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Herr Doktor Amitai Etzioni (Werner Falk)
by Niki Raapana, April 2003, |
| "Communitarianism is neither left nor right, it simply recognizes that we are mutually dependent on each other, that it is inconceivable that we can find personal fulfillment or family success unless we have some concern or care for the general conditions under which we all live." Clinton in Montreal calls for 'Communitarianism', Cotler calls speech "one of the most inspiring" By Joel Goldenberg http://www.thesuburbannews.ca/content/en/2513 |
There are many places to find information about Etzioni where the publishers think he's great. I don't think he's great, this man is a traitor and a spy, and unless you're looking for a counter opinion of our self-appointed "everything expert" this page may not suit your capabilites. There are always two or more sides to every story, and the story Etzioni tells about communitarianism is not the same story I reveal here. In fact our ACL thesis poses the possibility, based on his own writings, that Etzioni lied about the way and why he decided to introduce communitarianism in the United States. I am not alone in my assessment of Etzioni's influence or inadequate reasonings, although upper academians take a very different approch to calling him on his b.s. The following article is a well presented academic review of Etzioni's theories, and the writer finds faults with both his premises. She (he?) promises, "I shall argue that Etzioni fails to make adequate use of each of two political-ethically indispensible, independent yet interrelated perspectives: ‘(philosophical) ethics' and ‘policy'.:
| "Amitai Etzioni is a renowned sociologist, prolific writer, and influential public intellectual, who has inspired political leaders such as Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Tony Blair, Helmut Kohl, Gerhard Schröder, and Jan Peter Balkenende.[1] In his books From Empire to Community (2004a) and Security First (2007), Etzioni offers a bold plea for a communitarian realist theory of international relations and foreign policy - ‘foreign politics', for short. In the former book, Etzioni extends the communitarianism he became famous for in the 1990s (Etzioni 1993; 1996) from the domestic to the global realm. He develops a longer-term vision of international relations, arguing that principal and pragmatic reasons exist for creating a world order that features ‘global community' rather than ‘American empire'. In the latter book, Etzioni defends the immediate necessity of a non-Wilsonian, realistic yet morally sound American foreign policy, offering principal and pragmatic arguments for the primacy of global security promotion rather than worldwide democratization or other idealistic goals. The two books differ in focus, but they share the view that not only military and economic factors but also normative ones play an important role in foreign politics. Unlike (neo)realists who trivialize or even deny the international use of normative power, Etzioni claims that moral principles are also at work in today's world: ‘as a global community is beginning to form - normative factors are growing in importance' (Etzioni 2004a: 213). And since ‘what we [Americans] ought to do and what it is in our interest to do, tend to converge' (Etzioni 2007: xvi), the creation of a more ‘communitarian' world politics out of a still rather ‘realist' one has become a serious possibility. Indeed, what Etzioni's communitarian realism does is ‘trying to steer a course between an overzealous idealism and an overcynical realpolitik' (Elshtain 2008: 1393). "Etzioni’s Communitarian Realism as a Guide to Foreign Politics?" by Menno R. Kamming (International Relations and International Organization, University of Groningen) http://philica.com/display_article.php?article_id=158 |
I'm still trying to find easier ways to explain Etzioni to working class Americans and commoners around the world. Here's a new 3:19 minute slideshow on youtube introducing Amitai Etzioni, The Hidden Guru of Globalization.
Amitai Etzioni's books and advice helped establish Community Governments around the world. He is clear about the fact that his communitarian version of community government is not to be confused with local governments. As it is done in every nation prior to their EU member integration, all nations must modify their national law under supreme communitarian law. This means Etzioni recommends installing a higher law in the US than US Constitutional Law. Because he advocates the backdoor approach to amending the constitution rather than the taking the legal process for constitutional amendments, Etzioni is an advocate for sedition against the legitimate governments of the US and every nation with a legal constitution across the globe. As with the nations of Iraq and Afghanistan, all nations that cannot be tricked into submission will be convinced using other methods of communitarian persuasion.
| "Nationalism must be ended. It is a creed that has come to burden the expansion of globalism." He explains the communitarian approach as one that, "..favors shifting much of the defining involvements of citizens in those countries afflicted with nationalism from the nation-state to the body society, specifically to communities (not to be confused with local governments)." ("Politik und Gessellschaft Online, International Politics and Society" 2/2001. http://orae.tes.de:8081/tes/docs/IPG2_2001/ARTETZIONI.HTM.) |
Now he's suggesting the daring new idea of combining the communist U.N. with U.S. military power. There is no conflict of ideology between the two nations, not anymore because the leading Soviet communist in the world turned into a capitalist Green. Now these two powerful men are nicer and way more peaceful. You can believe them even though it's okay for communists and socialists and especially communitarians to lie, as long as it further "the common good." They care about people and society and want to make a better world for everyone. They know how to make themselves sound really, really good and oh so smart. They could be just about the most caring guys you ever met.
So what do they really care about, these reformed solidiers of 20th century Marxist-Zionist revolutions and wars?
Etzioni really cares about teaching us his new Community Values.
Etzioni's theory is to "empower communities" to be the supreme law as opposed to U.S. laws in U.S. courts (which are required to abide by the U.S. Constitution). His "community" theory distorts the foundation for our most basic Rights, including Freedom of Religion, Redress of Grievances, Right to Bear Arms, Right to Property (in which the right to privacy exists), Right to require legally authorized Search Warrants, and the right to each state's equal status in the Union and of their state citizen's rights to self-determination.
His latest book is called: From Empire to Community. In it: "He argues that a 'clash of civilizations' can be avoided and that the new world order need not look like America. Eastern values, including spirituality and moderate Islam, have a legitimate place in the evolving global public philosophy." Etzioni's New Community Order is just another name for the New World Order, and not everyone supports it.
Should it matter to Americans that Etzioni is a German Jew previously named Werner Falk who immigrated to Israel as a child during the Nazi occupation? Should we care that he was raised in a kibbutz and reared on communist values? Etzioni was raised and trained by the Sabbatean Talmudic leaders and Jabotinskys who formed the Israeli Army to fight for the State of Israel. Etzioni fought as a terrorist, a revolutionary, and a soldier. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1958 where he obtained his Masters in Sociology from Berkeley. For his embrace of the New Community Order, he's sometimes referred to as a guru.
Amitai Etzioni came to the US in 1958 and rose to the top of the sociology profession. Not only is he the founder of American communitarianism and author of The Limits of Privacy and The Spirit of Community:The Reinvention of American Society, he is also credited with developing the new science of socio-economics, along with former President and head of the KGB in the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev. For an overview of how well socio-economics is performing in Russia, see Glasnost-Perestroika: A Model Potemkin Village By Steve Montgomery, June 1988.
Like his fellow socio-economics' founder Mikhail Gorbachev who used to be a communist, Etzioni is a paradox of the changing paradigm. After studying his dissertation, his early internationally published works, and his philosophical musings, we compared his early works to his later published communitarian works. It is the ACL's opinion that Etzioni does not write everything he claims (1), (the styles are too varied and conflicting) and we can not understand why his position as a leading Zionist influence in the White House is never mentioned by the American Press. For a complete review of Etzioni's history and his supreme moral influence on American Public Policy from the ACL perspective, please read Chapter Three of Big Mother: An Unsustainable Concept.
Etzioni's critics call his brand of communitarianism "fascist." Etzioni has never responded to the American social scientists who critisized him during his 1995 presidency of the ASA (letter and signatures), but his position as the former ASA president is touted frequently during his lecture tours (without any reference what-so-ever to the controversy surrounding his Libertarian-Fabian-communitarian propaganda).
Etzioni explains he does not mean the "nation-state" must be ended. He says he really means the ideals that put the national into the Supreme position should be "balanced." Here to "shore up" American behaviors, Etzioni refers to our binding contract with our government under U.S. law as "shared values". He never once refers to the Constitution of the United States as non-negotiable LAW, his entire philosophy is based in creating a "higher" law for Americans.
Etzioni's "theory" of U.S. Politics is often placed with Locke, De Tocqueville, and Bellah (another self-proclaimed American expert). For instance:
SOURCES :Notable Selections in American Government, Second Edition by Mitchel Gerber, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE UNIV; ISBN: 0-07-303185-2, Publication Date: April 1999: Part 1. The Intellectual and Ideological Context of American Government
CHAPTER 1. American Political Culture and Ideology
1.1. John Locke, from Two Treatises of Government
"The great and chief end therefore, of Mens uniting into Commonwealths, and putting themselves under Government, is the Preservation of their Property."
1.2. Alexis de Tocqueville, from Democracy in America
"The people reign in the American political world as the Deity does in the universe."
1.3. Robert N. Bellah et al., from Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life
"Individualism lies at the very core of American culture."
1.4. Amitai Etzioni, from Rights and the Common Good: The Communitarian Perspective
"In the United States, at the onset of the 1990s, communitarians felt that social responsibilities particularly needed *shoring up."
*From Merriam-Webster.com
Main Entry: shor·ing
Pronunciation: 'shOr-i[ng], 'shor-
Function: noun
1 : the act of supporting with or as if with a prop
Where does Amitai Etzioni come from?
The Everything Expert: A Review of Amitai Etzioni's My Brother's Keeper by Robert Boynton in The Nation, July 14, 2003 tells us "his adopted name was created by fusing the Hebrew words "truth" (emet), "tree" (etz) and "Israel" (Zion)-". (The Kaballah is a "truth tree".)
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"Lacking a high school diploma, Etzioni had difficulty finding a university that would admit him after the war. Luckily, Martin Buber was looking for students to attend his new institute. In addition to studying Kabbalah with Gershon Scholem [whose work "led to the Kabbalah becoming an established academic discipline." ~ed.], Etzioni worked with Buber himself, and was profoundly influenced by the philosopher's notion of "dialogue" ("a give-and-take during which people open up and reach each other profoundly"), as well as his famous distinction between "I-Thou" relationships (treating others as fellow human beings) and "I-It" relationships (treating others as objects). Later, while studying sociology at Hebrew University, Etzioni discovered the concept of "anomie," the condition of spiritual aimlessness that Durkheim argued was the result of modernity's loss of social fabric. The essential concepts of communitarianism were in place." (Boynton 2003). |
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"I was a high school dropout who chose to join the army and fight to drive the British out of Palestine and face the Arab invasions that followed during what is known as the Israeli war of independence. When the war ended, I enrolled in a brand new institution that Martin Buber had just created in Jerusalem, dedicated to training teachers for adults. The number of students was rather small, and, as a result, we had many opportunities to be exposed to Buber's ideas and discuss them with him. The following year, I enrolled at Hebrew University to study sociology. Buber was the professor of sociology there at the time. I was a first year undergraduate." 267. "Communitarian Elements in Select Works of Martin Buber," The Journal of Value Inquiry, No. 33, (July 1999), pp. 151-169. |
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"George Washington University professor Amitai Etzioni, who moved to the United States to attend graduate school, said he still uses his Israeli passport when traveling there because the Israelis make it virtually impossible to relinquish it. Etzioni, who was a senior adviser in the Carter White House, said dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship is not a problem "as long as there is a clear priority of loyalty." Rethinking Dual Citizenship in the Post-Sept. 11 World By Jonathan Tilove, Newhouse News Service, June 19, 2002. |
Random quotes from On Ending Nationalism* by Amitai Etzioni, Politik und Gesellschaft Online, International Politics and Society 2/2001.
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"Nationalism is a creed that extols the nation, and regards it as an ultimate value. It deeply affects citizens' sense of self, psychological well-being, and identity; it makes them treat their nation-state as their primary community. The "ism" comes to indicate that reference here is not to moderate commitments to one's nation as one source of affiliation and loyalty but to a highly intensive and nearly exclusive investment of one's collective identity in the national state. (In this sense nationalism differs from reasonable national commitments the way moralism differs from morality.) When in full bloom, people view the state as semi-sacred or even as directly in the service of their God. As it is written in Romans 13:1, "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God." [Are not the individual state citizens protected under the U.S. Bill of Rights the GOVERNING AUTHORITY in the U.S.? Do not be misled by this quote. Just because he cites the New Testament, Etzioni and most of the scholars who assisted him with this thesis are Jewish/Israelis, not American Christians. Note: Pope John Paul II endorses communitarianism and the New World Order. And, there is a very big difference between Old Testament-Torah Jews and New Age-Talmudic-Sabbatian Jews. N.R.] "The argument advanced here presumes that it is neither necessary nor prudent to attempt to end nationalism by head-on attacks on the legitimacy of the nation-state or by favoring its demise.[3] The vision of replacing the nation-state by regional governments and ultimately by a world government (as UN enthusiasts dream), or envisioning a state that acts as a mere framework for the interactions of groups of people of different cultures but commands no loyalty and involvement of its own, is normatively dubious and unnecessarily threatening. Nationalism can be and is best ended by a much more moderate approach. [emphasis added] "The main approach outlined here favors shifting much of the defining involvements of citizens in those countries that are inflicted with nationalism from the nation-state to the body society, specifically to communities (not to be confused with local governments), the community of these communities, and to a "thick" civic fabric. It entails developing and championing public policies, institutions, symbols, and belief systems that help people realize that they can maintain their sense of self, identity, social and cultural distinctiveness, as well as a good part of their control over their individual and collective fate--all through involvement in a variety of communities.[5]" "Those who wonder if the suggested shift of defining involvements to some other body than the nation can be achieved, may wish to note that such a condition was crudely approximated before the onset of nationalism. After all, both the mere existence of the nation-state and its elevation to a semi-sacred status by nationalism are of a rather recent vintage.[6] Neither existed before the 18th century and, for a good part of the 19th century the nation-state was the project of narrow elites and later small classes.[7]" "At the same time a set of values exists to which all are expected to adhere, shared values that serve as a sort of framework and glue that keep the rich and colorful mosaic from falling apart. These include commitment to the Constitution and its Bill of Rights, the democratic form of government, command of the English language, mutual tolerance, and what Sandy Levinson called the constitutional faith.[15] Moreover, to sustain unity, the loyalty to the community of communities is expected to take precedence over that to member communities, if and when these two loyalties come into conflict." [His final conclusion:] "With few exceptions, in the longer run, in order for mankind to gain control, to direct these processes to its benefit and curb excesses or anti-human developments, it will require social, political, and moral institutions whose reach is as global as the challenges are. Nationalism stands in the way of the development of these institutions." |
March 9, 2005 Challenge to the Communitarian Network
Note: The ACL website went online in January 2003, and we sent our link to the Communitarian Network and asked for responses then. The only response we ever received directly from anyone is posted on our Etzioni page. We've been linked to from the Communitarian Network since April 2003; hundreds of visitors have come here via that link. The following letter is but our latest attempt to get a rebuttal response.
We're interested in any response from the Communitarian Network to our website, The Anti-Communitarian Leag[u]e (ACL) for publication at our site. We're sorry we missed the deadline for the essay contest, but perhaps the judging committee would be willing to consider a few of our pages, just on the off chance that they can dispute our opposition argument against the Communitarian Network's foundations.
Please consider awarding us an honorary mention for our original and undisputed thesis about your organization, or refute: The Historical Evolution of Communitarian Thinking, What Is The Hegelian Dialectic?, What They Stand For, What Is A Communitarian?, and, What Is An Anticommunitarian?
Paul A. Canniff, January 29, 1996.
For the American side: Niki Raapana and Nordica Friedrich.
(Born in the USA, no dual citizenship, no influence on US politics, no option out of Local Agenda 21 communitarian programs, especially at the community level.)
.........................................................................................................For the Communitarian side: Dr. Amitai Etzioni.
(Born in Germany, raised in Israel, dual-USA-Israeli citizenship, educated in California, adviser to the White House and all state DMVs.)
![[etzioni]](http://www.rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/rr.04.02/Images/etizoni_75.tifbw.small.GIF)
Update. In February, 2005, Etzioni attracted the attention of American biologists and scientists who responded to Etzioni's position on the ID v. evolution debate (excuse me, dialogue). If only American political scientists and law scholars would give his political theories the same academic scrutiny. American scientists have challenged Etzioni more than once. We are not alone in our desire to see him answer specific questions about his methods for reasoning.
Responding to a request from Amitai Etzioni by Paul Z. Myers, associate professor of biology at UMM, 2/9/05: "Some pompous egotist named Amitai Etzioni has solicited responses from the contributors to the Panda's Thumb to his comments on the teaching of intelligent design. His latest blog entry, though, was not encouraging. The man is a phony."
Part of Etzioni's response to PT's thread of opposition to his credibility as a "scientist" (includes 47 responses with some really fun parodies that hurt our guru's feelings):
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"In responses on your blog, I was showered with abuse. I was called names and "damned," and all kinds of ugly attributes were attached to my personality. Why? Is this a way to settle a scientific argument or any argument at all? I have encountered such responses before (especially when I called for the removal of guns from private hands), but only from people who did not have any other way of trying to get people like me to shut up and not to show that their emperor has no clothes. I believe evolution can do better. Right?" (See Etzioni's blog archives February 18, 2005.) |
Dr. Etzioni was a featured speaker at MSU College of Law conference on children's rights on 2/16/2005. Contact: Russ White, University Relations, (517) 432-0923, whiterus@msu.edu. Did any MSU Law students find anything phony or unscientific about Etzioni's legal advice?
Would this evolving academic "dialogue" have any affect on Etzioni being "named among the top 100 American intellectuals as measured by academic citations in Richard Posner's book, Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline"?
Amitai Etzioni.org tells us, "In 1991, the press began referring to Etzioni as the 'guru' of the communitarian movement." Who feeds the press this kind of propaganda? Should we be concerned that, "Outside of academia, Etzioni's voice is frequently heard in the media."?
George Washington University- An Anti-War Sociologist, And a Slavery Authority in the Washington Post, Thursday, December 9, 2004; Page DZ14. "In 1980, he was named GW's first University Professor. This "super rank" faculty post allows him to teach the same subject, social theory, in one class each semester that is open to anyone in the university community." Think he ever teaches anything on Covert Chanell Analysis?
March 8, 2005 update. As we just learned from a responder, several of the ccps links about Etzioni on this page now redirect you to the GWU homepage. We will leave the original addresses (scroll over the link to see it) just so visitors can see how many changes were made, and perhaps, like us, they will wonder why that was necessary. http://www.gwu.edu/~icps/vision.html still works. From there take their Home link and the next page has a link to the Communitarian Network. Right now it appears it's only the links from our site that redirect the visitor to GWU. Weird.
How does Etzioni influence American politics?
Etzioni's been an adviser in the White House since coming in under President Jimmy Carter in 1979. There are 11 or more communitarian "thinkers" in Bush II's administration. Communitarian Robert Putnam wrote Bush's presidential acceptance speech in 2001.
The 9/11 Commission & Nuclear Terrorism by Guest Author (Amitai Etzioni), July 29, 2004.
INTER-AMERICAN INITIATIVE ON SOCIAL CAPITAL, ETHICS AND DEVELOPMENT "ETHICS AND DEVELOPMENT DAY AT THE IDB " January 11th, 2005 - Washington, DC. Etzioni is on this distinquished panel.
| "Those who drafted and adopted the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights in 1787 were well aware of the teachings and ideologies of philosophers like Milton, Locke, Voltaire and Mill. Merrill describes the 18th Century American voices of Franklin, Adams, Jefferson and Madison as intellectuals who gave a governmental form and structure to the philosophical ideas enunciated by Milton, Locke, Voltaire and Mill. It is, therefore, no fluke at all that the First Amendment guarantee comes first in the Bill of Rights. In contrast to Milton, Locke, Voltaire and Mill, author Merrill outlines the ideas of late 18th and 19th Century philosophers such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Immanuel Kant, Arthur Schopenhauer and Karl Marx. And he makes the case that these are the natural forerunners of many of today's communitarian thinkers who are attracted to people's journalism, public journalism or civic journalism." MERRILL PESSIMISTIC ABOUT PRESS by Don Corrigan. (John C. Merrill, professor emeritus, elected to Iowa Hall of Fame in 2005.) |
How Patriotic is the Patriot Act by Amitai Etzioni, 2004, reviwed at Amazon.com
The Communitarian Vision.
Etzioni has been an adviser in the White house since 1979 when he came in under Special Assistant to the President Richard Harden. He went on to advise every U.S. President since then, except for Ronald Reagan. He was very active in the Clinton administration and was on the start-up committee for Volunteer America. He is the founder of the Communitarian Network and according to a well-placed ACL source, campus rumor has it that the "more moral" Dr. Etzioni is not well liked by his students nor by his academic associates at George Washington University. He holds possibly the longest resume we've ever seen. His influence on Bush is never questioned by mainstream press corps, even though it has been reported in the Washington Post. His critics are few and, (except for us) mostly silent. (We've only been contacted by a couple of the academics who signed the statement against him back in 1995. One was suprised the PSN thread was still available online, another said he liked our name.)When not advising the President, he spends a lot of time on the road being interviewed and lecturing abroad and at US law schools about his "moral dialogue" to governments, bureaucrats, lawyers, judges and (of course) students. He promotes his ideology in a way that makes perfect sense to his elitist admirers, and confuses everyone else. His ancient collectivist platform and his innovative ways to remove us from "cultural relativism" are all designed to teach us to be more "responsive community members." He insists the U.S. Bill of Rights must be innovatively balanced and that the world's democratic governments are "evolving."
Long billions, short millions by Amitai Etzioni for CDI Russia 1999. Here Etzioni chastizes American Republicans for not wanting to subsidize Russian scientists.
Communitarianism at the Informal Education Homepage quotes Etzioni's open mockery of the American Declaration of Independence: " Political communitarianism is something of a ragbag of elements. However, a flavour of the political movement is given by Etzioni (below)."
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We hold these truths We hold that a moral revival in these United States is possible without Puritanism; that is, without busybodies meddling into our personal affairs, without thought police controlling our intellectual life. We can attain a recommitment to moral values - without puritanical excesses. We hold that law and order can be restored without turning this country of the free into a police state, as long as we grant public authorities some carefully crafted and circumscribed new powers. We hold that the family - without which no society has ever survived, let alone flourished - can be saved, without forcing women to stay at home or otherwise violating their rights. We hold that schools can provide essential moral education - without indoctrinating young people. We hold that people can live in communities without turning to vigilantes or becoming hostile to one another. We hold that our call for increased social responsibilities… is not a call for curbing rights. On the contrary, strong rights presume strong responsibilities. We hold that the pursuit of self-interest can be balanced by a commitment to the community, without requiring us to lead a life of austerity, altruism, or self-sacrifice…. We hold that powerful special-interest groups in the nation's capital, and in so many statehouses and city halls, can be curbed without limiting the constitutional right of the people to lobby and petition those who govern…. We hold these truths as Communitarians, as people committed to creating a new moral, social, and public order based on restored communities, without puritanism or oppression. Etzioni (1995: 1-2) |
Where does Etzioni stand on American disarmament?
On the one hand, Etzioni is firm? in his stand against American's private ownership of guns and claims the Second Amendment was written with a "communitarian clause" that calls for community militias and not "individual gunslingers." Etzioni refuses to answer his critics from the American "right", those individual gunslinger advocates who challenge his communitarian gun ownership ideology. Etzioni's written thousands of words on the "need" for national disarmament and founded his own international peace organization. This very exceptional peaceful man started his adult life as a hard-core Fabian socialist, as a communist-kibbutz raised Zionist who became a trained revolutionary soldier fighting with the ferocious David Ben Gurion against the British and the Arabs in 1946. In 1947 he was an Israeli soldier in the Arab War, he supports Bush Jr's War on Iraq (although his name has since been removed from this PNAC letter to Bush on September 20, 2001), he endorses the highly controversial Project for A New American Century, and he endorses the need for a National ID Card to make America a safer place from (anti-Israeli) terrorists.
Here's an old article we stumbled upon while looking for information about Etzioni's cronies in the Bible teaching arena. Concern over microchip implants New technology getting under some people's skin By Jon E. Dougherty, © 1999 WorldNetDaily.com.
Where does Etzioni stand on national governments?
In 1992 Etzioni wrote "The Evils of Self-Determination" for Foreign Policy, where he opened with:
| "Self-determination movements, a major historical force for more than 200 years, have largely exhausted their legitimacy as a means to achieve more democratic states." His thoughts on Iraq in October, 2002? "If the Shiites, who have long been oppressed in Iraq, want to fight the Sunni over their rights or create a separate state, why should we lose sleep over it? After all, Iraq is an artificial creation imposed on the people of the region by foreign powers. If the people of this area now seek self-determination along different lines than were drawn some generations ago, why should we stand in their way? We have nothing to fear if two or three countries will be formed in the area now called Iraq. If, in the process, there is some fighting among these groups, we surely would not welcome it; we regret bloodshed, but it would hardly be the first war of ethnic liberation in which we did not intervene." [emphasis added] |
Where does Etzioni stand on American's privacy?
In March 2003 Etzioni organized a Congressional briefing on how to improve identification while enhancing security and guarding privacy. His invitation list reads like a who's who in promoting American fascism, and includes a representative from the Schlumbergers, the Smartcard family who goes way back in American history. It's not clear whether he supports human chip implants to enhance our national security, we only know that Etzioni includes microchip implants in his "privacy dialogues."
The ACL will continue to follow Dr. Etzioni's more moral views on current events, and we'll post some of his most relevant publications, which he makes so easily available via his personal notes, posted on his editorial blog site.
Where does Etzioni stand on Punishing Americans for anti-social behaviors?
Amitai-notes.com/blog on June 1, 2004
"The 'Sabra' in Israeli Literature," with Eva Etzioni, Jewish Frontier (October 1958), pp. 16-19.
April 23, 2004 blog update:
Kathy sent us this link to an Anchorage Daily News article that tells us about the Communitarian Network's "study" of all the state driver's licenses security precautions. Institute rates Alaska DMV as one of most lax in U.S. LICENSES: State disputes claim that it deserves an "F" in verifying applicants' identities. by RICHARD RICHTMYER Anchorage Daily News (Published: April 22, 2004). The ADN provides a link to GWU's entire study. Richtmyer tells us:
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"The institute established four steps it said states should take, at a minimum, to ensure effective screening for fraudulent applications and assigned a grade based on how many they used.
"The steps were verifying Social Security numbers using an online database system; requiring proof that the applicant is legally in the United States and a resident in the state; linking license expiration dates to visa expiration dates for foreigners; and using biometric information, such as fingerprints or retinal scans, to verify identity." [emphasis added] |
We wonder how much the Anchorage Daily News knows about the Communitarian Network. This is basically all they tell their Alaskan readers: "The institute, which promotes a balance between individual rights and social responsibility, looked into the subject because driver's licenses are widely used as the definitive ID, and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists got theirs through other lax states, namely Florida and Virginia, Etzioni said."
What Etzioni didn't say is that they looked into the subject because they have an agenda that requires a national database on ALL Americans... and not just to prove their idenity. Maybe Alaskan readers would like a bit more background information.. some authentic investigative reporting. Like the fact that Etzioni is also active in the New World Order Projects, or that Etzioni is a founder of many programs that uses a mapping database to assign Americans to "volunteer" positions in their rebuilt communities. Maybe it's just as important to know that members of the Communitarian Network also design programs that gather data on our personal skills and abilities. Should the strong individualistic state of Alaska know that Etzioni calls nationalism outdated, or that he recommends balancing the Bill of Rights against communism? Maybe it matters that Etzioni is a militant Zionist who apparently confuses the U.S. with the Middle East. Just because the Communitarian Network is making bold assertions about what we need to change in order to re-make America in Israel's image doesn't mean they're beyond public scrutiny. I'll bet there's Alaskans wondering, "Who are they?"
I'm thinking of providing the ADN with another version of what balance really means, as in balanced reporting (which is supposed to be the definition of journalistic objectivity). WE don't have to be balanced because the ACL is openly opposed to the communitarian agenda, and we don't promote ourselves as a news site. We are openly organizing resistance to the communitarain-communists. But newspapers are supposed to remain "unbiased" and give us ALL the facts. When did American newspapers stop giving us both sides of the story? Why is Etzioni so involved with finding ways to overcome American's insistance on personal privacy?
Etzioni's terrorist past
In November 2003 we found a great link to some of Etzioni's published works from his Jewish perspective at Jewish World Review. In this piece, Etzioni uses his Palmach-terrorist past as something that makes him morally superior today. Etzioni's Fabian logic is so well-honed he can say, "I was once a member of a "terrorist" group, show no mercy on civilian terrorists." After years of of communitarian propaganda and his "reformed" Israeli terrorist's moral platitudes, does free America agree with Dr. Etzioni that the U.S. government (post 9/11) should operate federal law enforcement like the merciful and kind Israeli Mossad? Was it 24 years of Etzioni's insider-terrorist advice to our U.S. Presidents that established Israeli commando training for local American "community" police in how to combat terrorism?
We (used to) know other "former" Israeli soldiers trained gunmen for the Colombian drug lords and showed them how to "make bombs." (Where did this paper go? It was on file with the Library of Congress. Now the only link to this title directs you to us.) Does Etzioni still know how to make bombs? Other reformed Palmach terrorists also do a little arms and drug dealing on the side. Still others are (now what happened to this link?) offering Israeli terrorist training services to America. Would "father" Etzioni have us consider all his buddies who are former Palmach soldiers to be more moral than Americans? Or just him? And why is he so insistant that Americans adopt his version of a National ID?
The only responses to the ACL from the Communitarian Network
1. In May 2003, we emailed our site address to Etzioni, the Communitarian Network and the ASA. We got over 500 hits in the first few days, and we followed several links back to Etzioni's assistants (all of whom ridiculed ACL work in general). Here's one who cites our paragraph where we ponder whether Etzioni actually writes everything he claims to write. In this Zionist-Socialist Third Way blog, the rebuttal is simply: "Does not write everything he claims, indeed. Still, I am excited to learn that I am a part of a Zionisit-Socialist conspiracy to rule the world. Who knew?"
Then we found one who verified our pondering. While her original post was deleted from her message board, I quoted her in our May 9th blog. This is an email we received from Erin Riska on July 17, 2003, who said on EZBoard, "I know! Its so hilarious. The vast majority of it [this page] is untrue, except the part about him not writing everything he publishes. That is 100% true. In fact, he writes very little of it." :
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Hi Niki- I saw this morning that back in May, you quoted something that I wrote on a message board in regards to Dr. Etzioni and your site, regarding his writing. I don’t mind that you quoted me, though I would have preferred that you had not used my name, because I think that Dr. Etzioni does look at the site on occasion. In any case, I just wanted to clarify this issue for you, as best I can. Everything that is published under Dr. Etzioni’s name, is in fact HIS work, in terms of content. It is not, however, always his work in terms of style. What I mean is that the integrity of his ideas is never compromised, but nearly everything he writes is heavily edited for style and general readability. Even though he has been in the states for nearly 50 years, and speaks English almost as well as any native speaker would, he often doesn’t understand some of the more subtle nuances of the language and he can at times be a bit lazy with it. There are several very talented research and editorial assistants here at the Institute, who work hard to make sure that everything that Dr. Etzioni writes is grammatically and stylistically sound, not to mention “right.” This is why there is often a noticeable difference in the style of his writing from piece to piece. It is not as though there are people publishing THEIR work under his name. Another reason for the varied writing styles is that much of what Dr. Etzioni writes is meant to appeal to his academic counterparts, while much of it is written in a more populist manner. Best, Erin M. Riska Assistant to the Director The Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies The George Washington University 2130 H Street, NW, Suite 703 Washington, DC 20012 ph: 202.994.8190 fax: 202.994.1606 |
In 1995 Amitai Etzioni was president of the American Sociological Association. The following is a copy of a letter explaining the problems some PSN members faced when trying to engage Etzioni in a real debate over his personal communitarian platform: (For the full threads of this discussion, click here.)
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To the Editors of Footnotes, the American Sociological Association, the
Sociological "Community," and All Interested Parties. President Etzioni's letter to Footnotes may well be remembered as an important moment in the institutional history of American sociology. It should be noted that it is an edited version of a longer email posting that he delivered to the Progressive Sociologist Network (PSN) on June 27, 1995. The text of the PSN letter can be obtained via the internet by gophering to csf.colorado.edu/discussions/progressive sociologists/psn-cafe archives. Those without internet access may contact any of the undersigned for copies. President Etzioni believes that there is a nefarious plot afoot against him and the 1995 ASA meeting. Justifiably upset by the specter of "disruptions" by progressive and radical sociologists, Etzioni issued his letter in order to reveal this plot to his colleagues. At its best moment, his letter seeks to open a discussion of the merits of his communitarian social theories. At its worst, President Etzioni's letter is a political broadside that casts a cloud over all the subscribers of the Progressive Sociologist Network and, indeed, all who voice disagreement with his communitarian agenda. As such, his letter necessitates a formal response from the unnamed targets. As subscribers to PSN, and therefore by our association, some of its targets, the authors and the signatories offer this note as a response. The Progressive Sociologists Network (PSN) is an open internet discussion group, a "virtual cafe" in the words of the founders of the list. It is a means for the exchange of ideas and information. At this time, the list distributes postings to over 300 subscribers. The discussions between our members cover every imaginable sociological issue, which is in keeping with the mission of an internet discussion list and with the variety of political/theoretical positions represented by its participants. No one supports every position expressed, but everyone is free to express their views on any discussion "thread." Since May of this year, the members of PSN have engaged in a number of discussions regarding both communitarianism and the politics of the ASA meeting. This discussion has been typically wide ranging and fruitful for the members of PSN. During these discussions, a small number of posts (approximately 5 out of a total of approximately 125 related to communitarianism and the ASA) advocated some sort of "disruption" of the annual meeting. (It is interesting to note that this is about the same number as those advocating the holding of an alternative meeting/dinner during Etzioni's Presidential Address.) The overwhelming majority of posts considered, sometimes approvingly, the sociological importance of communitarianism. Of the posts that expressed disagreement with the theme of the meeting or communitarianism, the vast majority did not mention "disrupting" the meeting. In fact, many actually dismissed the idea of "disruption" as ill conceived or unnecessary. Many of the postings were unapologetically critical of communitarianism, but we must note that Etzioni's letter does not address any of the issues raised by these critical remarks. In fact, it is unclear as to whether he has read the discussion in its entirety or has ever subscribed to the list. We can not recreate the extensive discussion here. Any interested parties with internet access may obtain the complete discussion from the list archive by gophering to csf.colorado.edu/discussions/progressive sociologists/psn-cafe archives. As PSN is an open discussion list, we have nothing to hide. The discussions speak for themselves. However, a number of points raised by President Etzioni's letter must be addressed now. First, we must question President Etzioni's use of the term "progressives" in a derogatory sense. Many of the members of PSN do consider themselves Progressives, others are indeed, horror of horrors, Marxists. We discuss the meaning of these terms amongst ourselves, but do not deny the sincerity and scholarly dedication of any of our members. Those who refer to themselves as progressives do so because it describes their political position as well as their sense of responsibility to human society. President Etzioni's pejorative use of the term is not in keeping with his position as President of the ASA, or with his expressed communitarian beliefs in openness and discussion. Second, President Etzioni modestly asserts in the PSN version that he is merely a sociologist who "believes we have responsibilities to go along with our rights...."Almost no one on PSN would argue that they do not have social responsibilities. However, President Etzioni is being uncharacteristically modest here, as he has often bragged in the press of the Communitarian Network's influence in the Clinton administration. Those PSN'ers who have voiced concerns regarding Etzioni and his communitarianism did so because it is their responsibility to challenge views that they find dangerous or just plain silly, even when those views are held by the President of the ASA and the President of the United States. This is, after all, the ultimate responsibility of anyone seeking to live in a free society. For this reason, President Etzioni's call for his colleagues to raise their "moral voice" in outrage over a phantom plot belittles the fact that those criticizing him and communitarianism in general also speak with a "moral voice." President Etzioni has spoken of the need for "salem-like communities (Spirit of Community 1993:148)," and we assume that this is representative of the morality he wants to voice. We, his critical colleagues, speak with a moral voice honed from years of study and struggle for human emancipation from those miserable little "communities" that Ralph Waldo Emerson called the "jail-yard of individual relations." Third, President Etzioni refers to "the majority of Americans who see themselves as centrists -- in effect communitarians...." We will leave it to the reader the evaluate the merits of this statement. Fourth, President Etzioni's experience of Nazism stands, as does the experience of millions of others, as a testament to courage and spirit of humans to struggle against tyranny. There are even a few PSN'ers who themselves, or their families, experienced the same horrors. Yes, communitarianism was compared to fascism in a number of posts and a lively and informed debate ensued over the appropriateness of this characterization, as well as the sociological definition of fascism. As we are sure that President Etzioni is familiar with the sociological literature on fascism and right-wing ideological practices, we can only be saddened that he has chosen to attack us in this manner and tar us all with the implication that we are insensitive or worse. Finally, President Etzioni has invited his critics to send a representitive to the business session so that our views can be fully expressed. This is indeed a generous offer, but in the original PSN letter, it was an invitation extended to the entire list, and not limited to a single representative. However, as the discussion on PSN shows, the communitarianism issue goes far beyond that which can be covered at the business session. In the interests of scholarly discussion, it might be more valuable if he and all other interested parties would simply subscribe to PSN and engage all of us by addressing the various points already made there. To subscribe, he need only send the command SUBSCRIBE PSN to listserv@csf.colorado.edu. We look forward to an actual debate of the issues. In Solidarity, B. Ricardo Brown * Doctoral Student Department of Sociology City University of New York Graduate Center (brbgc@cunyvm.cuny.edu) Celia Winkler * Graduate Teaching Fellow Department of Sociology University of Oregon (cwinkler@oregon.uoregon.edu) (Signatories in alphabetical order) Lisa Alcock MA Student Department of Sociology University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (lja@csd.uwm.edu) Amy Ansell Associate Professor of Sociology Bard College (ansell@bard.edu) James Bearden Associate Professor Department of Sociology SUNY- Geneseo (bearden@uno.cc.geneseo.edu) William K. Carroll Professor of Sociology University of Victoria, British Columbia (carroll@uvvm.uvic.ca) Nancy K. Cauthen Doctoral Candidate Department of Sociology New York University (cauthenn@acfcluster.nyu.edu) Carl H.A. Dassbach Department of Social Sciences Michigan Technological University (dassbach@mtu.edu) Joe Feagin Department of Sociology University of Florida (feagin@nervm.nerdc.ufl.edu) Warren Goldstein Ph. D. Candidate Department of Sociolgy New School for Social Research (wgoldste@hp800.lasalle.edu) Keith Kilty College of Social Work Ohio State University (kkilty@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) Allan Liska Department of Sociology University of Maryland (hstaub@bss1.umd.edu) Tom Meisenhelder Department of Sociology California State University, San Francisco (tsmeisen@wiley.csusb.edu) Markus Mueller Austrian Student Unions Department of Sociology University of Graz, Austria (mueller@gewi.kfunigraz.ac.at) David Purcell Graduate Student Department of Sociology University of Cincinnati purcelld@ucbeh.san.uc.edu Blaine Stevenson Department of Sociology Central Michigan University (3rt2bdy@cmuvm.cmich.edu) Morton G. Wenger Department of Sociology University of Louisville (mgweng01@ulkyum.louisville.edu) Talmadge Wright Department of Sociolgy and Anthropology Loyola University, Chicago (twright@orion.it.luc.edu) *Authors |
Many of our exit links to the Communitarian Network's topic pages now redirect ACL visitors to the George Washington University homepage. Their new site address is www.communitariannetwork.org.
P.S. There are over 10,000 exit links at this site. Please be specific when reporting broken links. thanks!
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"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and he carries his banners openly. But the traitor moves among those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not traitor, he speaks in the accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their garments, and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of a city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to be feared." - Cicero, 42 B.C. |
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"George Washington University professor Amitai Etzioni, who moved to the United States to attend graduate school, said he still uses his Israeli passport when traveling there because the Israelis make it virtually impossible to relinquish it. Etzioni, who was a senior adviser in the Carter White House, said dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship is not a problem "as long as there is a clear priority of loyalty." Rethinking Dual Citizenship in the Post-Sept. 11 World By Jonathan Tilove, Newhouse News Service, June 19, 2002. |
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