As many here know, me and everyone down here in the south just survived Hurricane Lili. (We got a direct hit, people like JoBelle got residual effects,... I don't know how hard they were hit, because we had a news blackout when the electricity went out.)
And that news blackout was...interesting and disturbing. I'm used to watching the news daily, I get updated from CNN everytime news ocurs, however small and meaningless. Some celebrity dies, some court verdict is announced that doesn't effect me, Gary Condit has left his house, etc.
But when there's no news, or when you finally get the radio you just get music, songs already played 564 times, well, you start thinking about all those countries where the people hate us, where they are willing to kill us the second we sumble upon their neighborhood. The average American doesn't hate them, and could really care less. That's not in a bad way, we just get a lot of information, we know what's going on (or what the media decides to tell us) so we are somewhat informed. We have whackos, but few believe them.
But we look at these people in the Mid-East, who are willing to blow themslelves up for what they believe, or have been taught, and we think they must be evil or insane, no one in America would do that. Our life is too valuable or that. We're more concerned about prolonging our lives than abrubtly ending it to take it three Jews on a corner somewhere.
We have corrupt politicians, but not nearly on the level that appear in other countries. Mugabe in Zimbabwe is an absolute butcher, and the people live in fea. If he were in America, we'd riot so fast he wouldn't know what to do with himself. We get pissed off because some guy three blocks away is smoking a cigarette. Imagine if land owners were being hacked to death and their farms stolen. Imagine if political opponents were suffering knife attacks. We bitch and complain on both sides about the Florida election debacle, and a lot of that was bad, but Gore and Bush weren't sending their cronies to attack voters.
We ask why those people don't just rebel. Why don't the Iraqi people just rise up and kill Saddam themselves, they all hate him. Why don't all the other people's of the world demand freedom, and fight for it like we do? (Some of us do....at least)
Maybe the lack of news is an aspect. I don't know. Maybe the lack of education, the weakness from hunger, the lack of guns to defend themselves. Maybe something else, or many things together.
And that news blackout was...interesting and disturbing. I'm used to watching the news daily, I get updated from CNN everytime news ocurs, however small and meaningless. Some celebrity dies, some court verdict is announced that doesn't effect me, Gary Condit has left his house, etc.
But when there's no news, or when you finally get the radio you just get music, songs already played 564 times, well, you start thinking about all those countries where the people hate us, where they are willing to kill us the second we sumble upon their neighborhood. The average American doesn't hate them, and could really care less. That's not in a bad way, we just get a lot of information, we know what's going on (or what the media decides to tell us) so we are somewhat informed. We have whackos, but few believe them.
But we look at these people in the Mid-East, who are willing to blow themslelves up for what they believe, or have been taught, and we think they must be evil or insane, no one in America would do that. Our life is too valuable or that. We're more concerned about prolonging our lives than abrubtly ending it to take it three Jews on a corner somewhere.
We have corrupt politicians, but not nearly on the level that appear in other countries. Mugabe in Zimbabwe is an absolute butcher, and the people live in fea. If he were in America, we'd riot so fast he wouldn't know what to do with himself. We get pissed off because some guy three blocks away is smoking a cigarette. Imagine if land owners were being hacked to death and their farms stolen. Imagine if political opponents were suffering knife attacks. We bitch and complain on both sides about the Florida election debacle, and a lot of that was bad, but Gore and Bush weren't sending their cronies to attack voters.
We ask why those people don't just rebel. Why don't the Iraqi people just rise up and kill Saddam themselves, they all hate him. Why don't all the other people's of the world demand freedom, and fight for it like we do? (Some of us do....at least)
Maybe the lack of news is an aspect. I don't know. Maybe the lack of education, the weakness from hunger, the lack of guns to defend themselves. Maybe something else, or many things together.
