You know, when it comes to the moral/ethical/etc. failings of writers,
musicians, conductors, painters, sculptors, etc., it seems to me that
the Chock Full o' Nuts philosophy works best:

        "As you ramble on through life, my friend, whatever be your goal,
             keep your eye upon the doughnut, and not upon the hole."

Hal "If there is anyone here I have not
                 offended, I apologize."
                                  --Johannes Brahms

Halvard Johnson
===============
email: [log in to unmask]
website: http://home.earthlink.net/~halvard
blog: http://entropyandme.blogspot.com/

{ Well, I agree that these are serious questions, Mark, and with much of this
{ uneasy conscience that you discuss here, Alison. But Orwell is somewhat
{ troubling too, or at any rate has been to me since I read these particular
{ accounts, one from an old issue of the Guardian and another from European
{ Digest.
{
{ http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/articles/col-blacklist.htm
{
{ http://www.european-digest.com/docs/digest08.htm
{
{
{ best,
{
{ Rebecca
{
{
{ ---- Original message ----
{ >Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 07:29:15 +1100
{ >From: Alison Croggon <[log in to unmask]>
{ >Subject: Re: poem
{ >To: [log in to unmask]
{ >
{ >On 24/1/05 6:35 AM, "Mark Weiss" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
{ >
{ >> Everyone who didn't leave or go into self-imposed retirement carries a
{ >> stain, those who toadied more so. But what does that leave us? There were a
{ >> lot of Germans--do we dismiss them from consciousness? To what extent
{ does
{ >> Furtwangler get a pass for resisting the murder of his Jewish musicians,
{ >> but of no one else? To what extent do we condemn those without the means
{ or
{ >> courage to leave and with no other way to feed themselves and their
{ >> children than to conform publicly?
{ >
{ >Very difficult questions, Mark, because they are real questions. Last night
{ >I read Orwell's defence of PG Wodehouse, who made some broadcasts for the
{ >Nazis. (Also his very interesting and somewhat prescient essay on
{ >anti-Semitism in Britain, and his speculations on its connections to
{ >nationalism - made me think I ought to go back and read Kristeva again,
{ whom
{ >he was, in some ways, anticipating). He asks why Wodehouse, who from what
{ >he says was completely naïve politically and whose crime was no worse than
{ >gross stupidity, was so roundly condemned, when people in high places who
{ >were all for Hitler _before_ the war, who never said a peep about the camps
{ >and were very happy to intern Jews as suspicious aliens who were fleeing the
{ >Nazis &c, got off scot free. He puts his finger squarely on a bad
{ >conscience which has not, I think, yet been fully exposed. In a way, it's
{ >become trickier, since anti-Semitism has become a trait that everyone agrees
{ >is a shocking thing, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. A bit like men
{ >who think not pinching women on the bum means they're not sexist.
{ >
{ >Best
{ >
{ >A
{ >
{ >
{ >
{ >Alison Croggon
{ >
{ >Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
{ >Editor, Masthead: http://masthead.net.au
{ >Home page: http://alisoncroggon.com