"You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train"

November 10, 2004 3:27 AM

Arundhati Roy's call for action, on accepting the Sydney Peace Prize. (That's action from us specifically). I often find Roy's speeches overblown, overcooked and one-sided, and if that kind of rhetoric bothers you then you might want to skip this link. But she does speak lyrically, and I find it hard to argue against what she says this time.
posted by iffley (7 comments total)

I love Arundhati Roy and just this past weekend read her speech "Public Power in the Age of Empire."
She never pretends to be or say anything other than what her conscience leads her to.
Its not like she claims to be a journalist for Fox or the SCLM.
I've always found her arguments sound even when they express what many believe to be rather extreme.
She's had me as a fan ever since reading "The God of Small Things."
posted by nofundy at 4:32 AM on November 10, 2004

That Roy character needs to calm down. She is too angry.
posted by wah at 5:25 AM on November 10, 2004

BTW, HTF do you pronounce those three letters in her language?

Oh, and this..

The Enron contract, which legally binds the Government of the State of Maharashtra to pay Enron a sum of 30 billion dollars, was the largest contract ever signed in India. Enron was not shy to boast about the millions of dollars it had spent to "educate" Indian politicians and bureaucrats. The Enron contract in Maharashtra, which was India's first 'fast-track' private power project, has come to be known as the most massive fraud in the country's history. (Enron was another of the Republican Party's major campaign contributors). The electricity that Enron produced was so exorbitant that the government decided it was cheaper not to buy electricity and pay Enron the mandatory fixed charges specified in the contract. This means that the government of one of the poorest countries in the world was paying Enron 220 million US dollars a year not to produce electricity!

umm, there's like 20 countries on the planet that didn't get ripped off by the big E. I could read you a list, but a I promised not to.

I think...
posted by wah at 5:40 AM on November 10, 2004

Another Roy speech: Instant-Mix Imperial Democracy, Buy One Get One Free
posted by ao4047 at 6:52 AM on November 10, 2004

> I find it hard to argue against what she says this time

"stunning new evidence has revealed that Saddam Hussein was planning a weapons programme. (Like I was planning to win an Olympic Gold in synchronized swimming.)"

Um, no, not really like that.
posted by Turtle at 7:00 AM on November 10, 2004

Reading this speech totally demystifies the author, which is a pity because her writing is so rhythmically beautiful, and her stories are so hauntingly striking. This speech is just boring rhetoric (to me, anyway), and I could barely get through the first few paragraphs.
posted by naxosaxur at 8:58 AM on November 10, 2004

I made it halfway through, then wandered off. Damn shiny things...
posted by Samizdata at 5:50 PM on November 10, 2004