![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Sep. 17th, 2001 06:13 pmWhen tragedy strikes, there are many ways to deal with it. Anger, denial, thoughts of revenge, flag-waving patriotism. Or we can try to gain wisdom from what has happened. When you lose someone you love, the pain you feel should remind you how precious their life was. This should lead to the appreciation that ALL life is precious, that it is the greatest gift God grants to any of us.
We must now, as a nation, decide what our response to the horrible tragedy that has befallen us should be. We can, of course, decide that to strike out against the cowards that perpetrated this act, this affront to all human dignity, this inexcusable barbarity, this act that demeans all humanity, is the best course. We can launch missile strikes against suspected terrorist bases. We can launch surgical strikes by special operations teams against terrorist leaders. We can, in short, do everything that the terrorists expect we will do. We can do what the terrorists NEED us to do to fuel their rhetoric, to add to their arsenal of revenge, to perpetuate the cycle of death. We can do exactly what we have done in the past, tactics that have manifestly not solved the problem of terrorism. We do these things not necessarily because they are the right things, but because our leaders are afraid to do anything else. It is what is expected of them. To do anything else would invite the terrible wrath of the American voter.
We must bring the perpetrators of these terrible acts to justice, we must NOT give them the status of anything other than criminals.
Terrorism has been with us, on a global scale, for over 40 years. Yet the American government has done nothing to enunciate a clear-cut plan of action. It has done nothing to try to eradicate terrorism at its roots, and it is clear that the root causes of terrorism are hunger, poverty and hatred. You can defeat you enemy by destroying him with brute force, or by making him your friend.
The United States could feed the world, but instead, we pay people not to grow food. If we ended farm subsidies, and instead paid the same amount to those people to grow food, and then used the vast resources of the US military to transport and distribute that food to people who are starving, we would go a long way to alleviate suffering in the world. We could be the leader of the world, not because of military might, but because we have the moral courage to step out of the never-ending cycle of violence.
What more fitting legacy to the people who died in this tragedy than that their deaths have filled us with resolve to end violence? We can resolve that their deaths will not bring on more deaths. What better memorial is possible to them than, These, the last casualties in the epoch of terror, have, by their deaths, brought a new era of peace to the world
Most people have asked themselves over the last week what they can do. Some have thought that waving flags is enough, others, that selling American flag be-decked products is the answer. A few, a precious few, have actually done something meaningful. This is something we can all do.
We must now, as a nation, decide what our response to the horrible tragedy that has befallen us should be. We can, of course, decide that to strike out against the cowards that perpetrated this act, this affront to all human dignity, this inexcusable barbarity, this act that demeans all humanity, is the best course. We can launch missile strikes against suspected terrorist bases. We can launch surgical strikes by special operations teams against terrorist leaders. We can, in short, do everything that the terrorists expect we will do. We can do what the terrorists NEED us to do to fuel their rhetoric, to add to their arsenal of revenge, to perpetuate the cycle of death. We can do exactly what we have done in the past, tactics that have manifestly not solved the problem of terrorism. We do these things not necessarily because they are the right things, but because our leaders are afraid to do anything else. It is what is expected of them. To do anything else would invite the terrible wrath of the American voter.
We must bring the perpetrators of these terrible acts to justice, we must NOT give them the status of anything other than criminals.
Terrorism has been with us, on a global scale, for over 40 years. Yet the American government has done nothing to enunciate a clear-cut plan of action. It has done nothing to try to eradicate terrorism at its roots, and it is clear that the root causes of terrorism are hunger, poverty and hatred. You can defeat you enemy by destroying him with brute force, or by making him your friend.
The United States could feed the world, but instead, we pay people not to grow food. If we ended farm subsidies, and instead paid the same amount to those people to grow food, and then used the vast resources of the US military to transport and distribute that food to people who are starving, we would go a long way to alleviate suffering in the world. We could be the leader of the world, not because of military might, but because we have the moral courage to step out of the never-ending cycle of violence.
What more fitting legacy to the people who died in this tragedy than that their deaths have filled us with resolve to end violence? We can resolve that their deaths will not bring on more deaths. What better memorial is possible to them than, These, the last casualties in the epoch of terror, have, by their deaths, brought a new era of peace to the world
Most people have asked themselves over the last week what they can do. Some have thought that waving flags is enough, others, that selling American flag be-decked products is the answer. A few, a precious few, have actually done something meaningful. This is something we can all do.