If fanaticism is an abstract concept to some people, and if
they find it too difficult to grasp, they ought to read the article that
Clifford D. May wrote under the title “Our man in Havana ” and the subtitle: “With his tribute
to a brutal dictatorship, Obama legitimizes a remnant of the Cold War.” It was
published on March 29, 2016 in The Washington Times.
The article does more than put a face on fanaticism; it
personifies it by giving it a flesh and blood quality. When reviewing it, the
readers will come to sense what the author actually feels. Some readers may
sympathize with him and accept his description of reality as he sees it; others
will reject the notions he is espousing. Both types, however, will come to feel
what he feels, even experience the sense of fanaticism that motivates him. And
that's a sense that a stand-alone abstract definition of the word could never
convey.
What happened is this: By the middle of the Twentieth
Century, there was something branded “Cold War” between the Communist bloc of
nations led by the old Soviet Union, and the Capitalist bloc of nations led by
the United States of America .
The warlike competition for power and influence was branded “cold” to
distinguish it form the shooting war that had just ended, and was associated
with the proverbial fire and brimstone.
History unfolded in such a way that Cuba had a
revolution led by Fidel Castro. This event was not surprising given that most
of the Latin American nations were led by strongmen, many of whom were “America 's bastards” who suppressed their own
people to do America 's
bidding. This is one reason why the relations between Cuba and America
deteriorated, resulting in the Bay of Pigs
incident. That was an attempted invasion of Cuba
by exiled Cubans who were encouraged, armed and financed by America .
The assault on Cuba
failed, and Castro was motivated to turn to the old Soviet
Union for protection and economic assistance. Cuba thus
became a member of the Soviet bloc of nations, and a de facto player in the
Cold War game. America
imposed an economic embargo on Cuba ;
one that lasted to the time when President Obama started to dismantle it. This
is how he began the process of normalizing the relations between the two
countries. The President then decided to institutionalize the new state of
affairs by traveling to Cuba
where he announced: “I have come here to bury the last remnant of the Cold War
in the Americas ”.
And this is what motivated Clifford May to cry foul. He not
only objects to normalizing relations with Cuba ; he objects to the idea of
separating the abstract concept of “Cold War” from the Castro brothers. In
fact, he does not see the Castros as flesh and blood; he sees them as motley of
abstract concepts comprising cold war, unwise normalization and ill-advised
detente.
Look how he expressed his thinking: “That was Obama's
announcement. But was it true? President Obama had come not to bury the Castro
brothers but to normalize relations with them.” The author means to say that to
bury the Cold War – which is an abstract concept – would have meant to bury the
flesh and blood that is the Castro brothers. Because they are not dead, the
Cold War is not dead. Because the flesh and blood are alive, so is the abstract
concept. The two have thus been fused into one and the same object.
This translates into the reality that Clifford May does not
make a distinction between people and the situations in which they find
themselves. It leads him to judge people, not by how they react to their
circumstances, but by the circumstances in which they are caught regardless as
to how they got there.
Well, we humans, do not treat other humans in that manner;
not even the animals. It is how we treat objects. For example, if we see a
human or an animal caught in a flood, we try to rescue them regardless as to
how they got there. But if the flood buries a boulder, we do not feel for it
anymore than we do for the flood.
Likewise, Clifford May does not care what happened to the
Castros or the Cuban people anymore than he cares about a boulder or the water
flooding it. He wanted to see the Castros buried because the act would have
symbolized the burial of the Cold War. And this is an equation that's the
hallmark of fanaticism.