Dr. Seuss - The Butter Battle Book - Part 1 of 2

Comment

Comment by Tony Nuspl on May 7, 2012 at 3:31pm

The argument of this book, essentially, is the moral equivalence of both sides in an arms race.In other words, that there is "no moral difference" between the two sides, that they are both equally crazy, in a sense.

According to Wikipedia: "
Moral equivalence is a term used in political debate, usually to criticize any denial that a moral hierarchy can be assessed of two sides in a conflict, or in the actions or tactics of two sides. The term has some limited currency in polemic debates about the Cold War, and more currently, the Arab-Israeli conflict. [Each side in the conflict] usually starts by believing their side is morally superior. They use history, possibly selectively, to cast the situation as a big-picture struggle against an evil power. This evil could be totalitarianism or genocidal policies or some other ostentatious villainy. They then justify the atrocities of their own side by claiming it to be a lesser evil compared with allowing the evil power to have its own way. These atrocities in this way become acts of good, not evil. [N]egotiations may prove difficult in that both parties in a conflict believe that they are morally superior to the other, and are unwilling to negotiate on basis of moral equivalence."

Comment by Tony Nuspl on April 17, 2012 at 12:57pm

And of course, you'll want to watch the rest of it:
http://youtu.be/CLLgBlygqP4

Apologies for the marching band music throughout. It's still worth watching.