--- Anne Sandstrom <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> So, am I the only one who seems to be spending most
> of my waking hours
> actually trying to figure out how to solve this
> thing? (Or is that really
> common?) I keep thinking there's a strategy we
> haven't thought of. And I
> keep trying to figure out what that might be.
I do it too - even though, in the end, whatever you
and I or anyone here on this list may think, things
will most likely unfold as they will and we won't have
any control over it. I know that sounds very
pessimistic. I'm trying not to be pessimistic about
it, but it's so hard. I keep thinking if there were
some kind of really smart weapon that could take out
just those who are behind these evil deeds without any
innocent people being hurt... or if there really were
one of those elite forces that could go in and arrest
these guys and try them in a world court... and then
the families of all the victims the world over could
sue bin Laden's ass, and provide education and famine
relief for the people of Afghanistan...
>
> I'm also wondering how we can educate ourselves
> against such attacks. One
> thought I have is that if we all made an effort to
> know our neighbors and
> become real communities again, that's a pretty good
> weapon. It's probably
> one of the most effective weapons the terrorists
> themselves use. (They take
> it to extremes - you have to be related or come from
> the same town to be in
> a cell.) Anyway, that's the beginning of a thought.
> I'll be interested to
> hear others - positive ways we can protect ourselves
> and how to carry out
> the ideas on a day to day basis.
I read a story in the paper today about an airline
captain giving his passengers advice on what to do if
highjackers show up - stand up to them, throw stuff at
their heads, throw blankets and coats over their
heads. Kind of strange, but what is there to lose
that wouldn't be lost anyway in such a case? Maybe we
should form our own cells. There was a Kurt Vonnegut
book (I don't remember which one) where people were
put into clans or families - they didn't have to be
related to each other at all by birth - in fact, it
was better if they weren't and there were maybe only
20 or so of these clans (in the world? in the USA?),
but they all had to look out for each other. I guess
you don't have to organize people into groups like
that but if, as you say, we all get to know our
neighbours better, in the communities where we live,
the communities where we work - or communities like
this one - then we would care about each other and
help each other out. I think we've gotten away from
that too much.
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