Social Progress
October 24th 2006 06:23
SOCIAL PROGRESS
(or Learning From Our Greatest Mistakes, Take #3)
How far have we really come since the Salem Witch Hunts? The Spanish Inquisition? The Holocaust?
We walked on the moon. Built an artificial heart. Passed Equal Opportunity laws for the benefit of non-Caucasians and women. Invented a pill that gives men boners. Our refrigerators can connect to the Internet! Yes, progress is truly a wonderful thing. Despite the occasional cross-burning sheet-wearing horse-riding exception to the rule, modern man as a whole is enlightened – his recognition of his fellow man’s right to live ensures nothing as terrible as that Holocaust business could ever happen again. Right?
For those who didn't know, Herman Goering was the chief of Hitler’s Luftwaffe, and was said to be next in line behind Hitler as fuhrer of the Third Reich. This is an excerpt from Nuremberg Diary by Dave Gilbert, a statement given by Goering to a psychologist whilst on trial for war crimes.
Goering: Why, of course, the people don’t want war. It is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship.
Psychologist: There is one difference. In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives.
Goering: Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.
I think most of us can agree that the Holocaust is the most horrific chapter in recent human history. But, terrible as it may sound, it may have even been a worthwhile tragedy IF we learned something from it as a species. If we saw a certain social pattern in pre-war Germany that would help us to realise when the same forces were at work again.
Please bear with me and try to see the historical parallels I’m trying to point out. Put your outrage at being compared to a National Socialist on the backburner for just a little while, because there is a point here. That point is that tried and true old chestnut, “the only REAL mistakes are the ones you don't learn from.”
In our society, the same wheels which turned in Salem and Nazi Germany are turning again. The ingredients are all there.
Take a population of basically decent people, lay some terrible affliction on them. In Salem it was good Catholics scared to death of things like disease, which they could not explain and thus attributed to black magic. In Germany, it was all the ills plaguing the people – such as the economic strife of the Depression and the oppressive Conditions Of Surrender forced upon them by Western powers after World War 1. In modern Western society, it is the fear of terrorism – the very valid fear of yourself or someone you love, an innocent party, being killed by an extremist lunatic trying to make some abstract statement to the world.
Is there a such thing as a country full of “bad” people? Of course not. Are the troubles plaguing the peoples mentioned above valid causes for concern? Of course they are. No man can be faulted for wanting to protect his loved ones from harm. Unfortunately, this noble urge provides some very strong leverage for powerful people who may not have your best interests in mind.
The second ingredient is someone with a loud voice who focuses that fear and anger onto an external source – someone who can reach a lot of people, who can focus that hatred with powerful language and spur the masses into action. Insert politician/hangman/religious leader here.
The third and final ingredient is, naturally, The Enemy. Witches practicing black magic and casting horrible disease upon the innocent masses. Insidious Christ-killing Jews using their education, business sense and inherent maliciousness to suffocate the economy and starve honest native German families of their means of survival. Muslim extremists who are just so flat-out crazy and full of hatred and holy self-righteousness that they will kill you and everyone else that doesn’t think the way that they do.
Are you seeing a pattern here?
Before the standard pro-war rhetoric starts rolling in, yes, I DO think that terrorism is a grave threat which should be addressed. But I believe in treating the cause, not the symptom. And allowing your fears to be harnessed and manipulated for other people’s gain is only going to strengthen the terrorist cause.
Let’s look at some numbers, beginning with the event which arguably single-handedly caused the snowballing War On Terror – 9/11.
Estimated death toll of September 11 attacks – 2,998 civilians*
Estimated civilians killed by US bombs during invasion of Afghanistan – between 3,500 and 5,000*
Independent estimate of Iraqi civilians killed during Iraq War – between 45,000 and 49,000, and counting**
The press at large is disturbingly hung up on the amount of Coalition soldiers killed in action – just edging over 3,000 I believe, which is a tragedy in itself. But based on those figures, who is REALLY losing this war?
Civilians, who have done nothing wrong and did not ask for war.
Civilians who did not vote for Saddam Hussein or the Taliban – both regimes installed and aided by the American government in decades past.
People like you and everyone you love – the people our governments claim to be protecting.
But it’s not a losing situation for absolutely everyone. I have to tell you, some people are making a lot of money out of this war. For example, Dick Cheney is the former CEO of Halliburton, possibly the largest oil company in the US. He still holds $8 million worth of Halliburton stock, and continues to receive an undisclosed amount of income from the company every year. Shortly after Bush stood saluting on the aircraft carrier and declared “mission accomplished”, Halliburton was awarded a $7 billion no-bid contract to put out the fires in the Iraqi oil fields. Much of Cheney's personal wealth (estimated between $30 and $100 million USD) is stemmed directly from his post at Halliburton.
John Howard and his lackeys have gravely misled Australia under the guise of protecting it. The greatest amount of protesters in Australian history (100,000 in Sydney alone) marched in 2003 to argue against the war. Howard went on record referring to them as a “mob” who “had not properly made up their minds on this issue”.
He went to war anyway, in their name – the people who elected him to represent them.
The blood of almost fifty thousand innocent Iraqis is on the hands of Bush, Howard and Blair.
Our society is travelling down a disastrous path. One it has walked before, which led to the greatest tragedies of man’s history. We’ve seen what happens when a nation’s fears and good intentions are manipulated by a few for their own sordid ends. But it’s not too late to turn back.
This time, let’s learn from our mistakes.
* Source - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1740538.stm
** Source - http://www.iraqbodycount.org/
(or Learning From Our Greatest Mistakes, Take #3)
Ask yourself, “Will I burn in hell?”
Then write it down, and cast it in the well.
There they are, the mob that cries for blood.
To twist the tale, into firewood.
Fan the flames, with a little lie.
Turn the cheek, until the fire dies.
The skin it peels, like the truth away.
What it was, I will never say…
Holdin’ hands, skippin’ like a stone.
Burn the witch, burn to ash and bone.
- Queens Of The Stone Age, “Burn The Witch”.
Then write it down, and cast it in the well.
There they are, the mob that cries for blood.
To twist the tale, into firewood.
Fan the flames, with a little lie.
Turn the cheek, until the fire dies.
The skin it peels, like the truth away.
What it was, I will never say…
Holdin’ hands, skippin’ like a stone.
Burn the witch, burn to ash and bone.
- Queens Of The Stone Age, “Burn The Witch”.
We walked on the moon. Built an artificial heart. Passed Equal Opportunity laws for the benefit of non-Caucasians and women. Invented a pill that gives men boners. Our refrigerators can connect to the Internet! Yes, progress is truly a wonderful thing. Despite the occasional cross-burning sheet-wearing horse-riding exception to the rule, modern man as a whole is enlightened – his recognition of his fellow man’s right to live ensures nothing as terrible as that Holocaust business could ever happen again. Right?
For those who didn't know, Herman Goering was the chief of Hitler’s Luftwaffe, and was said to be next in line behind Hitler as fuhrer of the Third Reich. This is an excerpt from Nuremberg Diary by Dave Gilbert, a statement given by Goering to a psychologist whilst on trial for war crimes.
Goering: Why, of course, the people don’t want war. It is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship.
Goering: Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.
I think most of us can agree that the Holocaust is the most horrific chapter in recent human history. But, terrible as it may sound, it may have even been a worthwhile tragedy IF we learned something from it as a species. If we saw a certain social pattern in pre-war Germany that would help us to realise when the same forces were at work again.
Please bear with me and try to see the historical parallels I’m trying to point out. Put your outrage at being compared to a National Socialist on the backburner for just a little while, because there is a point here. That point is that tried and true old chestnut, “the only REAL mistakes are the ones you don't learn from.”
In our society, the same wheels which turned in Salem and Nazi Germany are turning again. The ingredients are all there.
Take a population of basically decent people, lay some terrible affliction on them. In Salem it was good Catholics scared to death of things like disease, which they could not explain and thus attributed to black magic. In Germany, it was all the ills plaguing the people – such as the economic strife of the Depression and the oppressive Conditions Of Surrender forced upon them by Western powers after World War 1. In modern Western society, it is the fear of terrorism – the very valid fear of yourself or someone you love, an innocent party, being killed by an extremist lunatic trying to make some abstract statement to the world.
Is there a such thing as a country full of “bad” people? Of course not. Are the troubles plaguing the peoples mentioned above valid causes for concern? Of course they are. No man can be faulted for wanting to protect his loved ones from harm. Unfortunately, this noble urge provides some very strong leverage for powerful people who may not have your best interests in mind.
The second ingredient is someone with a loud voice who focuses that fear and anger onto an external source – someone who can reach a lot of people, who can focus that hatred with powerful language and spur the masses into action. Insert politician/hangman/religious leader here.
The third and final ingredient is, naturally, The Enemy. Witches practicing black magic and casting horrible disease upon the innocent masses. Insidious Christ-killing Jews using their education, business sense and inherent maliciousness to suffocate the economy and starve honest native German families of their means of survival. Muslim extremists who are just so flat-out crazy and full of hatred and holy self-righteousness that they will kill you and everyone else that doesn’t think the way that they do.
Are you seeing a pattern here?
Before the standard pro-war rhetoric starts rolling in, yes, I DO think that terrorism is a grave threat which should be addressed. But I believe in treating the cause, not the symptom. And allowing your fears to be harnessed and manipulated for other people’s gain is only going to strengthen the terrorist cause.
Let’s look at some numbers, beginning with the event which arguably single-handedly caused the snowballing War On Terror – 9/11.
Estimated death toll of September 11 attacks – 2,998 civilians*
Estimated civilians killed by US bombs during invasion of Afghanistan – between 3,500 and 5,000*
Independent estimate of Iraqi civilians killed during Iraq War – between 45,000 and 49,000, and counting**
The press at large is disturbingly hung up on the amount of Coalition soldiers killed in action – just edging over 3,000 I believe, which is a tragedy in itself. But based on those figures, who is REALLY losing this war?
Civilians, who have done nothing wrong and did not ask for war.
Civilians who did not vote for Saddam Hussein or the Taliban – both regimes installed and aided by the American government in decades past.
People like you and everyone you love – the people our governments claim to be protecting.
But it’s not a losing situation for absolutely everyone. I have to tell you, some people are making a lot of money out of this war. For example, Dick Cheney is the former CEO of Halliburton, possibly the largest oil company in the US. He still holds $8 million worth of Halliburton stock, and continues to receive an undisclosed amount of income from the company every year. Shortly after Bush stood saluting on the aircraft carrier and declared “mission accomplished”, Halliburton was awarded a $7 billion no-bid contract to put out the fires in the Iraqi oil fields. Much of Cheney's personal wealth (estimated between $30 and $100 million USD) is stemmed directly from his post at Halliburton.
John Howard and his lackeys have gravely misled Australia under the guise of protecting it. The greatest amount of protesters in Australian history (100,000 in Sydney alone) marched in 2003 to argue against the war. Howard went on record referring to them as a “mob” who “had not properly made up their minds on this issue”.
He went to war anyway, in their name – the people who elected him to represent them.
The blood of almost fifty thousand innocent Iraqis is on the hands of Bush, Howard and Blair.
Our society is travelling down a disastrous path. One it has walked before, which led to the greatest tragedies of man’s history. We’ve seen what happens when a nation’s fears and good intentions are manipulated by a few for their own sordid ends. But it’s not too late to turn back.
This time, let’s learn from our mistakes.
* Source - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1740538.stm
** Source - http://www.iraqbodycount.org/
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Comment by Anonymous
nice article, as always
i actually think your estimate of civilian deaths is quite conservative - see this article for further details you may find it interesting, especially given the number of reputable signitories:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/the-iraq-deaths-study-was-valid-and-correct/2006/10/20/1160851135985.html?page=fullpage
-Nick
Comment by Connor
Middle Class Guilt