Market Farming

["jay gee" <jgj23 AT mindspring.com>]

Jill Taylor Bussiere wrote:

>>>
Jay,
    I understand what you are saying - but yet, there is more to it than
that.  First, we must ask, "Why has this abominable thing happened?" and
"Why are so many Arab nations so angry at us?"
<<<<

The answer to that question is simple.  The Middle Eastern Islamic
countries are unhappy that they don't get the respect they believe
they deserve.  We in "first world" countries consume the valuable
petroleum they sell us but are ungrateful.

Our ingratitude is compounded by a lopsided foreign policy that
pumps billions of dollars in aide to Israel every year but is trivial
in its largess to Islamic countries.

On top of that, due to the spread of television and American
Culture, the children of modern arab countries don't want to be
like their parents, they want to be like North Americans above
the Mexican border.

The separation of children's beliefs and values from those of
their parents is a universal theme and continues to this day
in our countries, especially in regard to the teaching of Evolution
in public schools.  Is there any wonder Muslim parents are
mad when U.S. parents are mad about the same things?

>>>>
Clearly, the action last Tuesday is abominable no matter why it was done.
<<<<

Agreed.

>>>>
There is no just cause for it.  But if one looks at the situation in the
Arab nations, one can see where such desperation  comes from.
<<<<

There is no just cause for the attacks from our perspective,
but from the other side's POV the cause is not only just -- it is Holy!

>>>>
We can not end terrorism against us by dropping bombs and inflicting more
destruction on Arab countries.  That in fact, plays into the desires of
those who would love nothing more than to see a "Holy War" - this includes
some fanatic Moslems as well as fanatic Christians - fanatics on both sides
of the ocean are hoping and pushing for this.
<<<<

Terrorism is a technique by which political institutions wage guerilla war.
A U.S. led "intervention" into Afghanistan is ill-advised because it will
not be successful and will carry a very high real price tag, excluding the
loss of human life.  I am not advocating conventional warfare methods.

>>>>
Whomever are responsible must be brought to trial - preferably by the United
Nations or the World Court.  In fact, if the US (for once) agrees to such a
trial, the intelligence personnel of many nations would be available to us
to find those connected with this event, and to bring them to trial.  This
would be helpful, because the event of last week also made evident that
there are currently weaknesses in our FBI and CIA.  We could use the help.
<<<<

The trial and incarceration of the bombers of Pan Am 103, and the World
Trade Center in 1992 has done nothing to slow the spread or scale of
terrorist acts.

>>>>
After and while we are finding the guilty parties, we need to refrain from
bombing innocent civilians and children - it is as abominable for the US to
bomb innocent civilians as it is for terrorists.
<<<<

There is no need to bomb civilians unnecessarily.  But terrorists tend
to be civilians by definition.  Those who follow or support terrorist
training camps are not innocent, they are complicit.

>>>
We also need to change our policies towards the MidEast so that people are
not tempted to join terrorist organizations in order to have any sort of 
power.
We need to encourage democracies rather than support dictators, and
we need to expect compliance to UN and World Court regulations and rulings
equally, and submit to them ourselves.  We need to stop training terrorists
in the region to meet our own short term goals.  We need to develop
alternative energy at home so that we are not dependent on foreign oil, and
therefore willing to start wars to "get our oil".

In short, we need to behave very differently than we have in the past.  We
need to stop being the perpetrators of violence in the region, stop
destroying water supplies for whole countries, stop selling weapons to some
Arab nations to be used on other Arab nations.
<<<<


The United States needs to clean it own house and get it's act in order.
But it does not need to be apologetic for its success.  It does need to
be less arrogant and more neutral, allowing the zealots in other parts of
the world to kill each other when they choose to, without sticking our
necks out for contrived political reasons.

One hundred years ago the U.S. was a beacon of freedom to the
world.  We need to be more of an example and let freedom spread
by choice, where other people want it and are willing to die to get it.
Only then do they appreciate it.

>>>>
War has been tried again and again - and if it worked, that would be one
thing, but if you follow the history of even the most recent war - the Gulf
War - you can see that it was not won, and that we are still bombing almost
every day in Iraq's air space (illegally), just to mention one thing.
<<<<

That the Gulf War was not "won" resulted from political decisions made
on bad intelligence.  Had the Allies decided to stop just inside the German
border in WWII, and leave the removal of Hitler to the German people,
he would probably have remained in office.

War works when your side wins.  That is why people and countries have
gone to war since the beginning of time and will continue to do so after
we are gone.   People don't go to war planning to lose and Bin Laden is
no exception to that rule.

The only way to stop war long term is to let Natural Selection function.
If a sect or ethnic group elects to die or be eradicated in the process of
trying to advance their ideas or goals through the use of violence or
terrorism, their disappearance from the globe has value in that it allows
the continuation of peace and the advancement of knowledge in their
absence, even if only for a brief time in evolutionary terms.

Jill,

I share your aspirations for a better world, but my studies of history and
behavioral science lead me to believe that to save the house from a fire,
one starts by extinguishing the fire.  After the fire is out one acts to
prevent the next fire, and lastly investigates the causes of the fire just
extinguished.

Repectfully agreeing on some points and respectfully disagreeing on
others, I appreciate your thoughtful contribution to the dialogue.

Jay Gee
not a farmer -- but interested in farming