Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (19629)	3/12/2003 10:19:22 AM
From: zonder	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

Thanks for that. It was an interesting article. As I said, I not mind talking about whether a regime is oppressive, and its leader a psychopath beyond human attributes. However, I will not go into how a regime or its leader is "evil", especially as part of an argument to start a war. I agree with this statement from the article you have posted: It may not be of much help, in propaganda terms, to describe an enemy as "evil." Time spent in understanding and studying a foe is always time well spent, and absolutist categories may easily blunt this rigorous undertaking. There may come a time when a real psychopath will come to reign in a country, for example a completely twisted character bent on destruction of all life on earth, who is so mad that he has lost all instinct of self-preservation and cannot be deterred. Then there might be a point in arguing how it is imperative that he be eliminated right away. However, I do not see the same conditions holding in the case of a man who has been in power for decades, a significant portion of which period he was a buddy of the US. He was not "evil" then. But he is "evil" now. Hm. Again, I find "They are evil, we are good" to be an argument planted firmly in religious rhetoric. "Good vs evil" is a concept that I have not seen anywhere after about age eight, in kids' books and cartoons like "Battle of the Worlds". I would, however, be very much interested in talking about how this proposed invasion of Iraq will be for the good of Americans and the rest of the world, if anyone is interested in putting together an argument for this. Seriously, we heard all about "poor little innocent Iraqis suffering under Saddam" and "he is evil", but that is hardly an argument for how this war will be for the good of the American people, and if possible, the rest of the world.