17 August 2008

How often is that heard?  We must DO something.  Almost always the inspiration is emotional.  Why must we DO something?  Because either someone is doing something we don't like or the rights of someone, somewhere, is being infringed upon.   Maybe we should, and maybe we shouldn't DO something, but the motivation behind the exhortation is usually flawed, in my opinion.

How so?  Because it is usually based on our feeling of superiority: it is our duty as the most powerful, most democratic, most Christian, kindest, most thoughtful, most humanitarian nation in the world.  We buy into our own hype, which doesn't mean we are bad people; but we tend to overlook our own self interest, to say nothing of our selfishness; we are, after all, quite selfish in our outlook, for which our intellectuals bash US, while they bask in their own rather blatent selfishness.  It is much easier to talk the talk than to walk the talk.

Iraq - we must DO something!   I opposed it at the time but for reasons other than those of the pacifists: I have read about Arabs and dreaded our assuming responsibility for attempting to change their culture.  We are overly enamored with our own brand of democracy - which, incidentally, with its individuality fixation, is a bit chaotic.  Georgia - we must DO something!  Almost anywhere in Africa - we must DO something!  Usually it has something to do with magic wands, however, and if the something we DO doesn't solve the problem  immediately we not only lose interest, we become antagonistic.

I have only two observations to make.  The first is that if we are to maintain our standard of (high) living there is justification for DOING something to protect our overseas interests - mostly capitalistic, I might add, but capitalism is the basis of our standard of living.  The second focuses on the mysterious word, empathy.  Do we really understand what the people for which we are DOING something really want us to Do?  Empathy entails being able to see things from another's point of view.  We don't do that well, since "we are so damned certain how (man) ought to be .  We know how he ought to be - he ought to be American."  (Anton Myrer, Once An Eagle.   They just need to be like us; simple.  Only it's not simple, and assuming it is both naive and insulting; we have worked very hard to become what we are, and realize that it's still fragile - or we should.

So we are schitzophrenic: we insist on defending our standard of living (which most others would be happy to grasp - without the responsibilties that go along with it) while pushing our way of life on those that we neither understand nor appreciate.  They should just be like us; only they are not like us, and we cannot understand why.

Maybe, just maybe, it would be better to reign in the emotion - and the aggresive conceit - and give things a chance to develop on their own, without us imposing our will upon them.  But people may be hurt!  So?  We cannot save the world from itself; we may be lucky to save ourselves from a world of selfishness and greed; yes, they are as selfish and greedy as we are - it's human nature so to be.

My ultimate advice?  Cool it; and try to see how things look through other eyes.  We cannot (and will not) police the world, so we might just stand back and let it attempt to police itself.  BUT IT WON'T!  And we might just learn to live with that - while protecting ourselves, of course.  Ah, that's so unfeeling!  Right.