Not so long ago, I was like many USians. I had some unease about the situation in Gaza, but I really didn't know all that much about it. If you pressed me with the right questions, I would have probably given answers that could be taken out of context in a poll to say I supported whatever position you wanted to indicate people support, but in conversation I would have probably copped out with, "well, it's really complicated."
In the last year, I've come to see things as far less complicated. There is nothing complicated about pager bombs. It's just evil.
I'm not saying I've become an expert on the Israel/Palestine situation, or that I have an informed opinion about a solution to these problems, but I know with every fiber of my being that I do not support my taxes going to fund people doing this sort of thing, or any of the other genocidal actions Netanyahu has been behind. It's very, very simple.
To avoid being too inflammatory, I've been saying that half of Netanyahu's government wants to replay the Armenian genocide on the Palestinians. It's becoming harder not believe that this is the majority view in Israel. The plucky young democracy that held off 21 Arab nations when I was young has become just one more regional power yearning to play in the 19th Century's great game.
Meanwhile, as Tom Friedman says, Iran is prepared to fight Israel to the last Palestinian and Lebanese. Iran's government is every bit as bad as Israel's and arguably worse. They too are more concerned with their standing as a regional power than with anything important to the average Iranian.
I am not proud of this, but I am beginning to glaze over at the death and destruction in Gaza and Lebanon and Sudan and Kashmir and... No one remembers the people who starved when their crops were burned during the Hundred Years War or the time of the Three Kingdoms. As Rick Blaine said to Ilsa Lund, "the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world." For most of history, the problems of little people did not matter past the edge of their family or maybe the edge of their town. I know that if fascists can't get you to hate, the want you to despair. I haven't lost all hope, but it's getting harder. I think Harris can win. Harris is no savior, but her victory would be a small step away from the abyss. The alternative is a world where life becomes brutish, nasty, and short.
Regardless, you lay out the situation where the causes and choices are clear. It helps clear up my muddle of main stream media and doom scrolling. Many thanks.
Not so long ago, I was like many USians. I had some unease about the situation in Gaza, but I really didn't know all that much about it. If you pressed me with the right questions, I would have probably given answers that could be taken out of context in a poll to say I supported whatever position you wanted to indicate people support, but in conversation I would have probably copped out with, "well, it's really complicated."
In the last year, I've come to see things as far less complicated. There is nothing complicated about pager bombs. It's just evil.
I'm not saying I've become an expert on the Israel/Palestine situation, or that I have an informed opinion about a solution to these problems, but I know with every fiber of my being that I do not support my taxes going to fund people doing this sort of thing, or any of the other genocidal actions Netanyahu has been behind. It's very, very simple.
Same here: exactly this
To avoid being too inflammatory, I've been saying that half of Netanyahu's government wants to replay the Armenian genocide on the Palestinians. It's becoming harder not believe that this is the majority view in Israel. The plucky young democracy that held off 21 Arab nations when I was young has become just one more regional power yearning to play in the 19th Century's great game.
Meanwhile, as Tom Friedman says, Iran is prepared to fight Israel to the last Palestinian and Lebanese. Iran's government is every bit as bad as Israel's and arguably worse. They too are more concerned with their standing as a regional power than with anything important to the average Iranian.
I am not proud of this, but I am beginning to glaze over at the death and destruction in Gaza and Lebanon and Sudan and Kashmir and... No one remembers the people who starved when their crops were burned during the Hundred Years War or the time of the Three Kingdoms. As Rick Blaine said to Ilsa Lund, "the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world." For most of history, the problems of little people did not matter past the edge of their family or maybe the edge of their town. I know that if fascists can't get you to hate, the want you to despair. I haven't lost all hope, but it's getting harder. I think Harris can win. Harris is no savior, but her victory would be a small step away from the abyss. The alternative is a world where life becomes brutish, nasty, and short.
Regardless, you lay out the situation where the causes and choices are clear. It helps clear up my muddle of main stream media and doom scrolling. Many thanks.