Monday, November 16, 2015

SAR #15320


Hammer/Nails: The French are dispatching their only aircraft carrier to the Eastern Mediterranean and their warplanes are launching repeated strikes against ISIS in Syria. In essence they are making the same mistake that George Bush led the US into after 9/11. Some claim that the Paris attacks have opened a new stage in the conflict between Western civilization and the Islamic State, one of “war by terror” as though drone strikes and cruise missiles were not acts of terror and that the long bungling history of US adventurism in the Middle East were not key to today's violence.
Knee And Other Jerks: Ben Carson says he would ban all Syrian refugees because he has “big frontal lobes” and they don't. Jeb would have a religious test and allow only Christians to attain refugee status. Some other Republican candidates have blamed the Democrats in general and Obama specifically.
Violent Religion: We are not supposed to acknowledge this, but man is a bloodthirsty savage. Most of the time, when there is enough to go around without too much suffering and privation, the gloss of civilization restrains most of us from doing direct violence – although the depredations of free market capitalism walk very close to the line. But we were violent far long before we were pacifically religious and more often than not our religions have a violent undercurrent, a violent history, and very violent and bloody foundation myths. We've gone from scapegoating an individual to demonising an entire religious tradition. This is not progress. It ignores actual causes and promises only more violence on both sides.

4 comments:

Degringolade said...

In the Oh-so-long-ago, I read and was somewhat bothered by Conrad Lorenz' books. When I first read them I was a college student, fresh faced and just out of high school. In the seventies, he took a serious drubbing by the "professionals" in ethology and anthropology and I put him aside. because I was a "Serious" student.

I went into the army for a bit and wandered the world to give to the oppressed liberty.

Now as an old man, I suggest that people re-read Lorenz and Ardrey and E.O. Wilson. It will make most folks decidedly uncomfortable and will challenge the Kumaya attitudes that have taken root among the cognoscenti, but it may well be time to take a closer look at what constitutes the animal which calls itself man.

Gegner said...

We [humanity] are indeed an enigma even unto ourselves...although we have been conditioned to react to certain stimuli...and the media beats us wtih elements of it regularly.

This only serves to muddy some extremely murky waters regarding who is doing what to whom and the ever more important 'why'.

Our 'history of violence' has little to do with the current 'culture of fear' that has been cultivated by the conserv-o-whackos since their seizure of the government in the early Eighties.

There is no such place as 'terrorist Island' so who are the terrorists? a small group of 'disaffected' agitators or is it the oligarchs, that strip you of your right so they can 'better protect (themselves) from (criminal prosecution) and the terror they themselves are responsible for.

Dope slap to the head for anyone not conscious of the fact we are living with the consequences of 'delegating' our authority to let the few decide for the rest of us.

Guess who the 'terrorists' are?

(I know that's a 'wide open' question but think, 'who benefits' (from the selective dismantling of the justice system?)

Charles Kingsley Michaelson, III said...

Ah, yes. Cui Bono?

Gegner said...

Thanks, that one escaped me while composing this!