Hate takes a lot of work to keep it going:
I don?t think it can survive unless it is continuously fed. You would need a constant rage in your life to feed from, to go back to for replenishment. A constant reminder of what it is that keeps you focused. You would need to be conditioned to the point where if someone felt some compassion for you, this would transform automatically into an intense need to seek safety in the one thing no one can touch which is self hatred, because no one knows you better than yourself.
Imagine, for a moment, that you emerge from your safety net of hate and there are people everywhere ready to shake your very foundation, to tell you that you are a good person and that it is okay to feel compassion for another human being.
I really can't believe you are trying to describe that as one of our effects in Iraq. Hint: They ain't blowing themselves up because they feel like we're threatening their emotional safety net... Telling them to have compassion is not exactly what is pissing them off...
But in case you've not noticed, they're currently more interested in getting back to the centuries old Shiite vs Sunni massacre-fest...
You try to mix in with the crowd briefly and people you don?t know and can?t possibly relate to the depth of your pain and hatred just smile at you and wish you well on your journey. There are children playing in the park nearby and you hear sudden spouts of laughter as a young couple cross the street as they talk of their impending marriage. You start your car, the radio is on and the pleasantry of the music brings a distant sensation you haven?t felt in awhile,
Jesus fuck. Have you actually
been to baghdad. Sudden spurts of laughter are few and far between...
you sense it is strange and you feel yourself slipping away so you quickly turn it off as you speed up the street. Your instincts tell you to accelerate as a dog crosses the street but your foot slips off the peddle as you narrowly miss him.
Dogs are few, and far between in the middle east (regarded as very very unclean). If this guy was going to blow himself up, trust me.. he wouldn't give a damn about the dog.
You make your final left turn as you enter the market place in downtown Baghdad and hold the accelerator to the floor and lock your elbows as you hold the steering wheel with both hands. Your knuckles are white from your grasp, you find it difficult to stare at the people coming up quickly in front of you, is it a weakness to turn away and not look? Is it a sign of compassion? Do y0u need to continuously feed this intense revulsion you have? Why cant it be constant, everlasting and void of pity? You refuse to look away but instead change focus to the icon hanging from your mirror which has always been solitude from your constant hatred but also serves to feed it and today is no exception, you hear distant screams of distress and fear, babies crying???your body goes numb???you slowly but methodically squeeze the button in your hand and you see a white flash and your hatred is transformed into an energy that will effect many lives, it never dies, you have provided food for many others to continue their unconditional antipathy and distaste for anything good and a deep well for replenishment for others??.
Well shit. You almost made a point there... The thing you don't realize is this: They believe they are doing the right thing, that they are holy, that they will be martyred. They would, therefore, fall into my second category... Their leaders, on the other hand... a great many of them view their followers as pawns... potential weapons... The west, and America in particular, is a convenient scapegoat to portray as "Satan". On the other hand, we don't exactly do a good job of trying to show we have their best interests in mind... They don't hate our freedom, they could care less what we do over here. There are many countries that are far more socially liberal and they seem to have avoided planes hitting buildings... what they hate, is our self-serving interference in the region (eg: propping up Saudi government), our one-sided stance in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (in my opinion, both sides are equally at fault), and our hypocritical demands for westernization (which they view as an intrusion into their culture, and it's morality (which we, incidentally find repugnant)). They value different things that we do... Revenge is a part of the culture, expected.. It's considered justice... vengeance.. Good luck preaching your values to that crowd from your high and mighty ivory tower. While you're at it, explain to them how pushing a button, launching a cruise missile, and blowing up an apartment block, exemplifies the height of western civilization and morality. Ask yourself... How many in this country, if the
logistical situation were reversed, and we had none of our modern weaponry, would be willing to sacrifice themselves the way they do... Gives "dying for your country" a whole new meaning doesn't it?
You may say "they're still killing innocent people".. well. In their culture, the believe the righteous will instantly go to heaven... so it's no biggie. And our hands aren't exactly spotless either.
Occasionally you come close to making a decent point, and then i realize how you're completely leaving out another side to the argument. In my opinion, you lack the ability to put yourself in other people's shoes.
All we're doing now in Iraq is propping up a corpse. The Bush adspinistration has it's hand up the ass making it talk. All they Republicans have to do is make it look alive enough to be able to pass the blame over to the democrats... ("Oh MY GOD IT'S DEAD?!?!? The humanity!?!?!? See! It's your fault for not supporting the troops... YOU HATE FREEDOM! You terrist lovers you!...) That isn't to say the Democrats are any better when the situation is reversed... What surprises me, is that, from your rosy depiction of Baghdad, you seem to believe the talking corpse. Me? I doubt everything, do my own research, read all sides(as many as possible, not just
both sides) , and ignore the commentators and "expert analysys". Why? Because when they get IT "experts" on the news, i
know they're full of shit. It's
entertainment[/u]. And I know more than enough about foreign policy, history, and the world to make my own decisions.
As far as hate goes? Hate is just an emotion, there is nothing wrong with it... but you must understand
why the hate exists, and not let it control you.
Hate does not drive me, or my work against Benchmark. There was a time when i must admit, i was filled with rage at Benchmark... However it provided a fuel for my work, rather than a motivation.. and such fuel burns out quickly as you imply. When i think about certain things.. yeah i still get angry, but I also acknowledge the pain that causes it, and that knowledge is what keeps me working... Nobody should have to go through the same thing, and I want it to end. I was given a chance to succeed because my parents showed me compassion, and rejected the "dump him" advice from program. I was given a chance very very few others i knew ever had. I feel like i need to "pass it on"... Because without that chance, I would be struggling to survive rather than speaking out here... and I wonder how long it would take for somebody else to speak out.
