Re[2]: [Leica] Faas, Horst, and Betrayal

[Peterson_Art@hq.navsea.navy.mil]

     Like others, I disagreed with Marc's "Faas, Horst, and Betrayal" (on 
     12/6/97 at 2:32 PM), but fortunately before I could write, several 
     good responses appeared---among them Eric Welch's model of admirable 
     restraint---that obviated any need for more.
     
     But Jim's apparent abdication of all judgment (12/7/97, below) also 
     calls for some response.  It is true that "Everybody has arguments," 
     that "Agendas...[and]...Perceptions are different, that "One's entire 
     history...mold[s] his or her mind to perceive events in a certain 
     way"---and, to go even further, to behave in certain ways (as Skinner 
     pointed out, behavior is shaped and maintained by its consequences in 
     the environment).  But all of that is NOT to say that "Nobody is 
     right. Nobody is wrong...[and]...Both sides make sense. Both sides 
     make no sense."  There ARE rights and wrongs; there ARE objective 
     truths.  (No one today can reasonably claim that the earth is flat.)
     
     Since when can propaganda be said to do "a finer job of describing 
     what was going on...[than]...Western" style reportage?  Journalists 
     (photo- and otherwise) revealed the consequences of national policies 
     in Viet Nam as in no other war.  But it was THE FACT of those policy 
     consequences, NOT the journalists who dutifully reported them, that 
     "undermine[d]...efforts," and it was THE PERPETRATORS of the policies, 
     NOT the journalists, who were responsible for what happened to the men 
     whom they were "putting IN HARM'S WAY."
     
     To make these points is not "simply [to] argue in one's own behalf," 
     but to insist upon clear thinking.  Should democracy and free speech 
     be discarded whenever a President chooses to wage an undeclared war?
     
     Art Peterson
     
     
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: [Leica] Faas, Horst, and Betrayal
Author:  leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us at internet 
Date:    12/7/97 1:06 AM
     
     
I am not implying that you all should stop your discussions. Not at all. 
The following is simply my uneducated opinion.
     
Everybody has arguments that will indeed support their own line of 
thinking. Agendas are different. Perceptions are different. One's entire 
history on this earth will mold his or her mind to perceive events in a 
certain way. Nobody is right. Nobody is wrong. It's your past. Your 
present. Your information base. Both sides make sense. Both sides make no 
sense. The argument of the Vietnam war, the soldiers, the photographers, 
the families, can and will be argued for centuries. There really are no 
sides. Wherever you find a weakness, you will also find a strength.
     
This is an endless dialog that can neither find solution nor explanation 
for the perpetrated acts. Power, politics, and greed will cause otherwise 
moral men to lose their ability to act nobly.
     
The Leica is innocent. It neither made decisions nor carried them out. It 
was the humble servant of those who felt compelled to participate. The 
minds eye of its user, was recorded for all time. The Leica did its job. 
And did it well.
     
It is perhaps best to view the photographs for technique and vision. 
Extrapolating symbolic meaning from controversial era photographs serves 
little purpose. Unless perhaps to simply argue in one's own behalf. And to 
continue the endless diatribe.
     
Jim