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Re: No Rules



On Sep 12, 2001 Paul Harper <paul@harper.netNOSPAM> wrote
   in <smsuptcsqb25jaj2jqlt1ke28ibh0apnqd@4ax.com>:

> On Wed, 12 Sep 2001 10:35:55 -0400, "MikeG" <mikeg@mikeg.net> wrote:
>
> >I'm not trying to be superior. I can't be. It is impossible for me to prove,
> >in a world where relativism appears king, that the American way of life is
> >any better or any more valuable than that of anyone else, or that it is
> >worth killing innocent Arabs to save innocent Americans. So I'm not going to
> >try and win the argument that way.
>
> You would lose the argument big time - and you recognise this too, and
> it's good that you do recognise it. Because you *know* that there are
> other peoples out there, and you *know* that they are "valid".

Paul, I think that you have missed the point here.  The fact of the matter
is that people care more about those who they can identify with than with
those who are distant or "foreign".  Look, more innocent people in poor
countries die each day of treatable illnesses like cholera and TB then
were killed in DC and NYC yesterday.

But because this was an attack on America, Americans will respond in a way
that treats innocent lives in far off lands as less valuable than those
who died yesterday.  That is an unshakable fact of how humans behave and
think.  And little can change that.

What we can do is make a conscious effort to recognize that innocent
deaths anywhere are a tragedy, and that a response must keep that in mind.
But we cannot rule out any action merely because killing innocents might
be a consequence.

I guess what I am saying is that in a reasonable retaliatory action we
must do what we can to avoid civilian deaths, but not at all costs.
Particularly not at the cost of not responding.

And "MikeG", see my sig for my views of relativism.

-j

-- 
Jeffrey Goldberg
 I have recently moved, see http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/contact.html
 Relativism is the triumph of authority over truth, convention over justice
 From line IS valid, but use reply-to.