If you observe a moment of silence today in honor of the 3000 Americans who died in the 9/11 attacks, I hope you do the same for the 3000 Iraqis who died last month in the war, and the 3000 who are dying this month, and the 3000 who will die next month… By valuing all human life equally, rather than thinking of American lives as being worth more than other lives, we could eliminate one of the primary reasons why the world hates America.
posted by howtolive.org at
8:01 AM
8 Comments:
September 11, 1973 is also the day in which many chilean students along with the president, Salvador Allende, were killed in the Palacio de la Moneda. This day marked the beginning of a terrorist movement by the government against its own people. Kidnappings, tortures and disappearances were commonplace. Chilean lives lost and wounds that haven't healed are also mourned by me.
By
Anonymous, at 10:47 PM
I also read today that more Americans have now died in the Irag war than in 9/11. I didn't listen to Bush's speech but I'm guessing he "forgot" to mention this fact.
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Anonymous, at 8:26 AM
This should not be a political issue. The fact is that if your father dies or the father of your neighbor two blocks from you dies, you are personally affected by your own father's death more than by the deaths of strangers. So if you lost someone in the attacks or any other political situation, you are more likely going to mourn those more than you would anyone else in the world. The media might manipulate news for their own agendas, but individuals were affected directly. They are still sad and you can't blame them for feeling sad for those who they lost just because it is also portrayed by the media in a certain way.
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Anonymous, at 12:25 PM
I agree that it shouldn't be a political issue, but it is. The white house used the 9/11 anniversary as a political tactic to stir up patriotism which could then be used to encourage people to tolerate the U.S.'s involvement in the war in Iraq a little longer. Unfortunately, this technique works very well, because it's considered almost sacrilegious to be antipatriotic. "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel." – Samuel Johnson, 1775
I do understand that people who lost someone close to them in the attacks are going to mourn those they lost, and this is entirely reasonable. But for the majority of Americans, who didn't lose someone close to them on 9/11, they still probably have the opinion, whether given to them by evolution or the media, that the 3000 lives lost on 9/11 are more important than the 3000 Iraqi lives lost this month (or, for that matter, the 3000 African children who will die from malaria every week and a half).
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howtolive.org, at 8:03 AM
You are not giving people in this country enough credit. And you are making a generalization. Some Americans might be inclined to think the way you describe, it's wrong, I agree. However, more people in this country help in some way or another less fortunate people across the world, including African countries. I would say this is evidence that at least some Americans value life equally across the world.
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Anonymous, at 9:51 AM
Thanks for your reply. You're right, my comment was a generalization. Let me clarify what I intended to say.
The average American (but certainly not every American) cares more about Americans than non-Americans. The same is true of citizens of other nations as well. (The bias is pervasive. As just one example, watch the Olympics and pay attention to who your friends from different countries root for.) There is a genetic predisposition to such a bias, and this bias is magnified and exploited by sovereign states, which call it patriotism but utilize it for jingoistic ends. To be free from such biases, we must reverse both the genetic and memetic factors, which is admittedly not an easy task.
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howtolive.org, at 8:07 AM
This blog should be entitled, "How to live with you mind closed..."
The blatant bias is damning...
Have fun stewing in your own juices, Mr or Ms Liberal...
FETE
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Robohobo53, at 8:22 PM
Robohobo53,
Actually I'm not a liberal... I'm not affiliated with any party. Philosophically I'm probably closer to a libertarian than anything else, but I still disagree with a lot of their platform. I'd be happy to discuss any specific beliefs on which you and I disagree, but just because you and I disagree, that does not mean that I'm closed-minded. Many of my opinions have changed in the last decade, and if you can persuade me I'm wrong about something it could certainly happen again.
By
howtolive.org, at 8:18 AM
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