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Post by Cornflake on Aug 22, 2014 20:53:51 GMT -5
I was reading that Hamas executed a number of people thought to have collaborated with Israel. Every corpse was that of someone a mother had loved and cuddled. I found myself imagining their final moments. But it's business as usual for the human race, alas.
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Post by Doug on Aug 22, 2014 21:16:45 GMT -5
We can't do anything about their leaders killing a bunch of people or Israel killing a bunch of people but we should be able to control our leaders better. War is a terrible thing, not just the dead but the living who survive.
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Post by Village Idiot on Aug 22, 2014 21:32:32 GMT -5
I thought about the same thing while listening to the way things have turned in South Sudan, and how we are not involved. And the ebola outbreak in West Africa. I think numbness is human nature. If it's not affecting us personally, we state a platitude and move on with life.
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Post by Cornflake on Aug 22, 2014 21:38:37 GMT -5
I guess we have no choice.
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Dub
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Post by Dub on Aug 22, 2014 21:42:31 GMT -5
I was reading that Hamas executed a number of people thought to have collaborated with Israel. Every corpse was that of someone a mother had loved and cuddled. I found myself imagining their final moments. But it's business as usual for the human race, alas. He was some mother's darling, He was some mother's son, Once he was fair and once he was young, And some mother rocked him, her little darling to sleep, But they left him to die like a tramp on the street. If you know that song, you know it begins talking about Lazarus but winds up applying the same sentiment to Jesus. It's an old country gospel tune but it always reminds me that sometimes the only thing infinite seems to be human cruelty. |
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Post by millring on Aug 22, 2014 21:50:57 GMT -5
The more I face this question, the more I wonder. It seems to me to be a rather new, American-invented conscience, made up of:
... one part materialist delusion that our particular brand of opulence makes us more capable of, AND more responsible for all the world's problems
... one part our having been steeped in a culture of marketing so extreme that we truly believe that all problems are better solved wholesale (the church, for instance, survived -- even thrived -- before mass evangelical crusades. But because we saw conversions by the hundreds, we were deluded into thinking it was an efficient manner of spreading the Gospel. In the long run it was neither efficient, nor the Gospel. Ditto job creation. We are so impressed with the numbers that come in from large corporations hiring and firing, that we fail to notice that the great majority of jobs are not created wholesale by large corporations. I suppose there are more and better examples -- but we Americans seem to be impressed with the big solution, when the real secret to improving all of society is (I'm beginning to think) to brighten the corner where we are
... and one part a shrinking globe that fools us into thinking that 10,000 miles away is next door.
Or not. I'm still thinking this one out.
And so you see I have come to doubt
All that I once held to be true
I stand alone without belief
The only truth I know is you.
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Post by Village Idiot on Aug 22, 2014 21:51:37 GMT -5
I've often wondered if apathy is a self-defense mechanism. If we felt true empathy for all of the millions of people on this earth who are in horrible situations, we'd all go hang ourselves. We should be aware, of course, but we can't handle it all. That might be why major religions emphasize the idea of being thankful for what we have.
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Post by RickW on Aug 22, 2014 22:35:32 GMT -5
I don't think it's either apathy or numbness. The US has proven to itself that the cost of trying to fix everyone else's problems is not a price worth paying, and those wars are not winnable. I think it was smarter and more honest when you were fighting to "turn the tide of communism", because at least it was about your own security, however far fetched that was. Now, sending in American troops to get in the way of people who hate each other is just, well, stupid.
You can't save everyone. We do a crappy job of saving our own citizens.
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Post by Russell Letson on Aug 22, 2014 22:42:46 GMT -5
Neither Christian evangelism nor humanitarian projects in foreign lands are American inventions--the Brits were at it in the 19th century. Though given our common cultural roots, it's no surprise that Americans harbor the impulse to try to fix the world.
And in a world of air travel, 10,000 miles is just around the corner. Especially if you're a virus.
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Post by Marshall on Aug 22, 2014 22:48:10 GMT -5
Numbness can be a good thing. Otherwise we could become paralyzed with outrage and accomplish nothing.
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Post by millring on Aug 22, 2014 23:06:41 GMT -5
Neither Christian evangelism Sorry I used it as an example. That wasn't what I was getting at. |
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Post by RickW on Aug 22, 2014 23:26:57 GMT -5
Yah, but you gotta admin, Americans took Christian Evangelism and made it into ENTERTAINMENT. Like, serious mak schau.
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Post by aquaduct on Aug 23, 2014 10:37:30 GMT -5
How can we avoid getting numb?
Turn off the TV. Stop reading the paper. Take the dogs for a walk. Talk to David, the old guy cancer survivor who runs errands for the businesses on the mall in exchange for free eats. Marvel together at the Nat's ten game winning streak. Let the little kids and old ladies pet the dogs. Thank the kids for being polite in asking to pet the dogs. Wave at Eugene tending his art gallery. Grab a decadent burger and chocolate stout at the Union Jack. Bullshit with Shane the bartender.
And always remain aware that tomorrow is not guaranteed. Take a moment and thank a PITA chronic disease for reminding you of that.
At least it works for me.
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Dub
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Post by Dub on Aug 23, 2014 11:16:58 GMT -5
How can we avoid getting numb? Turn off the TV. Stop reading the paper. Take the dogs for a walk. Talk to David, the old guy cancer survivor who runs errands for the businesses on the mall in exchange for free eats. Marvel together at the Nat's ten game winning streak. Let the little kids and old ladies pet the dogs. Thank the kids for being polite in asking to pet the dogs. Wave at Eugene tending his art gallery. Grab a decadent burger and chocolate stout at the Union Jack. Bullshit with Shane the bartender. And always remain aware that tomorrow is not guaranteed. Take a moment and thank a PITA chronic disease for reminding you of that. At least it works for me. Those ideas strike me as quite wonderful this morning. |
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Post by RickW on Aug 23, 2014 11:30:17 GMT -5
Yup. As I posted before, an old friend from high school passed away very suddenly a few weeks. Mortality has been at the top of mind the last little while.
We live in a blessed age, in blessed countries. I'm incredibly thankful it's not me or my wife and children living in those places.
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Post by theevan on Aug 23, 2014 12:37:34 GMT -5
How can we avoid getting numb? Turn off the TV. Stop reading the paper. Take the dogs for a walk. Talk to David, the old guy cancer survivor who runs errands for the businesses on the mall in exchange for free eats. Marvel together at the Nat's ten game winning streak. Let the little kids and old ladies pet the dogs. Thank the kids for being polite in asking to pet the dogs. Wave at Eugene tending his art gallery. Grab a decadent burger and chocolate stout at the Union Jack. Bullshit with Shane the bartender. And always remain aware that tomorrow is not guaranteed. Take a moment and thank a PITA chronic disease for reminding you of that. At least it works for me. I thunk up a nice reply. Then I read this. |
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Post by TKennedy on Aug 23, 2014 12:48:06 GMT -5
We have to hope that as the world shrinks future generations will slowly become more tolerant of religious and racial diversity.
Children have to be trained to hate.
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Post by Russell Letson on Aug 23, 2014 13:49:02 GMT -5
I suspect that we also have to be trained not to. (The default condition is not peace & love any more than it is red-in-tooth-and-claw.)
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Post by Doug on Aug 23, 2014 14:36:56 GMT -5
I suspect that we also have to be trained not to. (The default condition is not peace & love any more than it is red-in-tooth-and-claw.) Lord of the Flies |
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Post by Russell Letson on Aug 23, 2014 16:28:40 GMT -5
Button or zipper?
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