Citizens of the World
Europe Stood Still
At noon today Central European Time, the countries of Europe stopped in their tracks for three minutes to mourn the victims of the Tsunami in East Asia. It was a gesture of solidarity, something that the world needs more of and seems to have less of, as time goes by.
Age-old enemies put down their weapons and joined hands to help in a time of desperation. Rich nations rolled up their sleeves and dug deep into their treasuries to assist those in need. When asked why America was leading the effort to help the disaster victims, Colin Powell replied, "It's what Americans do!"
There are those who see America's role in a cynical light, but they are wrong. Americans are a caring people. When the need arises, you can count on most countries, including America, to respond with swiftness and generosity.
Unfortunately, disasters seem to be the only events that draw humans together in these times of national and cultural division. Terrorists are waging war against the world on the pretence that civilization is threatening their belief systems, while the truth would seem to be that their belief systems are threatening civilization. No one wants to crush other cultures or values, only to see them compete fairly and honestly in the battle of ideas.
The most interesting thesis behind the present crisis is that catastrophe may have unintended effects, such as uniting sworn enemies and pulling the ideological rug out from under fundamentalists the world over. This is a thesis that found expression in an article in today's International Herald Tribute entitled Tsunamis may be unifying event By Daniel Altman.
While there are those who take undue advantage of other people's tragedy and suffering, most people seem compelled by conscience and good will to come to the aid of those in times of need. It is a curious mixture of human qualities, some good and some terrible, that arises in the face of disaster. But, above all, it is the quality of human solidarity that sets the tone in such situations.
Sometimes it takes a human tragedy to understand Socrates' sentiment: "I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world. "
At noon today Central European Time, the countries of Europe stopped in their tracks for three minutes to mourn the victims of the Tsunami in East Asia. It was a gesture of solidarity, something that the world needs more of and seems to have less of, as time goes by.
Age-old enemies put down their weapons and joined hands to help in a time of desperation. Rich nations rolled up their sleeves and dug deep into their treasuries to assist those in need. When asked why America was leading the effort to help the disaster victims, Colin Powell replied, "It's what Americans do!"
There are those who see America's role in a cynical light, but they are wrong. Americans are a caring people. When the need arises, you can count on most countries, including America, to respond with swiftness and generosity.
Unfortunately, disasters seem to be the only events that draw humans together in these times of national and cultural division. Terrorists are waging war against the world on the pretence that civilization is threatening their belief systems, while the truth would seem to be that their belief systems are threatening civilization. No one wants to crush other cultures or values, only to see them compete fairly and honestly in the battle of ideas.
The most interesting thesis behind the present crisis is that catastrophe may have unintended effects, such as uniting sworn enemies and pulling the ideological rug out from under fundamentalists the world over. This is a thesis that found expression in an article in today's International Herald Tribute entitled Tsunamis may be unifying event By Daniel Altman.
While there are those who take undue advantage of other people's tragedy and suffering, most people seem compelled by conscience and good will to come to the aid of those in times of need. It is a curious mixture of human qualities, some good and some terrible, that arises in the face of disaster. But, above all, it is the quality of human solidarity that sets the tone in such situations.
Sometimes it takes a human tragedy to understand Socrates' sentiment: "I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world. "
posted by J. DeVincent at 11:13 AM
5 Comments:
Cobwebs? My God, you're right! I'll see what I can do about that.
Been rather busy looking for intelligent conversations on the Web. Are there any left at the WP board?
As far as Lindsay is concerned, she hasn't asked me to return. I am not in the cheek-pecking business. ;)
Now you don't have Matrixx to push around any more.
Losing it, apparently? LOL! The French call it les objects perdus. Oh well, you could always try the new Matrixx site: http://www.politicscafe.com/forum/index.php
Mostly libertarian, Objectivist and conservative -- you know, the usual suspects. But the level of discussion is quite high (sorry, I don't want to sound discouraging), but check it out.
You might like the Gilbert and Sullivan spoof of libertarianism that I just posted. The rest my be a little deep for you, but give it a try. :)
Think quality, not depth, huh? That's what I like about your posts, SR, you've got a certain folksy touch, you know, like Forest Gump. It's very, how I shall I put it, endemic.
It's interesting to note that your take on "deep" does not rely on the usual variants of the word, such as "deepening one's knowledge" of a subject or "in-depth" analysis of an issue. You infer that quality is superficial, lacking depth. Or that "deep thoughts" are meaningless exercises simply because they are complex.
Perhaps there's some underlying linguistic principle here that could explain why some people accept "shallow", as opposed to "deep", political philosophies?
It's quite possible that the very lack of definitions in conversations is the greatest source of misunderstanding and mistrust in the realm of politics.
For example, would you characterize our beloved president as a "deep" or "shallow" person? Can there really be quality without depth? Aren't the two concepts irrevocably joined?
Are you sure that you've thought about this subject in depth?
Now that I've got that off my chest, I shall return to gazing deep into my glass of VSOP.
Well Matrixx I see you don't blog to much anymore. Shame, you really were provocative, or at least a pain in the ass. Such is life I suppose, as I don't do much of any it anymore either. Thought of you when I ran across this article at Asia Times. I guess the MSM will catch on next year, and the Wapo boards a week later. The kicker; "If the dollar goes down in value, the Saudi royal family still gets to keep hundreds of billions of dollars. But, if they don't buy dollars, why would the US keep them in power? It would simply not be in our interests to do so. Remember when Saddam Hussein talked about pricing Iraq's oil in euros? "Shock and awe" quietly followed."
http://atimes.com/atimes/Asian_Economy/GD09Dk01.html
Hope all is well with you, Peace, EZ.
Come on, EZ, the rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated. I've been pretty busy of late, but that doesn't mean I'm retiring from the blogging scene.
Thanks for the link.
I'll try to comment on the rest of your post in more detail this weekend.
Cheers,
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