination of JFK, audio available here.
- Discussion of left gatekeepers in Chapter 5 of Barrie Zwicker’s Towers of Deception.