A Necessary Mea Culpa

Authoritarianism, sectarianism, corruption, cronyism, lack of interest in developing our societies, beyond the introduction of certain consumerist façades, these things existed long before the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The U.S. invasion of Iraq merely removed a lid on all this. I am not saying no major fuckups were made during the invasion and ensuing occupation, for there were plenty. Still, the idea that we were better off somehow before is a lie we tell ourselves, and others, so that we can continue shirking responsibility for who we are and what we are doing to each other.

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On Heresy & Apostasy in Politics and Religion

The burning of adherents of the pantheistic Amalrician sect in 1210, in the presence of King Philip II Augustus. (Wikipedia)

It is not easy for me to criticize an American president, irrespective of his ideological background, because when I do, my criticism often get used by all sorts of anti-American forces in the Arab World, and beyond, in their attack against America and American values, that is, the very values which I long came to embrace, albeit always critically. For, to me, America is an idea, a worthy idea, whose advancement requires critical adherence not blind faith, and armies of analysts and scientists not militias and informants.

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Will we ever be ready? Will the day ever come?

Mass burial for the victims of the Houla Massacre, Syria - May 29, 2012 — Mass burial for the victims of the Houla Massacre, Syria – May 29, 2012

When will we ever be ready to act right, not just speak it, and make that the norm?

All political considerations aside, I simply cannot believe that ten thousand years after the emergence of the first city states, five thousand years after the invention of the first alphabet and the introduction of the first legal code, more than sixty years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and close to 10 years since the formulation of the Responsibility to Protect, world leaders still lack the political will to stand up to mass murder, to say “no,” to prevent it from happening when the signs are there, and to quickly stop it when it occurs and bring the culprits to justice.

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The Worst are Kings

The greatest irony of them all is that we have to wait for the worst of us to decide to do the right thing, by some stroke of unexpected genius or luck, in order for life to go on and for progress to be made. It is the worst of us who dictate the pace of our progress. And in order to coax the worst into doing right and joining, if only momentarily, the ranks of the rest, we have to do everything at once: love them, hate them, fight them, cajole them, whatever is necessary, each of us in accordance with his/her inner temperament. There is no right or wrong approach beyond that. To each his/her temperament, to each his/her fate, and to all a haphazard becoming where the worst are kings, and the best fodder. (November 5, 2009)