Cargo Cult
12th Sep 2001, 17:10
Reading some of the posts on threads connected with the recent series of atrocities in the USA adds to my sense of despair at the mentality of mankind in general. We're hearing endless calls for immediate and summary "justice" at the price of the destruction of the lives of countless human beings in other parts of the world - predominantly completely innocent, as is inevitably the way. This sort of unreflective reaction contributes absolutely nothing except a greater degree of opacity in our ability to understand these events, and thereby a decreased ability to prevent their recurrence. A couple of examples of these responses:-
"The only thing that I can think of is to attack the families of those that carry out this sort of attack. ...I think the Isreali's (sic) probably have it right, kill any terrorist wherever you find them."
Well, of course it's perfectly clear that summary executions have contributed wonderfully to the elimination of the endless cycle of reciprocal violence of which this is just the latest and most appalling example. Hardly a day goes by without news of the ever increasing tranquillity in the Middle East.
"...the average man is calling for vengeance. I personally hope it comes in a form that the rest of the world will never forget. Not a solution I know (sic)..."
Brilliant idea: Let's do something spectacularly violent which will principally contribute more suffering to the world but will also have the useful by-product of cranking up the level of insanity and the thirst for revenge amongst the West's enemies by a good few notches.
There are plenty of similarly witless comments appearing all over this site, most of them it seems from people whose political acumen is undermined by the fact that they can barely construct a sentence or spell simple words.
The question which most needs asking is "why is this happening?", and yet it's a question that's conspicuous by its near-absence. Whilst we may not be able to come up with any general consensus, at least we could attempt to understand the global issues a bit better. The fact is that the relationship between "The West" and the "Third World" is characterised by an immense gulf in both material wealth, social justice, and of understanding. There are too many specific areas of conflict to comment on individually, however I think most of us would agree that this situation is not getting any better. I wish I thought that the immense shock caused by recent events would have a focusing effect on our collective perception of these issues, but I fear that an increase in rationality is the least likely outcome. It can surely be only a matter of time before we see a nuclear or radiological bomb used against Europe or the USA, and it probably won't be delivered by a ballistic missile.
Meanwhile I look forward to seeing PPRUNE continuing to excel as a forum for intelligent debate about aviation security (which I observe with interest as a consumer who doesn't work in the industry). Calls for retaliatory violence against civil populations - which are in essence manifestations of precisely the same mentality that engendered the current catastrophe - belong elsewhere, if anywhere at all.
Roy
null"...the average man is calling for vengeance. I personally hope it comes in a form that the rest of the world will never forget. Not a solution I know (sic)...""The only thing that I can think of is to attack the families of those that carry out this sort of attack. ...I think the Isreali's (sic) probably have it right, kill any terrorist wherever you find them."which are in essence manifestations of precisely the same mentality that engendered the current catastrophe
"The only thing that I can think of is to attack the families of those that carry out this sort of attack. ...I think the Isreali's (sic) probably have it right, kill any terrorist wherever you find them."
Well, of course it's perfectly clear that summary executions have contributed wonderfully to the elimination of the endless cycle of reciprocal violence of which this is just the latest and most appalling example. Hardly a day goes by without news of the ever increasing tranquillity in the Middle East.
"...the average man is calling for vengeance. I personally hope it comes in a form that the rest of the world will never forget. Not a solution I know (sic)..."
Brilliant idea: Let's do something spectacularly violent which will principally contribute more suffering to the world but will also have the useful by-product of cranking up the level of insanity and the thirst for revenge amongst the West's enemies by a good few notches.
There are plenty of similarly witless comments appearing all over this site, most of them it seems from people whose political acumen is undermined by the fact that they can barely construct a sentence or spell simple words.
The question which most needs asking is "why is this happening?", and yet it's a question that's conspicuous by its near-absence. Whilst we may not be able to come up with any general consensus, at least we could attempt to understand the global issues a bit better. The fact is that the relationship between "The West" and the "Third World" is characterised by an immense gulf in both material wealth, social justice, and of understanding. There are too many specific areas of conflict to comment on individually, however I think most of us would agree that this situation is not getting any better. I wish I thought that the immense shock caused by recent events would have a focusing effect on our collective perception of these issues, but I fear that an increase in rationality is the least likely outcome. It can surely be only a matter of time before we see a nuclear or radiological bomb used against Europe or the USA, and it probably won't be delivered by a ballistic missile.
Meanwhile I look forward to seeing PPRUNE continuing to excel as a forum for intelligent debate about aviation security (which I observe with interest as a consumer who doesn't work in the industry). Calls for retaliatory violence against civil populations - which are in essence manifestations of precisely the same mentality that engendered the current catastrophe - belong elsewhere, if anywhere at all.
Roy
null"...the average man is calling for vengeance. I personally hope it comes in a form that the rest of the world will never forget. Not a solution I know (sic)...""The only thing that I can think of is to attack the families of those that carry out this sort of attack. ...I think the Isreali's (sic) probably have it right, kill any terrorist wherever you find them."which are in essence manifestations of precisely the same mentality that engendered the current catastrophe