It would be impossible to overestimate how much we owe Dr. King. He clearly understood the risks associated with what he terms the Socratic method of “creating tension in the mind”. However, he also understood the greater efficacy of such a tactic vs using violence as a means. In his letter, he states “if this philosophy (of nonviolence) had not emerged, by now many streets of the South would, I am convinced, be flowing with blood”. No doubt about it!
Can we draw any implications from the potential, and largely averted, “force of bitterness and hatred” Dr. King spoke of? Are there any lessons we can take forward on a global scale to begin mitigating terrorist violence? It would appear that we treat terrorism that same way we treat cancer in the body. We only know how to cut it out and/or kill it. Cancer is big business; I often wonder if we are pouring more efforts into it’s treatment than we are into our efforts to prevent it. I wonder if there isn’t some parallel to that in terms of terrorism. Are we really trying to understand it, or are we simply focusing our efforts on ways and means to “kill it”, just as we would treat a symptom and not a cause, thereby making it even worse?
With regard to racial equality, we can no doubt point out ways we have made progress. In general, I suspect that our military may be ahead of the general population, if for no other reason to do otherwise is counter to essential order and discipline. Note I did not say we have eliminated it; as long as there is fear we will probably never eliminate it. Perhaps the motivation isn’t always correct; nevertheless, we need to keep working on it. Further, this business of discrimination for otherwise capable people need not end on the basis of pigmentation in the skin, either.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Doug, your thoughts on terrorism are interesting. They remind me of Slavoj Zizek's writings in one of his most popular works, Welcome to the Desert of the Real. Indeed, we seem to ignore the symptom that is creating and perpetuating terrorism, while devoting all of our time and energy to ridding our world of a competing power force. The fantasy of American hegemony is that the world will remain unipolar and that it will continue to dictate international affairs. Unfortunately, such a fantasy has difficulty coping with a force that simply understands life and death differently. Perhaps we need to rethink the neo-realist mindset that seems to dominate the minds of most of our political and military leaders.
ReplyDeleteShayan, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on this. I can only hope that enough people, such as yourself, make the realization sooner rather than later, and indeed in nonviolent ways as Dr. King advocated. Interesting you included military leaders with the neo-realist mindset. I don't argue that point, but thankfully our forefathers were really smart people in that they subordinated and limited the powers of the military in this country. Though it may occasionally be misused as an extension of political powers, I still have the utmost love and respect for those who serve. On your main point, though, totally agree we need to make a cultural paradigm shift.
ReplyDeleteDoug, I like the comparison that you make between cancer and terrorism. I'm going to attempt to add a bit of insight to it. I've done some research on prostate carcinoma and I can attest to the feeling that there's not enough prevention. However, you have to recognize that preventing cancer is tough because many times we just don't know what causes it. Right now, curing may be a better bet than preventing. Of course we all know that this isn't sustainable. So perhaps, the same situation exists within the realms of terrorism. We don't understand it and and thus, just like a tumor, we want it gone as soon as possible. So I think that I can conclude that in order to do what Dr. King did, to stop cancer, and terrorism, we have to understand the nature of all these things and what perpetuates them. I personally believe that the US is fighting against belief...by using guns and ammo. That's a war that cannot be won.
ReplyDeleteWe don't understand the underlying beliefs on the other side and they don't understand ours.
-steve
Bravo Steve! Awareness is the first step...Thanks for the comments.
ReplyDelete