Today, something a little different
The plan for this BLOG was to be a place where I could showcase my writing, and I still plan to do that. (Actually, it's a place where Janet and I can showcase our writing, I don't mean to cut out my lovely wife).
However... Tonight, I've been watching a batch of people I think of as friends, people who share a common foe (a common disease), looking for any excuse they can to hate each other, and so I need to vent, and you get to read it.
The thing is, I don't get it. WHY can we not get along? What makes people hate people. What makes some blacks and whites hate each other? What makes some men and women hate each other? What makes some gays and straights hate each other? And what in heaven's name makes Christians and Muslims hate each other?
Because look, it's that hatred that led to our being attacked on 9/11. And it's that hatred that has caused so many people in this country to support an ongoing war against countries who REAL main "crime" is to be predominently muslim, in a time when muslim hatred is de rigueur.
We wonder why these things happen, but who among us hasn't gotten angry at someone for some imagined slight? Smokers take offense because non-smokers would prefer not to breathe their smoke, and try to limit the places where they have to be exposed to it. Non-smokers take offense because smokers don't like having their freedoms curtailed. Is it enough to go to war over?
The homosexual community just wants to live their lives. They didn't ask to be born gay any more than I asked to be born straight, but they are, and it is who they are. And over the years, we have persecuted them to the point that many of them take offense even where none is intended, and where no outsider would see anything to take offense at. But can we blame them, when poll after poll shows that this nation doesn't feel they should have the same rights to declare their commitments to each other that straight people have. All on the basis of defending the "sanctity" of an institution which has risen to the point where more than half of marriages fail? Why should straight folks care if gays can marry? But is it enough to go to war over?
The list goes on. Slavery is over, and yet the rift between black and white is as great as ever. It has certainly changed over time, and is arguably better than it was back then (although as a life long caucasian, perhaps I'm not the most qualified to judge that). But still, there are whites that hate, fear and even attack blacks, and the reverse is just as true. For what? Because our skin color isn't the same? When I was in high school, there were some very racist people in my class... and they would spend their summer time at the beach, TANNING. Removing the ONE difference between themselves and those they despised. There are people who discriminate. It's sick, and it's wrong. But is it enough to go to war over?
Yes, it is. Because if we can't find common ground with those in our own country, our own state, our own COMMUNITY, how can we POSSIBLY find common ground with those of other countries and cultures? And if we can hate those we have so much in common with, how much greater the hatred when we don't? How much greater the fear? How much less the understanding?
It has to stop. Next time you find yourself hating someone for who they are, looking down on someone for an uncontrollable fact of their life, look within yourself and ask yourself if you can't let it go. And if you can't, then it may be time to seriously consider that the events of 9/11 are inevitable, and will happen time and again, as long as human beings inhabit this world.
Thank you for listening to my rant.
Liam.
Copyright (c) February 18, 2005 by Liam Johnson. http://www.liamjohnson.net
posted by Liam at 2/18/2005 10:20:00 PM
21 Comments:
Liam, you are confusing the word HATE with the word DISAGREE. Just because someone disagrees with someone else does not mean they hate them. Friends (even cpaptalk friends) can disagree and still like and respect each other. As far a 9/11 you are again confusing two words HATE and ENVY. Envy is a much more malicious word than hate. If you look at history, war has always been fueled by envy and not hate. During WWII Hitler solidified support for the war with envy against the Jews. Today the muslim extremists recruit armies of oppressed individuals with envy of our success and our freedoms to commit sucide in the effort to destroy what they envy. Oppression and torture cause the human mind to be open to this sort of faulty rationalization. Freedom and Success do not begat oppression, but opression will begat envy. The solution to eliminate this hate, as you call it, is Freedom and Liberty. With this the world will be without envy and without hate.
Saturday, February 19, 2005 12:48:00 PM
I appreciate that viewpoint, but to me, it is simplistic. I think as Americans, we are too quick to believe that we're the best and brightest, and everyone wants to be us.
I'm not so sure people look at us as the rich kid down the block that they would all like to be, I think it's more like the bully on the playground, picking on the smaller kids who don't want to do things his way.
I think if I were a Muslim living in Iraq, whether I loved Saddam or hated him, I would be less than thrilled with someone coming in and dictating to me how my country was to be run. And if one thinks that our way is better, consider that we initially installed Saddam into power years ago. He was one of our pet projects, an earlier attempt at gaining some control over the region.
Are there people who envy us? Almost certainly. But are there people who hate us for our presumption, treating other country's autonomy with a disrespect that we would scream bloody murder if it were shown to us? Absolutely.
As to the use of the word hatred to apply to the discussion on the aforementioned web site, perhaps it was a tad strong. But there was a general tendency for offense to be taken where no (or minimal) cause was given. This may not show hatred, but it clearly shows a lack of respect for each other's viewpoints, which is a smaller denomination of the same coin.
Liam.
Saturday, February 19, 2005 1:27:00 PM
Again you are confusing two issues. I did not say that they want to BE us. The "powers that be" use our success to create envy amongst their oppressed disallusioned subjects. It's that "greener on the other side of the fence" rational. You make it sound as though we as Americans think they SHOULD envy us. I for one don't think that's the case. I think they, and every other human being should have the freedom and liberty to strive to be what they what to be. As far as being the bully on the playground, I seem to recall, from my playground days, it was the bullies who were stealing the lunch money and not buying those that were hungry a free lunch. I'll give you the point about helping Sadam into power, but as the old saying goes "two wrongs don't make a right" We are always left to do what we as a country think is best at our given point in history. As I said in a diatribe elsewhere, history will be the judge of what's utimately right and wrong.
As far as "the other discussion", my "taking offense" was a tongue in cheek reference to the unwaranted (IMO) offense taken by a "guest" poster in regard to hhunt's original disassociation to Helen Hunt reference. If you perceived any lack of respect expressed by me, it was born in response to Janet's, in my opinion, disrespectful comment regarding our current commander-in-chief. I guess "the coin" in whatever denomination, flips both ways.
Saturday, February 19, 2005 2:12:00 PM
Your point is taken, and I do appreciate your opinion.
I do not, however, share it. I don't believe we've given ANYONE a "free lunch", and meanwhile we have CONSISTENTLY spent orders of magnitude more than we've been told we would. Do you recall that our administration's initial vow to the people of this nation was that the American taxpayer's costs for the Iraq war would be less than $2 billion dollars? The truth is more like 100x that number, with no end in sight.
We've been told that the actions of our leaders have been taken to make us safer, a lie repeated for as long as it's expedient, but as soon as it's time to try to get congress to open the purse strings and pay for yet MORE of this lunacy, suddenly the official line is what some have been saying since before we went in: Iraq has become a breeding ground for terrorists and martyrs.
Regardless of the reasons, having spent billions of dollars and turns a record surplus into a record deficit is quite a burden considering that the accomplishment appears to have been to INCREASE the numbers of people willing to die in opposition to "the great satan".
As you have said, we may not know all the facts for years, but what appears to be clear is that we've spent and spent, and been given new lie after new lie as to what our real objective was.
Hardly the actions of a great President or administration, regardless of whether one is of Liberal or Conservative bent.
However, I am enjoying debating the merits of the argument with you.
Liam.
Saturday, February 19, 2005 3:53:00 PM
At the risk of intruding, do you mind if I step in? Most people don't listen to my opinions anyhow, so I'm probably just taking up space.
Personally, I think it's alright to bash our President. I can't recall a time when we didn't criticize our Presidents or take them to task for their actions -- it's the American way!
Yes, our country is mighty powerful (mouth and muscle). I've had a couple of Canadian friends describe America as the "sleeping elephant" or the "sleeping giant." Nice to look at, envious of its might and size, ....but look out when it wakes up from it's sleep!
Now I know what you're going to say, that the Canadians hate/envy us but take full advantage of what we have to offer. So what? Our European forefathers didn't exactly politely ask the native Americans to just step aside and let us plunder their land. Point is, we are an agressive country and mighty-mouthed. There are consequences to any country that acts in that manner.
(Hmmm. I anticipate a consequence or two heading my way as well. Oh dear.)
Saturday, February 19, 2005 4:54:00 PM
I've been thinking about the first comment, about envy vs. hate. You make a good argument, but I can't agree.
Perhaps you're right that envy is an underlying cause. But hell, hate is undeniably earned, maybe emerged out of envy, but real. I won't use the American slavery issue, for that is too obvious, in my mind. But WWII? I might have agreed with you, except for long ago watching some documentary of some small European town (I've since forgot the place) which knew full well what was happening to the jews and many of the local people either purposely looked the other way or actively participated in the arrangements for the killings. In that case, the killings weren't done in concentration camps, they were done in small make-shift converted local buildings, apparently leased or borrowed from the locals, modified to be death chambers. They even used trucks to do the killing inside of them, parked right next to townspeople who were well aware. The program delved into the history of the "envy" the townspeople had developed for the jews. I'm sorry. Don't minimize the hate factor.
Sunday, February 20, 2005 12:53:00 AM
Liam, you are right, we disagree on this one. I do agree with you that we are spending a lot of money. The big questions is whether or not the cost in dollars and human lives is worth it. As I've said before, only history can judge that.
As for the "lies" you describe, in the political realms this is the norm. It happens in all corners and across the whole political spectrum. The Pols don't use the word "lie", they prefer to use "spin"
Regarding your assertion that the numbers mobilized against "the great satan" have increased, I don't see it. But if it is true, I'll point out the the height of the Soviet arms build-up came just before their Union fell apart under the weight. As the old saying goes, "It always gets worse before it gets better".
I don't think we can judge the actions of this administration regarding the Iraq policy. If it turns out that this was the beginning of the stabilization of the middle east, this adminstration will be among the greatest of all time. If it leads to more of the same or worse, then I'll be by your side looking for another solution.
Sunday, February 20, 2005 10:02:00 AM
This may be a bit off the track, but you, Liam, have discussed our nation's budget and how above and beyond that the war tab grows.
I ran across a quote I thought amusing, from the syndicated columnist Molly Ivins. It was a lengthy column, but I loved her first line and thought you might find it amusing:
"Budgets are the guts of government. That's where you find the answer to the first of the three important questions about who runs a society: Who's getting screwed? Who's doing the screwing? And what the hell will they do to us next?"
Sunday, February 20, 2005 11:35:00 PM
Linda,is that Molly Ivins the syndicated columnist, or Molly Ivins the Bush bashing mouthpiece for the ACLU? Or are they the same person?
Monday, February 21, 2005 7:55:00 PM
You're such a mean little Wader. I somehow knew you would chime in. I was hoping you hadn't read her stuff. Darn. Can't get one past you, can I?
You bad-mouth my Molly, and there'll be hell to pay, fella! And that will be just from my MOTHER..! So unless you don't fear the wrath of mother Duyer, I'd hold your tongue if I were you.
By the way, I was recruited by the ACLU as an "expert witness." Go figure. Now I KNOW you're laughing.
You may find plenty of reasons to hate the ACLU, but I have witnessed first hand some of the good they've done. And there's nothing wrong in bashing one's President. The bashing isn't going to harm him or his efforts...he'll do that all by himself.
Monday, February 21, 2005 9:08:00 PM
Linda, you have quite an imagination. You seem to have responded to things you imagined I've said, but said nothing about what I actually said. Molly Ivins is exactly as I described her. What's the harm in stating that fact.
Monday, February 21, 2005 9:27:00 PM
Why do I get the feeling you're grinning from ear to ear, Wader, all pleased as punch with yourself? And you say I know how to turn your phrases around?! I know a Molly hater when I see one...or, er, you know what I mean. So don't get all righteous with me, mister! Everything is either black or white with you, no grays. Using terms like "bashing." You seem to use the same term for anyone who criticises anything. Are you "bashing" me, Wader? I think you're only issuing a friendly criticism, not "bashing." The term implies implicit pain, infliction to harm. Not necessarily so. Look for those grays, Wader. They are your friend.
Monday, February 21, 2005 9:48:00 PM
I don't claim to be a Molly hater, but Molly wrote a column in the November 2003 issue of "The Progressive" entitled "Call me a Bush hater"
As I said "Just the facts madam"
Quite an imagination you have!
Monday, February 21, 2005 10:13:00 PM
Got me there!
Still, I don't know where the imagination thing comes from. And I suppose I too am a Bush hater. I haven't read much of Molly, but I think she is funny, for a Texan. I think she's talented, regardless of what you might think of her opinions. Wish I could write like her. Wish I could write like Liam. Wish I could write. Wish......
I prefer to think of my so-called imagination as creative, not mean-spirited as you seem to imply it is. But, I can't be as creative as Liam. After reading "The Keeper" I need to learn how to write. People who can write well, I marvel at them. Anyone who can run at the mouth intelligently 1000 times on the cpaptalk forum, I marvel at them as well.
Monday, February 21, 2005 10:29:00 PM
Linda, the imagination comes in when you add words to what I've written. Bad mouth Molly, Molly hater, ACLU hater are a few examples. I only provide information to inform the reader regarding "who" Molly Ivins is. It adds the necessary context for the reader to make an informed opinion on the points you make.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005 7:31:00 AM
Wow, between the two of you, I think there's more text on this blog at this point which was NOT authored by me than there is text which WAS.
--Liam
Tuesday, February 22, 2005 3:48:00 PM
Liam,
Wader's not playing nice nice!!
I think he should be tossed out of the sandbox, what do you think?
Make him play nice!
(grin)
Tuesday, February 22, 2005 4:50:00 PM
Linda, Now I get it. Your one of those "if I can't make up my own rules, I'm going to take my ball and go home" people.
Liam, I know you're not one for confrontation, but you could comment on the technical aspects of our discussion. Like who uses prettier punctuation.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005 4:52:00 PM
Yuck, yuck Wader.
You presume to know me. You don't, not really. You just think you do. And if the winner is the one with the best punctuation, that would be you. Wader, who must win at all cost. Or at least have the last word. Hmmm, or was that me?
Wednesday, February 23, 2005 5:08:00 PM
Wader,
You said, "Linda, Now I get it. You're one of those 'if I can't make up my own rules, I'm going to take my ball and go home' people."
You might be right. I don't think you are on this, but who knows, you might be right. This makes me a pretty rotten person, and I'm beginning to think you're right on this one too. Sorry.
Sunday, February 27, 2005 9:14:00 AM
"it may be time to seriously consider that the events of 9/11 are inevitable, and will happen time and again, as long as human beings inhabit this world."
You're right. It IS time to consider this. It is in our nature to destroy ourselves. Violence is a disease. Right now, we as a species are circling the drain of existence for many reasons.
You figured out Life's dirty little secret. Tell others and cause domestic unrest.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005 4:23:00 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home