swords, plowshares? tanks, tractors? drones, buses?
Backstory
I often awake in the middle of the night. When I do, I typically will listen to overnight sports radio or the BBC for a while. Or sometimes I check to see if there's a classic old movie on cable TV. Occasionally, I'll watch a bit of "Morning Joe" on MSNBC. This morning, I caught co-host Joe Scarborough in the midst of a heated post-debate exchange with journalist Joe Klein (Joe vs. Joe) about collateral damage in the wake of drone attacks against al Qaeda. Neither backed down from their respective positions. Scarborough, a proud conservative, was apoplectic about the long-term consequences of innocent civilians being killed. (Apparently, he's not a hawk regarding drones.) Klein's reasoning seemed to be that, while regrettable, such "damage" was an unfortunate sidebar to the greater story of rooting out the bad guys. At one point, Klein remarked that, in general, Americans aren't outraged by innocents killed abroad because of "whose life it is". That sentiment, itself, should cause outrage. But the outrage shouldn't be directed at Klein for being callous. It should be directed at ourselves, because he's right. If the day comes when drones are used to go after criminals in this country and collateral damage ensues, outrage will break out such as the world has never seen.So, I ask: Who are the "bad guys" on this planet? Who are the "good guys"? Maybe neither species truly exists. Perhaps, we're all in-between guys. Continually navigating that vast gulf. The good trolling for the best ways to co-exist without resorting to ugly. The bad not giving a damn who's good, who's bad, or who's ugly.
War and Peace. Never "or"? Always "and"?
by Staraj in Six Words Questions on Oct 23, 2012 | 
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Comments
Staraj says,
I agree: Complex questions are "worth debating for hours and days". And we shouldn't be surprised if complex questions result in complex answers. Indeed, we should expect such. So as I reckon, in this so-called democracy of ours, we should continue to ask GOOD questions, and continue to search for GOOD answers. And in so doing, we weigh costs: costs to human life vis–à–vis costs to human livelihood. Thus, we make our choices, and live – or not – with the consequences. Maybe we could call this "collateral damage control".Well reasoned reply, rabbithole.