Mohammed -
I want to second Peggy's thanks for your thoughts and would like to add
the following to hers:
I agree with Peggy on most points. Terrorism is always horrific (it is
designed to be so) and we should seek to avoid provoking it and prevent
it's occurrence and mitigate it's effects as best we can. The
apprehension (by death) of Osama bin Laden was perhaps a neccesary act
but as your poem (and Peggy's response) suggests, we should use this
moment to reflect on our own part in having created the monster we
finally destroyed, and in how we are surely continuing to create the
conditions that lead to all this in the first place.
Where I might diverge from Peggy's description is in the implication
that we are "becoming" more predatory. I do believe that in our greed
and fear we continue to develop more *leverage* for ourselves, economic,
military, even popular culture. And thereby we become more *capable
predators* than ever. But I think the fundamental problem is that we
have always been predatory...
By *we*, I am not sure if I mean "the United States of America", "the
West", "Industrialized Nations", "All Nations", "all of Humanity" even
"Primates" or "Sentient Creatures" or what... certainly the last US
administration was more hawkish and empire driven than we have seen in a
while and arguably it was in anticipation and in reaction to that more
predatory posture that the 9/11 attacks happened, but Bush and Co. were
standing on the shoulders of giants. They did not invent predation,
they merely amped it up, cashed in on it. As sick as it sounds, they
may have done us a favor by exposing our own nature to us in such a
blunt manner.
The US is a product of the Imperial Powers in Europe during the age of
discovery, colonization and empire. With the whole north American
continent (and it's indigenous peoples) to conquer, and several european
powers (Britain, Spain, France) to try to expel, we did not focus on the
rest of the world so much until the 20th century, with WWI and WWII
giving us the excuse or the reason to establish a global military and
industrial presence. The cold war was either a continuation or a result
of that.
The industrialized world's thirst for petroleum caused us to meddle a
great deal in the middle east and north Africa... and we, who became
the mightiest economic and military power amongst the industrialized
world, became dominant players in that meddling. Our predatory
behaviour in this regard is more like that of the Hudson Bay Company or
the East India Company than the conquistadors of Spain in the new world
gathering gold and souls or the European Crusaders retaking their "holy
lands". But it is predatory nonetheless, and every one of us depends
on that predation for our high standard of living.
We have allowed, no encouraged, and I fear even supported overtly and
covertly via our intelligence and military resources, the expansion of a
global network of industries and businesses as their own empire.
Petroleum is the obvious commodity, but we have done the same with other
natural resources (minerals, precious metals and gems, timber, even
agriculture and human labor).
What can we do? Can the Lion lay down with the Lamb? Is there in fact
a Lamb, or just Cats of many sizes and stripe? My world is split into
two very distinct camps: 1) Those who believe it is our right, our
destiny, a necessity to be not just predators, but at the pinnacle of
the predatory chain; and 2) those who have no overt wish to be a
predator nor to suffer predation in their name but seem unaware of their
place, their role in the chain.
What I don't see enough of is the latter group understanding that they
(WE) directly benefit (and suffer) from that predation and it is
incumbent on us to find better ways of living in this world. I was a
vegetarian for 17 years roughly because I did not wish to be part of the
system of animal cruelty and abuse that our meat industry had become
(was by it's very nature?). I was raised among simple people who mostly
ate meat from animals that they hunted or raised and slaughtered
themselves. Those cruel realities were something I accepted but never
became numb to, which made the awareness of the meat industry that much
more poignant. If killing, gutting, dismembering and then eating an
animal seems cruel, then doesn't hiring that out to people who have
become so numbed to the process (or were self-selected for that numbness
or even morbid fascination) that they don't notice nor care about the
suffering, compound the cruelty? I found few amongst my vegetarian and
non-vegetarian friends who understood my stance. To most of the
former, any killing of an animal was unthinkable (though cute ones even
moreso than the ugly), and to most of the latter, it was a simple matter
of "don't-ask, don't tell"... with only a few seeming to revel in the
predation directly and virtually none looking at the situation as a
"system".
And I find our global situation today to be quite similar... those who
revel in predation in the world, and those who prefer to hire it out and
whine when they accidentally notice what they've hired out. When we go
all "shock and awe" on a relatively innocent population or we destroy
whole ecosystems with a "minor" error in judgement or execution of our
petroleum extraction and transport. We know who to hate when they get
caught red handed, but meanwhile we buy their products, we take profits
from investing in their "corporations" or "commodities", and we enjoy
the fruits of their predation but don't think much past that, or know
what else to do.
Me too. Sadly, me too. I have my "tricks for reducing my carbon
footprint", of "organic, macrobiotic consumption", etc. and I try to
speak out against the most egregious acts of my leaders and the
military-industrial complex which I support through my taxes and my
consumerism... but I don't really do much to change the fundamental
problems. I may worry and I may posture but mostly I just continue to
help feed the dysfunctional feedback loop.
I know this may sound like self-flagellation and perhaps it is, but it
is these pivotal moments of reflection (9/12/2001 or this week for
example) are the times when we have a chance to look a little deeper
into the mirrors held up by such events.
I also have hope that more and more awareness is rising amongst us,
including those who might be in a position to make important changes and
that the rest of us are ready to follow or to pitch in as needed if a
better way is found/discovered/recognized/created, if another basin of
attraction can be tumbled into. Is there a kinder, gentler basin or
attraction to wander in than the predatory one we inhabit now? The
middle east seems to be in just such a bifurcation moment where many are
finally able to pitch in or at least cooperate with the changes and
maybe find new stable, life-affirming orbits. They had to be ready for
it for it to happen and to play along. Are we?
Thanks again to Mohammed for his poem and Peggy's response and to all
the rest here who are using this moment to reflect rather than react,
and maybe to look for hopeful alternatives to our clearly hopeless
chasing of our own tails in the exploitative, consumerist cycles we are in.
- Steve
In response to Mohammed Beltagy's few lines of poetry related to Osama
Bin Laden's death:
Thank you for submitting those.
Though this situation is/was one fraught with fear, anger,
retaliation, and, as you mention, hatred, we as a country responded in
such a way that had me choking a bit on the size of the response and
lack of control of the response, and also our unwillingness, our
continued unwillingness to face some of the responsibility for the
anger and hatred that engendered the original 9/11 attack. And though
I do not believe that terrorist attacks of that nature are necessarily
the result of any nation's specific actions -- and are more often an
irrational result of an acumulation of anger, hatred for a sumtotal of
causes and events over a long history, still, it is always wise to
take a look at one's own actions to see how they might have elicited
any tiny part of an action. We have become a country that seems to use
war, rather than alternative actions, as a way to convince ourselves
we are addressing our problems. I find our own international actions
have become extremely warlike and predatorial in nature, rather than
thoughtful, scientific responses to overwhelming environmental and
resource problems. And though I do not condone or support in any way a
terrorist action, I think we need to face that we too are looked on,
often, as predatorial, warring peoples by some other countries, and
this does not help our international presence, or our own national
pocketbooks/budget, or even help us move toward good answers to
international problems.
so thanks.
Peggy Miller
--
Peggy Miller, owner/OEO
Highland Winds
wix.com/peggymiller/highlandwinds
<http://wix.com/peggymiller/highlandwinds>
Shop is at 1520 S. 7th St. W. (Just west of Russell)
Art, Photography, Herbs and Writings
406-541-7577 (home/office/shop)
Shop Hours: Wed-Thurs 3-7 pm
Fri-Sat: 8:30-12:30 am
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
