What is the appropriate response?
On Tuesday, the media was back to doing it's job. On Tuesday the media was reporting news. Breaking news. But as I continue to listen to the coverage on the TV with anchors such as Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw (I don't have cable...), or the stories on NPR and the Web, I can't but help wonder at what point will the popular media go back to being the media instead of reporting the news.
The incidents at the World Trade Center, The Pentagon and aboard each one of the hijacked planes are no doubt the worst acts of terrorism that we have seen till date. More than any other terroristic activity in modern times. They are deplorable, reprehensible, pathetic and a whole lot more than I can describe with even the choicest words. To watch the people on TV who are looking for their friends and family with continued hope of survival is painful for everyone that I've spoken to. So needless to say, everyone has an appreciation of the gravity of the situation...
What's frustrating to me is that there isn't much one can do about it. There is enough blood... unfortunaely, because it simply seems to suggest that there aren't that many people alive to be able to use that blood. Blood doesn't do any good when you're already dead. There has been enormous amount of financial support coming in as well, starting of course with the $40B approved by the US Congress... an unprecedened amount. And of course all the financial assitance coming from donations being collected across the US and in other countries. I was pleased to see how easy Amazon, PayPal and CNET and other had made it to donate online.
Bush in his addresses seeks retribution. I have nothing against that. If the US can deterministically link certain individuals to this crime, sure... go right ahead and take them out (I've written before about bearing responsibility for your own actions and also darwinism.... the scum of the earth also need to bear responsibility for their actions and to support darwinism be eliminated). However, note that that is qualified by deterministically and also with individuals. But this is not an easy problem. In fact this is a problem which may not have a "solution" at all - one where we are constantly striving for a particular state of the world, which cannot be achieved because the problem itself is akin to having cancer or aids. Extricating tumurous cells from the body, or attending to the symptoms of aids only provides temporary relief - often welcome temporary relief. However, neither approach eliminated the root cause of the problem. And like a pernicious weed, as long as there is a root, it rears its ugly head again.
By no means am I chastizing any of the approaches any of the people in the position to adopt those approaches may take. My point is simply one that has been recognized by several people already, but bears to be repeated... This is a hard problem. Terrorism is a hard problem. Of course that doesn't mean that we don't try and solve it... we have after all been successful in in other hard problems. And the creativity, intelligence and determination of the sane half of the human race cannot be underestimated.
The incidents at the World Trade Center, The Pentagon and aboard each one of the hijacked planes are no doubt the worst acts of terrorism that we have seen till date. More than any other terroristic activity in modern times. They are deplorable, reprehensible, pathetic and a whole lot more than I can describe with even the choicest words. To watch the people on TV who are looking for their friends and family with continued hope of survival is painful for everyone that I've spoken to. So needless to say, everyone has an appreciation of the gravity of the situation...
What's frustrating to me is that there isn't much one can do about it. There is enough blood... unfortunaely, because it simply seems to suggest that there aren't that many people alive to be able to use that blood. Blood doesn't do any good when you're already dead. There has been enormous amount of financial support coming in as well, starting of course with the $40B approved by the US Congress... an unprecedened amount. And of course all the financial assitance coming from donations being collected across the US and in other countries. I was pleased to see how easy Amazon, PayPal and CNET and other had made it to donate online.
Bush in his addresses seeks retribution. I have nothing against that. If the US can deterministically link certain individuals to this crime, sure... go right ahead and take them out (I've written before about bearing responsibility for your own actions and also darwinism.... the scum of the earth also need to bear responsibility for their actions and to support darwinism be eliminated). However, note that that is qualified by deterministically and also with individuals. But this is not an easy problem. In fact this is a problem which may not have a "solution" at all - one where we are constantly striving for a particular state of the world, which cannot be achieved because the problem itself is akin to having cancer or aids. Extricating tumurous cells from the body, or attending to the symptoms of aids only provides temporary relief - often welcome temporary relief. However, neither approach eliminated the root cause of the problem. And like a pernicious weed, as long as there is a root, it rears its ugly head again.
By no means am I chastizing any of the approaches any of the people in the position to adopt those approaches may take. My point is simply one that has been recognized by several people already, but bears to be repeated... This is a hard problem. Terrorism is a hard problem. Of course that doesn't mean that we don't try and solve it... we have after all been successful in in other hard problems. And the creativity, intelligence and determination of the sane half of the human race cannot be underestimated.
posted by sneaker @ 6:07 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home