Posted by Dinah on November 17, 2011, at 8:39:19
In reply to Re: the political climate you would like, posted by sigismund on November 17, 2011, at 0:20:01
> >We hardly every burn out villages any more, or stack dead serfs like cordwood, or consider other people to be no more human than the dogs or horses we own.
>
> Yeah I heard some writer saying some time ago that this was one of the most peaceful times, (though you'd have to be careful with your history and geography), and that only 20 0r was it 10 million had been killed since WWII.
>
> Foreign policy since WWII has been a bit dodgy. There's the long list.
>
> I tell you one thing that would enrage me and it happened near here. Some young man was killed in Afghanistan and the leaders of the political parties went to the funeral. They talk about freedom, terrorism and staying the course, but every man and his dog knows we will leave as soon as the Americans do. And that may not even be a bad thing. But I would prefer straight talk and that they stayed away with their lies and half truths and left me alone.I wouldn't have thought it was even that many, since the end of WW2. But a quick google search on genocide in the 20th century shows that even since WW2, that number may be way too small. I can't provide the link, as it may be considered uncivil.
I guess I'm thinking in part about how the attitude towards wife beating and child abuse has changed even since I was young. When I was young there was still paddling in schools, and while I'm not sure I'd call it abuse for fear of minimizing the definition, it was certainly violence. When I was young, there were members of my family - mostly older - who couldn't understand why I would bring a dog to the vet.
The cynic in me says that when times are good people have the time and resources to develop their better natures, while our ancestors may have had to devote much of their attention to bare subsistence. And that the best way to reduce violence in the world is to bring people to the point where they aren't worried about survival. Yet that view also fails on closer examination, since the economic hardships of 1930's Germany doesn't really equate to the hardship our ancestors faced.
Violence frightens me, even nonphysical violence. I'm not a very visceral person.
I do believe that funerals are for families and loved ones, not for exploitation by anyone from politicians to clergy. I remember being upset once when the presiding minister used the opportunity to ask the mourners to honor the deceased by contributing to the church fund as the deceased did.
I've been reading (or listening to really) "Crossing Stones", and it really is managing to convey the pain of the loss of war to me so that it feels raw right now. To be fair, I'm not sure I'd be as caught up in it if the narrators weren't so very good. I'm shallow that way.
To tell the truth, I'm not that familiar with what happened lately in Afghanistan. I remember when my brother was there, we were happy he wasn't sent to Baghdad. And he said the people were very positive to the American military at that time. He came back feeling fairly positive towards the Afghan people. I don't know what happened since then. It makes me sad to think of it.
poster:Dinah
thread:1001838
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20110926/msgs/1002865.html