Thanks to my buddy Jesse for finding this quote:
"Naturally the common people don't want war. But after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and for exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country."
- Hermann Goering, a Nazi henchman, talking to a prison psychologist and U.S. Army Captain Gustave M. Gilbert when he was in jail.
My sister's friend's quote from Mr. Shakespeare:
'Beware the leader who bangs the drum of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor. For patriotism is indeed a double- edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and patriotism, will offer up all of their rights to the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Julius Caesar.'
- Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
2 comments:
You know it's a tricky thing: figuring out what should have been done. I mean, it's systemic problems, not a singular "how we should respond to 9/11" question, you know?
But I guess if I had any advice to have given to the Bush administration on the days following 9/11, I would suggest taking stock of what sort of things or people we have supported or oppressed in these last decades... you know, to really consider if these attacks were not a 'strike because they hate our freedom' but rather an oppressed force wanting to be heard, wanted to be reckoned with.
And perhaps I am just too idealistic.
But an interesting story a friend of mine told me yesterday. He is a Marine and was stationed in Falujah. He recently returned. He told me how Iraquis would plant a car bomb near Americans so they could kill them to take their shoes. They wanted shoes.
I think there are serious issues when 1% of the world has 49% of the world's wealth... and these are Americans.
So, what should we have done then? It's too late for that. We did retaliate... and on people who were not even involved with 9/11.( There is so much evidence to support that theory.)
So, what should we do now? I am not sure, but I think it begins with admitting that we might have acted rashly, perhaps America has its own evils that we need to own up to.
When I was younger, I thought that what I did didn't affect other people. It does. And American foreign policy (and domestic policy on some levels) and values do affect other nations.
Hey Ryan, I'm so glad you thought the Shakespearean quote I happened upon worthy of posting on your blog. I think it is very poignant.
Responding to the question of what should we have done after 9.11...I think our FIRST move was a much, much more justified course of action. We went into Afghanistan- a severely underdeveloped country and put the DIRECT associates of the 9.11 attacks on the run. I think there is justification in that. The U.S. did not just lie there and suffer the most brutal attack on its own soil without retaliating. But then....
...for some reason we found it necessary to divide our military efforts to a country that had shaky connections to 9.11 if any at all? I think questions should be raised by the citizens of this country. It would be completely undemocratic and unnatural if we didn't. And I think our questions deserve answers.
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