From: storeyd (storeyd@bc.edu)
Date: Wed May 12 2004 - 02:28:45 BST
Wim, thanks for your post; that statistic is unnerving indeed. What good can
come of all this, you ask? Well, with respect to the USA's recent foreign
policy actions, and the worldview that governs them, the answer is "not much
at all." I think alot of people fail to realize that the impetus behind this
whole Iraq policy is the brainchild of the neo-conservative mind; the neo-con
thinks that, in the long run, lies in politics are justified, because the
masses are basically stupid and need to be pacified with facile facts and
reasons for major policy decisions. The war in Iraq is the practical
unfolding of the utopian dream of Wolfowitz and the ex-cold warriors, who
believe they have a destiny and responsibility to overcome centuries of
conflict between the jewish and islamic faiths, and they think happy crappy
christian capitalism is the best way to do it. they are meddling with forces
they can neither fathom nor hope to control, and the shit storm is bound to
get worse.
Incidentally, though America is "more advanced" from a technological and
financial standpoint (though not for long), from a cultural respect it is far
behind, and decidedly immature. we spurn countries like france and europe for
their secularism, yet the reality is that our allegedly religious society is
spiritually bankrupt; the fact that faith-based issues still color and cloud
the effect public opinion has on presidential maneuvering (see: gay marriage,
abortion, etc.) is testament to our adolescent political culture and the
regressive force pop-religion exerts on our society. It seems like many
european governments are rapidly realizing that the 21st century is going to
be about post-national, or trans-national politics; in other words, economic,
ecological, and security factors are making painfully clear how necessary
concrete, practical international governing bodies are going to be if we are
at all interested in averting a bleaker century than the last. put simply:
multilateralism is, in the long run, in everyone's national interest. the
contrast between the US and Europe's attempts to combat terrorism is testament
to the ideological gulf that separates them. The idiots in washington still
don't get it.
You wonder, don't you, how much like a story the political drama reads? what
they say about absolute power and all?
like to hear your comments.
-Dave
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