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The most powerful military the world has ever known already exists; and it would not be capable of "fixing" North Korea or Libya without sustaining (and more im
by run4yourlives 15y ago
The most powerful military the world has ever known already exists; and it would not be capable of "fixing" North Korea or Libya without sustaining (and more importantly, inflicting) significant casualties. The best course of action, militarily speaking, would probably be to significantly nuke Pyongyang quickly and have S. Korea take over administration of the country. This is not politically or morally acceptable.
That's part of the problem: The moment you declare a regime as morally bankrupt, you are stating your own goals are somehow more enlightened and worthy. In some cases this works, like against the Nazis, but in most, like the Yugoslav war you cite, it's only a matter of opinion - For every Srebrenica there is a Krajina, unfortunately. The people involved in such generational hatred do not escape their own guilt, regardless of which particular side they may be on in any particular indecent. Getting involved in these quagmires often only intensifies the conflicting hatred for a later date. Even worse, who then protects us from the protectors?
Your desire is a noble one but unfortunately completely at odds with human nature.
- Jun8 15y agoI totally agree with your points (i.e. "who watches the Watchmen" and accumulative hatred) but I'm not happy to be so. Goethe said that "to be pleased with one's limits is a wretched state". Even if we're not pleased with the notion that no better solution exists (or can be found), still it makes one sad about humanity.
- run4yourlives 15y agoThat is a totally valid feeling. Of course these are just extensions of our own personal hatreds and prejudices. The best way to change them is to change these feelings within yourself.
- Jun8 15y agoThis I totally disagree with. Saying there's no evident solution for a problem is one thing, stating that the problem is actually "imagined" or just has something to do with our perception is a totally different thing. I believe in cultural relativism only weakly, I firmly believe there are well-defined wrongs: female circumcision is wrong (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/12/opinion/12kristof.html?_r=1&hp http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/12/opinion/12kristof.html?_r=...), putting your own citizens in concentration camps is wrong, etc. To say that these acts are unequivocally wrong has nothing to do with "our own personal hatreds and prejudices".
- run4yourlives 15y agoUm, I didn't say the problem was imagined. I said the problem on a macro scale is just the extension of behaviours on a micro scale. In other words: the best way to change the world is to change the person looking back at you in the mirror. The extension of your hatred, your desire for revenge, your jealousy, your moral outrage is all these things you are complaining about.