Mark Warschauer wrote: >> Maybe we should start a 'Blogs for bombs' amnesty program, where >> people trade bombs for a voice on the internet. While that may sound >> stupid and perhaps facetious, it's a blind stab at part of the problem - >> when people feel they must resort to violence, it is usually because >> they do not believe that they are being heard. > > > I would suggest, instead, that when people resort to violence, it is > usually because they believe it is a means to achieve their ends. > Political violence in Iraq today is mostly being organized and > propagated by two groups: (1) ex-Baathists, who previously ran the > entire country for their own economic and social privilege, and wish > to return to such a state of affairs; and (2) extreme Islamists, who > wish to impose a Taliban-style regime. I doubt if either of these > groups will find blogs as a reasonable alternative to bombs.
There's another side to this coin as well, and that's the whole point. Even a troubled child lashes out for attention, and we don't paint them as making political statements or enforcing a 'way of life'. When a society does it, it is easy to say that they are bad and should be killed. Some famous people in history have used this as a case for war. "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable." - John F. Kennedy, on Latin America. Now if we consider that quote in a balanced way, either side isn't responsible as much as *both* sides are responsible. But maybe you're right. Maybe there are just a bunch of bad people in the world. That seems a lot simpler to deal with. Whether it's right, well... that's an issue that would require both sides communicating without bullets. Ain't happening. And that, too, is the point. -- Taran Rampersad Presently in: Panama City, Panama [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.knowprose.com http://www.easylum.net http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/Taran "Criticize by creating." — Michelangelo _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
