Yesterday the news got to me that the presumed terrorist Osama Bin Laden had been killed. Dead. Death. 72 virgins. My first feeling was unease. I don't know if it was because the risk of it all being a lie, or because of the risk that the actual killing was intentional.
My second feeling HAPPENED to occur the same time I hear peoples reactions. They were glad. Happy. They were actually CHEERING!! They were cheering because another human being had been killed. For me, that means humanity has not come farther from eye for an eye since the stone age. And Mr. President of the USA said, I quote, "Justice has been done [sic]". Who borrowed the neanderthal a suit? Oh, I forgot he runs a country that listens to the victim in court. Whatever the victim wants to ease the suffering, WHATEVER it may be (popsicle, suffering diploma, another human beings death) let him have it. That is stupid. And in this case the victim is officially the whole nation.
At least the relief that comes with this supposed terrorist leader's killing must be something to embrace, no? No. The cause for his supposed actions has not been dealt with. Nothing comes out of the blue, and it is my belief that counts for human behavior as well. Even if there is no OBVIOUS reason, there will always be a cause for the action. But this idea is kind of uncomforting, not knowing is. It is easier to state that someone purely MUST BE EVIL AND MUST THEREFORE BE KILLED than to confess we don't know why he supposedly lead the 01/11/09-attacks which brought fear and times of unrest upon us. And when I say 'us', I mean everybody in the world. Let me simplify the vicious circle in pseudo code.
1. Monkey A feels bad feelings.
2. Monkey A recognizes point 1 derives from monkey B.
3. Monkey A kills monkey B.
4. If monkey count is greater than 1 and monkey C friend of monkey B -> goto step 1 with new monkey references (monkey C will kill monkey A, monkey D will kill monkey C, monkey E will kill monkey D, etc.)
If you use your brain now you will understand that eye for a eye will end up in monkey Z being alone and he will be wading in dead monkeys, both those that caused the bad feelings but also his beloved monkey friends. If monkey Z will be an american, an al-Qaida soldier, a north korean or Justin Bieber doesn't matter as it should make every other person frightened of their existence. That's why the world was afraid as a consequence of the 01/11/09-attacks. It brought the risk of war on all of us. The chain reaction had started. And the people of the US allowed the continuation of the chain reaction. They could have stopped it, simply by using their brains to understand the whole scope so when a human being is killed by another human being because of human differences their feelings would not be one or several of 'glad', 'happy', 'cheerful' or 'fucking awesome dude!'. But they didn't and that is sad and really fucking stupid.
Rest somewhat easier: you're not the only one to consider this view.
SvaraRaderaWe are by no means majority, but a good share of us recognize the "red herring" of Osama bin Laden, and the process that got us into these wars. (See also: http://www.lewrockwell.com/margolis/margolis239.html)
When friends came to me cheering the death of bin Laden, I ask them, "So you think the extremists will love us finally?"
As Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world." To me, that means laying the foundations of peace by helping people in need solve their problems, and helping everyone focus on the positive change they can make.
Good to hear some one is in the same sense about this! I almost thought I was alone.
SvaraRaderaAs for the Gandhi quote, I think it's a very useful interpretation that everyone should be able to come up with and keep in mind! Keep it up!