Reaction to MAGIC DISHWASHER (TBAY INTRO)

[arrowsmithbt]

No: HPFGUIDX 81232

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "naamagatus" <naama_gat at h...> wrote:
> snip
> I don't understand how the WW can be "irredeemably evil". You [Pip] 
> described the racism and prejudice rife in the WW; this you see as 
> the background, or rather, breeding ground for Voldemort(s). But if 
> so, then any and every human society is irredeemably evil - 
> snip
> Scientific racism did not originate in Germany. It was much more an 
> English and American creation. Moreover, practically everybody in the 
> Western world took for granted ....Anti-semitism was born of Medieval 
> Christianity, and used extensively by secular and religious leaders 
> in many countries during many centuries to deflect political unrest. 
> snip
> You say that "if the WW is irredeemably evil, it is better to 
> sacrifice it for the future." But the WW is no more irredeemably evil 
> than the examples I gave above. 
> snip
> The fact that WW is rife with racism does not put it on a par with 
> Nazi Germany. It puts it on a par with human societies in general. I 
> think that JKR means Voldemort to be seen as the logical outcome of 
> the darker aspect of human *nature*, not a product of a certain time 
> and culture. I would think a whole lot less of her if the books' 
> message would be less universal than that. 
> 
Good  post; thank you.
Mind you, I  would say that, since it accords with much of my own
prejudices.

This idea that evil = a particular ideology is lazy  thinking.
To  be successful, any would be Supremo, including Voldemort, needs
a suitable social/political climate that has pre-existing vulnerabilities 
that can be exploited. These need to be severe enough for polarisation
to  be evident or easily provoked. Does this apply to the WW?

Pip makes much of racism in the WW. Just  how  widespread is it?
I think we are lead to believe that Slytherin-like attitudes are the 
fount of all that is wrong-thinking in the WW. OK, by extrapolation that 
gives us about 25% or less of the population. Is this enough to damn a 
society? What is the attitude of the press? Do they use weasle-words - 
(while we deplore his methods....) or are they anti? Anti, it seems to me.

IMO it seems that Naama is right. JKR is holding up a mirror to *our*
society, not to the past. Go down the pub, you'll hear  Slytherins 
a-plenty; and they're not all drinking  gin and tonic. We have a
corrupt  political system, Fudges everywhere; we have criminals
that avoid punishment by  doing deals; we have Ministries that
would prefer to dictate than consult; we have 'institutionalised' racism.
How do we differ from the WW? Unsettling thoughts.

The only thing we don't have is Voldemort. 

He is the warning, the bogeyman out there in the darkness, a threat
that could become a reality. To re-quote Burke (lovely man!) "It is 
necessary only for the good to do nothing for evil to triumph."
I'm fascinated to find out how JKR will  resolve her universe and
its problems. I'll be disappointed if it's something  trite and facile,
but HP is not a social engineering exam essay, written for the approval
of the right thinking, so I have hopes. I'll throw in another quote that
might be apposite, William Blake this time, "He who would do  good to
another, must do it in minute  particulars. General good is the plea of
the scoundrel, hypocrite and flatterer."

Though I'd prefer a  big BANG, myself.

Kneasy