"Today, we are all Americans." - A lady in France ten years ago (translated)
"United we stand, divided we fall." - Abraham Lincoln, I think?
"Nobody wins a war." - My friend in elementary school
"A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon." - Napoleon Bonaparte
"Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." - Yoda
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." - Albert Einstein
"Love is the flower you've got to let grow." - John Lennon
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Sorry about all the quotes; I was in a bit of a quoting mood. So ten years ago I was in first grade and the World Trade Center was bombed. I remember coming home and seeing the news, but I don't think I fully grasped what had happened at the time. Today I mentally weep for humanity, for as much as it is expanding, it is also eating itself up. While we might be the most intelligent race in terms of technological advancement, we seem to have the worst judgment. While there are certain types of fauna which take the lives of their own kind, we ought to know better. We knowingly torture, kill, lie, steal, rape, cheat, and so on. If there is a God, [He] must have lost control of us, or perhaps it is [His] plan to have us end the world. Perhaps the Big Crunch will be our mortician or janitor, to sweep away a barren world.
Osama Bin Laden, the man responsible for the bombings, was recently assassinated by our troops. I do not agree with what the man did. I don't miss him. And yet, does killing a killer reduce the number of corpses? Very unpatriotic. George Washington must be spitting from heaven. It's like if a child gets into trouble for fighting and the parent hits him to teach him violence is wrong. Or saying "Do not swear, dammit!" [see "Bad Words" - a recent post of mine]. This makes us no better than anyone else. If a police officer shoots a criminal who draws a gun first, that's one thing. But putting the criminal away and executing him or her? Murder is murder, no matter what clothes it wears.
This is one of many reasons I won't join the military. I am willing to defend who I love, but I don't go looking for trouble. It finds me. (And yes, I just quoted Harry Potter.) And to quote Ringo Starr:
Peace and love!!!!
- Lewis
There are, actually, two species that go to war without any apparent reason: us, and chimpanzees. It's always a group of young males, and even if they have plenty of land and resources, they'll go beat up other tribes just because.
ReplyDeleteSo while humans have the capacity for better judgement, you menfolk simply can't help yourselves, apparently. (Also, men are something like over 800 times more likely to commit a violent crime solely because of the Y chromosome)
Oh, I didn't know either of those things. I personally am nonviolent, but the rule may apply to many others (and I have witnessed it). I think many of us *can* help it, such as myself, but some choose not to.
ReplyDeleteHowever, that sparks my long-undecided self-debate as to whether biological/chemical/psychological-etc. factors determine everything: do we really have a choice? It's like in Terminator when they say the future's not set. Well, is it? We may never know, with all the different elements of the world affecting one another, but we may be bound to do certain things due to genetics and upbringing. Or perhaps it's a blend of both, such as Draco Malfoy (I always said he'd be nicer if he was raised differently, and when he got older he was sort of OK - so I was kind of correct). Influence thing.
...I digress, but did that make sense to you? Wording and all?