Priorities

from the not-a-good-sign dept

Let me be clear. I am angry. The few people who have spoken to me know this. I am angry that there are people in this world who could contemplate, let alone organize, plan, and carry out such a horrendous event. However, I am now scared. Scared about our priorities. Right now our priorites should be helping those who are suffering because of this mess. We should then work on ways to prevent this from ever happening again. Then we can talk about justice. The folks concentrating on revenge right now have their priorities screwed up. I am scared of the reports I am hearing. I am scared of people jumping to conclusions. I am scared of stereotyping. I am sickened by the numerous people I've heard or read blaming the US or their allies for causing this as well. There were some absolutely insane and mad things behind this. I cannot call them human beings. There are some sick and ignorant people cheering these events. They are ignorant. They don't deserve to be destroyed either. Instead, I'm hearing ridiculous reports of people threatening and targeting completely innocent people. I understand that people are looking for folks to blame. That's understandable. But, it's not something that we need to focus on now. And, when we do look for those answers, it only creates additional harm and danger to generalize and stereotype any group of people. As one New Yorker stated, "In Manhattan, we aren't in a state of war, we're in a state of mourning". There is no "right" solution on what to do about this. However, jumping to conclusions and making assumptions is only going to make the situation worse.
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  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 12 Sep 2001 @ 3:41pm

    No Subject Given

    Step 1: Identify those involved.
    Step 2: Find their parents, wives, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, neices, and nephiews.
    Step 3: Strap above people to cruse missles.
    Step 4: Launch missles @ random buildings in the middle east.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    mlr, 12 Sep 2001 @ 4:30pm

    No Subject Given

    i agree that we need to mourn. but i don't believe that we should wait before pointing fingers. we need to find the guilty jerks and attack quickly for 2 reasons: 1. in the past, american retaliation has always been swift and quick. such behavior is expected of us, threatens our enemies, keeps up the image of america as a country not to f-ck with, and keeps the guilty jerks on the run, hence preventing them from planning another attack. 2. people are able to overcome loss easier and more quickly when they have something to do and something to work for as opposed to dwelling on grieving. america's call to action will give her people a sense of purpose and help to give meaning to all this loss. we all mourn victims at home and the stab in america's side. we can mourn and hunt these losers at the same time.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    mhh5, 12 Sep 2001 @ 6:23pm

    Stop the madness...

    I don't believe justice exists for the guilty jerks who are responsible. Killing them isn't punishment. They're suicidal anyway. The only thing we can do is try to make sure their actions can not be repeated or "improved" upon. Bombing people only makes people want to bomb more people....The root cause of terrorism is probably economic disparity. Crazy zealots are just the people who act out their anger. The US shouldn't sink to that level.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    alternatives, 12 Sep 2001 @ 7:07pm

    Exactly

    Yes, the 'standard of living' disparity. The problem becomes:

    What happens to the planet when everyone starts consuming like Americans?

    Look at rat research....when rats in a rat city get to a certain density, they from rat gangs and become anti-social. How much of the world issues are overpopulation?

    Want a big can of cockroaches? Open the overpopulation one!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Beerzen, 12 Sep 2001 @ 7:24pm

    Revenge vs. Justice/ Racism

    It is time to seek justice. The way to go about that is sanely and without sacrificing recovery efforts. This seems to be happening, although Bush's use of the word 'revenge' but not 'justice' does make me ill. I mourn along with so many people at the loss of lives.
    Fuck the building being a symbol, for freedom and democracy is found in the heart, not a structure. What upsets me most is the blatant disreagard for life. One cannot commit such acts and not expect retribution. I am hopeful the US will act sanely and something good will come out of this.
    For all the racist idiots calling bomb threats or thinking negatively toward muslims or arabs, I call for forced extradition to the Palestine.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 12 Sep 2001 @ 8:53pm

    Follow the law

    The solution is to follow the rule of law. We seem to be one of the few countries willing to do this. Find them, bring them to justice and punish them as our laws allow. Doing otherwise would go against all of what our country holds dear.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Ronald, 12 Sep 2001 @ 10:03pm

    Re: Stop the madness...

    Damn straight, mhh5. Violence solves nothing; It only propegates more violence. We need a Marshall plan for Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Egypt. Giving them McDonalds will pacify them. Bombing them will not.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Jon, 14 Sep 2001 @ 12:11pm

    whoa. wait a second..

    ..i keep hearing the urge for caution (good) and the message that violence won't solve anything (bad). the last comment i read, about the "Middle East Marshall Plan" blows my mind.

    ..look, these are not dirt-poor nations we're talking about. if you want to solve economic disparity, send money to Africa. these nations are often quite weathly - the issue lies in the distribution of their wealth. i keep hearing that "this attack is due to American behavior". let's be real here. the average citizen of a Middle Eastern nation has far more harm done to him by his own government that by the US. we're talking about countries with a large population of young people who have nothing to do, no future, and are looking for someone to blame. who's surprised that the leaders of these nations choose not to blame themselves? the US is a perfect straw man, set up to channel anger. want figures? in 1998, US aid to Israel: 3.1 billion USD. same year, US aid to Jordan, Egypt and Palestine: 2.4 billion.

    casting this simple as the innocent have-nots versus the greedy haves is simplistic. have no doubt - we've been attacked by the organization of a power-hungry politician and nothing more.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. icon
    Mike (profile), 14 Sep 2001 @ 2:31pm

    Re: whoa. wait a second..

    Jon, I agree. The number of clueless posts/comments/articles/emails about what has happened in the middle east is boggling to me.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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