Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Stop provoking the savages
This rhetoric about "cycles" appears to reflect a theory of moral equivalence, but in fact it is something else. After all, if the two sides were morally equivalent, one could apply this reasoning in reverse--excusing, for example, the alleged massacre at Haditha on the ground that it was "provoked" by a bombing that killed a U.S. serviceman--and hey, violence begets violence.
But America's critics never make this argument, and its defenders seldom do. That is because it is understood that America knows better. If it is true that U.S. Marines murdered civilians in cold blood at Haditha, the other side's brutality does not excuse it. Only the enemy's evil acts are thought to be explained away by ours.
Implicit in the "cycle" theory, then, is the premise that the enemy is innocent--not in the sense of having done nothing wrong, but in the sense of not knowing any better. The enemy lacks the knowledge of good and evil--or, to put it in theological terms, he is free of original sin.
America ought to hold itself to a high moral standard, of course, but blaming the other side's depraved acts on our own (real and imagined) moral imperfections is a dangerous form of vanity.
One could make a strong argument, in fact, that such arguments reveal deep seated racism and prejudice towards those who are so easily excused for barbaric behavior.
Really, why not just call a spade a spade (to coin a phrase) and say what you mean? "We'll all be better off if we stop provoking the savages."
3 Comments:
By 
Cassandra, at
Wed Jun 21, 04:23:00 PM:
Hey... what can you expect from people who "aren't ready for democracy"? :)
This is just more of the patronizing BS of those who don't stop to think about the implications of their words. If you consider "those people" [insert group of your choice] fully human, by extension they should be held responsible for their actions.
Unless, of course, you buy into the "we hold ourselves to a higher standard because we're *better*" tripe.
Right is right. Wrong is wrong. Being a member of a different race or religion doesn't excuse you from common decency, except for those who secretly think they're superior but won't come right out and say that. I believe that "idiot" (this is a joke, people) had a name for it: the soft bigotry of low expectations.
By Cassandra, at
Wed Jun 21, 04:24:00 PM:
Whoops:
I believe that "idiot" in the White House (this is a joke, people) had a name for it: the soft bigotry of low expectations.
By Unknown, at
Wed Jun 21, 06:46:00 PM:
Paternalism. “What can you expect from the wogs?”.
