Means and Ends (Joshua Cohen & Glenn Loury)

[Florian]

Originally Posted by sugarkang

Now you're softening your original stance. You said that anti-Semites used to use such cliches as if to suggest some presumption of guilt for the person who uses the If you think that the allegations alone aren't enough to create a judgmental impression on voyeurs, then you're either naive or delusional. Do you really mean to tell me that DSK got what he deserved?

No, I did not. I


All fine in theory. How did that work for DSK? How many people watching thought that he was innocent or should at least reserve judgment? You and I did. Anyone else? And if you were in the same situation do you think you'd say, "Oh well, no one is obliged to believe me despite the fact that I know I'm innocent"?

No, I think you are selective with your attitude towards people alleged with wrongdoing. I recall you rigorously defended DSK during the media trial as if French pride hung in the balance. I might be one of the few Americans who still believes in innocent until proven guilty. Everyone else seems so fucking sure.

I have made every attempt to be as clear as possible but you seem to be unable to understand the distinction between a belief and an action.

Just once more: racism is not a crime. It is a belief, a thought, an attitude, condemned by some or most people in contemporary America and Europe. It can neither be proved nor disproved by what a person says, and therefore nothing a person says (such as "some of my best friends are.....) is of the slightest relevance to deciding whether or not he is a racist, whether he is "guilty" or "innocent" of the charge. That is something known only to the person in question.

Rape is a crime, i.e. an action condemned by the law. DSK was arrested on the suspicion of having committed a crime. His guilt or innocence could only be established by a court of law, weighing all the evidence for and against the charge, to determine if he had or had not committed a crime. I defended the presumption of innocence, and disapproved of the American media which presumed DSK guilty before the evidence could be presented in a court of law.

If you cannot see the difference between racism and rape, between a belief and a crime, there is nothing more that I can say. And nothing more I will say.