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To: Jacob Snyder who wrote (53591)	10/2/2001 6:06:31 PM
From: Sun Tzu	Respond to of 70976

Jacob, I have come believe you and I have more in common than our trading tactics and outlooks. Like you, I am not a pacifist. It is just that I do believe that violence must be the absolute last resort and even then, it should be applied as little as effective. The problem is that most people like to think of the world in black and white ways. It's much easier to demonize your enemy and push for his oblivion than to acknowledge your mistakes and his point of view, while still fighting him. Reality has a way of exerting itself no matter what. We (in all levels) feel pain and find misery when our perspective is not compatible with the reality outside. Dalai Lama's book The Art of Happiness has an interesting passage in which he says he feels Saddam is unfairly portrayed in media. He does not light statement about "understanding" Saddam. Rather he says that Saddam is brutal dictator and a very scary man. BUT he did not cause all the destruction. Without his army he would have been unable to do so. And without all those arms, his army would have been unable to oblige. In blaming everything on Saddam, we are left to seek easy solutions and not learn from the events. How we choose to look at events is very important. Acknowledging the reality and the course of events for what it is, may not change my immediate "solution", but it does serve to prevent future mistakes and perhaps to come up with better and more effective solutions. Unfortunately it is easier to pretend all the problems were caused by Saddam and that once he is gone the world is a better place. Against such backdrop, I feel lending my voice to the pacifist camp is more prudent than joining the masses. ST

To: Jacob Snyder who wrote (53591)	10/3/2001 8:31:40 AM
From: michael97123	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 70976

"Pacifism doesn't work" But we do need pacifists around reminding us of our better nature. Look how patient we have been in our response so far. No, pacifists dont bother me--what bothers me are the moral equivalency guys telling me I have to understand the upbringing of those poor souls who blew up NY. From West side story--"I'm depraved on accounta I'm deprived." Pacifists know evil but refuse to use force to fight it. Moral equivalency folks refuse to recognize evil. Everything is gray to them. Regrettably, I have seen a lot of that in some of the posts on this thread. It's legacy is in the 60's and unfortunately as a war protester back then, i must shoulder some of the blame. Last night at City College NY, my alma mater, US imperialism was blamed as the cause of the WTC attack. My God! Regards, mike