--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Sep 17, 2006, at 8:19 AM, TurquoiseB wrote: > > > What you're seeing in the Arab world, in my opinion, > > is not *just* religious fundamentalism, but a sense of > > rage at having been treated like the niggers of the > > world for almost seven hundred years. They WON back > > then, and they've been being treated like ignoramuses > > by the losers ever since. They're understandably a > > little pissed. > > OTOH, Barry, as intelligent and thoughtful as most Arabs > undoubtedly are, they *have* allowed a small, corrupt cadre > of uncaring individuals with little or no conscience (with, > admittedly, the aid and support of just-as-corrupt US > "leaders") to drain the huge oil wealth and resources for > decades for palaces, harems, etc for those select few, > when it should have gone towards making life better for everyone. > > It would be interesting to speculate whether or not these corrupt > regimes would still be n power w/o US support--my guess is, many > would. Apathy is not restricted to our shores.
I agree that the reason the Arab countries are the way that they are (corruption and all, imbalance of rich and poor and all) is because the people of those countries allow it to take place. However, it's a little different there than it is in America. In America I think you can safely use the word "apathy" because you're talk- ing about a people who grew up having been told that *they* could change things any time they wanted, through the voting process. This is not true in the Arab world. These people grew up in a culture in which the idea of unseating a reigning monarch or tranferring "power to the people" is unthink- able. There is no model for it; it has never happened. It's like trying to get a medieval serf to think of the idea of challening his feudal lord. It takes *reallY* extraordinary events (like starvation) before a people raised in a feudal mindset can even conceive of challeng- ing the feudal structure. So I don't think "apathy" is the right word to describe the acceptance of the status quo we see in many Arab countries. It's more that many of the people really don't know that there is an alternative quo. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
