I liked George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and a lot of others because they said things that I fundamentally found to be logical and consistent with my own world view. To be honest, we all operate that way. If it makes sense we feel assured that all will work out in the end.
One of the basics that I've always embraced was that human beings are fundamentally fair, just and seeking to improve their lives and those of their children going forward. My parents built a life better than their parents and I've built a life better than my folks had. Why wouldn't everyone feel that way?
I lived for a bit short of eight years in Europe and that was what I saw there from one end of the Mediterranean to the other and from the blue warmth of the Med to the cold shores of the Baltic. They all embraced democracy, humanity and a hope for progress. Some were better at it and some worse.
I saw it in Asia from Japan in the north to Thailand in the south. Sure, there were rough patches and backward villages, but they all were of one mind in pursuing a bright future. Japan, S. Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand all are on the move.
But, we've got the Middle East now and the Muslim conundrum. No one should tolerate corruption. Leadership of a nation should seek to build, not profit. Certainly the trappings of power will make for comfort but they shouldn't be taken from the backs of the citizens at large. We can't all start from the same place in civilization, but we all can improve our lives from the point we are at now. Apparently that doesn't fit Islamist ideology. Technology doesn't lead to the future; deprivation and religious oppression is preferred. If you disagree with them, they don't debate you, they kill you.
Some videos from Egypt:
Rocks, Molotov Cocktails, Clubs and Camels
It isn't isolated. It is regional. It is endemic. Afghanistan could be seeking a future, but they are adamant that they want to retreat into the caves. Iran could have been a modern nation, but they abandoned that for theocracy. Iraq won't build together but prefers to kill each other and destroy. Lebanon adopts a terrorist party government. Jordan, an staunch American supporter and progressive in the region, ousts the entire government. Syria makes a business out of destruction. Egypt descends into anarchy. Yemen rushes to follow Somalia into the abyss.
They don't seem to want what I have always assumed was very basic. They force me to question the very humanity which I've embraced.
5 comments:
One of the better things you've ever posted on this blog. I agree with you. Several years ago I saw a news video showing dozens of Iranians in a huge gaggle jumping up and down and beating themselves on their heads until blood poured down their faces. I told my wife, who also watched this video, 'You can't deal with people who are willing to do this to themselves.' It's beyond my ability to figure these people out and I'm afraid it's also beyond Obama's abiltiy.
I'm reading an interesting book right now called "A Path out of the Desert" which explores a lot of the cultural issues in the Middle East. I think Kenneth Pollack is the author. He wrote a really good book on the case for removing Saddam from Iraq back before we invaded that I read. Some good insights so far. I'll eventually post a review on my web site, but it's definitely worth checking out - he, at least, feels the situation is not without hope.
Hear hear Bongobear.
We also in NZ cannot understand the deranged behaviour of the region.
Like Americans, we are the progeny of immigrants seeking escape from the iniquities and hatreds of the Old World. We can understand old hatreds being passed through the generations.
What we cannot understand is the inhuman irrationality.
The pre-European Maori peoples of NZ lived in a stone-age culture. No wheel, no knowledge of clay firing for Pottery, and certainly no metallurgy. They were (and are) a martial race. Life was perpetual warfare, kill or be killed and yes,
eat or be eaten.
But they were neither deranged nor irrational. When modernity arrived they were quick to see its value, to grasp what was freely given and build better lives.
To a large extent they ditched the primitive parts of their culture and kept the parts of it they valued.
More progress made by them in 170years than that part of the world has made in the last 1400.
It beggars belief.
Well said, nzgarry.
As an aside, in my opinion you live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. The people are wonderful and the scenery is awesome.
Thank you Bongobear. The same goes for many parts of the US.
We can only hope that the ideals of the Presidents listed prevail in the years ahead.
cheers
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