Normally I don’t like to intrude upon our peaceful little world with news I consider dire and dangerous. But once again I hear the war drums pounding and I feel that I cannot remain silent on the matter. Chris Hedges, who has written one of the best explanations about why people go to war, War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, has been doing some fine reporting. He discards the notion that journalists are objective, and has put his training and experience of reporting from war zones to great use and benefit to all of us. So you really should read his articles at TruthDig.com, and especially the one quoted below. He talks about war as a dangerously flawed and outdated communications tool. Sadly it seems Iran is next on the list of violently insane obsessions. Sometimes I want to cry. I hope some of you out there are brilliant enough to figure out how to put a stop to this madness.
Truthdig - Reports - The Next Quagmire:
But we live in an age where dialogue is dismissed and empathy is suspect. We prefer the illusion that we can dictate events through force. It hasn’t worked well in Iraq. It hasn’t worked well in Afghanistan. And it won’t work in Iran. But those who once tried to reach out and understand, who developed expertise to explain the world to us and ourselves to the world, no longer have a voice in the new imperial project. We are instead governed and informed by moral and intellectual trolls.
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We have rendered the nation deaf and dumb. We no longer have the capacity for empathy. We prefer to amuse ourselves with trivia and gossip that pass for news rather than understand. We are blinded by our military prowess. We believe that huge explosions and death are an effective form of communication. And the rest of the world is learning to speak our language.
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