OT re: "In some ways the American people are like a mafia-princess."
In a poll taken right after the attack, a full 97% of Americans thought there should be a military response. A large minority thought we shouldn't even bother finding out first who did the deed, but just start attacking known terrorist groups. You can't get that many of us to agree that Elvis is dead. The people want vengeance, an eye for an eye. The response of our government is likely to be more measured and specific and limited than what the people want.
Have you read what the passengers did, on the plane that crashed in a Pennsylvania field? When they heard on their cellphones that the hijacked planes were being crashed into buildings, this random group of strangers, suddenly finding themselves in a hopeless situation, emmediately organized, and voted to attack the hijackers. That plane didn't reach it's target.
That's what Americans are like. We are a proud and violent people, and the actions of our government are merely a reflection of that. We are not ignorant beneficiaries of some Evil Empire. I suspect that what the hijackers hate about us, is that we are rich and powerful. We wouldn't change that, even if we could. There is no basis for accomodation, nothing we can change about ourselves that would make them not hate us. In fact, any attempt at accomodation, on our part, would be seen by them as weakness, and simply encourage further attacks. Pacifism only works if everyone is a pacifist.
You said: "they would not have cared less how we live our lives if we did not meddle in their affairs. Like most things, doing it the right way is not easy and requires considerable change."
The Global Village is real. That means everyone can't help continually meddling in everyone else's affairs. No man, and no country, can be an island. What happens in Israel and China and Russia affects us, and what we do (by ommission or commission) affects everyone else on the planet (economically, culturally, and politically). The concept of national sovereignity is becoming increasingly obsolete. So, the solution to conflict is not to "quit meddling". In fact, these attacks are going to cause us to extend our Global Reach even further. To Afghanistan, to begin with, I'd guess.
You are right, doing things the "right way" does require "considerable change". And the trend seems to be, that the world is changing, by attempting to imitate the American Way. After a long flirtation with Command Economies, the consensus of the Global Village is that the American Way is the Best Way. After a century of flirtation with Fascism and Communism and Authoritarianism, the consensus of the Global Village (with the important but temporary exception of China and the Moslem World) is that the American Way is the Best Way. Everyone is now accomodating to us and our methods, not the other way around. Everyone wants to be a Happy Consumer of Big Macs and big SUVs. The dramatic "changes in policy" are happening in Russia and China, not in the U.S. The world will be a safer, richer, happier, and much more boring place, when these transforming changes are completed.
re: "nothing relative about my morals"
Then why can't you label this attack as Evil, without any caveats or "on the other hands" or vague notions that we provoked it? What, exactly, do you think the American People (or the American Government) did to provoke this?
You are an intelligent and thoughtful person, but, IMO, you cannot tell the difference between Good Action and Evil Action, even when it is very, very, very obvious. |
