Japan and most of east asia (china, phillipines etc) are still not on the best of terms. What is history and what is recent past are very subjective. Its great that many animosities went by in a couple of generations -- that is source of hope that things turn out well. It is also true that some didn't -- and that is a warning that things can go wrong.
Blind optimism that all animosity goes away is idiocy. Some of it needs harder scrubbing to wipe out. You need to understand that. Being optimistic about it is correct attitude as long as you realize it doesnt happen that way always. Each of these case is different enough that the only "rule" you can carry over from one to the next is: everyones better off if its worked out instead of letting it smoulder. You dont whack bin laden on the head and say "dude, be enlightened. Dont harbor hatred of centuries past." That wont work. He already has it. He is a gone case. What is important is to realise that whether its unenlightened or not, such hatred exists and its better dealth with before it causes a disaster. And all this has nothing to do with the queen. This is even more OT and only started because I responded to someone's post about not pulling up things from long ago. And I am not learning history at princeton. On the contrary, I avoid all current news which isnt of immediate significant impact to my day to day life. On Wed, Apr 10, 2002 at 10:05:39AM -0700, Bob Blakely wrote: > Idiocy! > > The Canadians (then actually the Brits) burned down our White House! This is >history. Now > we are the best of friends. My Mom cherishes a book titled "Between Friends". It's a >photo > essay with photographs of every inch of the Canadian - American boarder. The Brits > declared war on us after the revolution (often referred to as the rebellion in >Briton) - > the War of 1812. When we had our Civil War, they sided with the Confederacy. Today >we are > the best of friends. Japan was once our enemy having bombed Pearl Harbor and >destroying > most of our Navy. We fought a long and bloody war with them and with Germany as well. > Today we are friends with both, and Americans think very highly of Japan and >Germany. They > are not a danger to us any more, nor are we a danger to them. We are the best of >friends. > Vietnam is over and we lost. We still have within us some serious negative feelings >about > each other, but we are both trying to "normalize" relations. The present vestiges of > animosity will dissipate when my generation is gone. History is to learn from, not to > ferment the hate of centuries from. > > September 11 is a clear and present danger, not just to the US, but to the entire > civilized world. It is not history. It is current events with current impact. It >comes > with the danger of the same persons spawning further, similar incidents. When all is >past > into history and the danger is (hopefully) over, we will eventually be friends. This >is > considerably more enlightened thought than the harboring the hatred of centuries >past. > > It amazes me that you appear unable to see the difference. What the hell are you >doing at > Princeton? Learning only the events of history and non of it's lessons? > > Regards, > Bob... > ------------------------------- > "In the carboniferous epoch > we were promised perpetual peace. > They swore if we gave up our weapons > that the wars of the tribes would cease. > But when we disarmed they sold us, > and delivered us, bound, to our foe. > And the gods of the copybook headings said, > 'Stick to the devil you know.' " > --Rudyard Kipling > > From: "Nitin Garg" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > On Tue, Apr 09, 2002 at 10:14:35PM -0400, Paul Stenquist wrote: > > > Nitin Garg wrote: > > > > > > > > On Tue, Apr 09, 2002 at 04:39:59PM -0700, Bill D. Casselberry wrote: > > > > > Nitin wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > Doesnt always work. Did the US govt say that to sept 11 and move on ? > > > > > > That has nothing to do with the death of a lady who was incidental to > > > world politics. You are not thinking very clearly, Nitin. > > > > It has if u bother to stop and think about what it was said in response > > to. You dont always let go of something which happens saying oh, its > > becuase of a heap of history. No one thinks bin laden was a victim and > > pushed into terrorism (well maybe his supporters do). You hold him > > RESPONSIBLE for what he did. You dont say well so and so things happened > > in his life which made him do so but otherwise he is good man. So you > > cant say hey she just happened to become queen and her ancestors did all > > the colonization. She continued it and by that endorsed it. Even though > > one is not responsible for what was done in past but one can become a > > party to it depending upon how you choose to react to it. Some do > > remember what your predecessors did and DO hold you responsible (you can > > say its shouldnt be so, but if it is, it is). Sept 11 wouldnt have > > happened if no one was like that. No one is going to land a plane in > > buckingham palace but some do hold its present and past inhabitants > > responsible for a lot (even if it was done passively). > > > > > > > > > > So while many may rightly feel loss at her death, there are others in > > > > the world who are, again rightly, not at all unhappy about her death. > > > > > > Only a mindless few. > > > > Even if they indeed are few and are mindless, they exist and exist in > > this world. Which is what i said to begin with. Not everyone is sad to > > see her die. Also this is a dangerous classification to make. For eg, I > > KNOW a fair fraction of indians dont like british in general (and > > british authorities in particular). With a population of over a billion, > > that is NOT FEW (Its more than the population of US itself if I > > extrapolate from fractions I know). Second, calling them "mindless" is > > only refusing to try to see WHY they might have such an opinion. And > > that is only inviting disasters in future (like sept 11 was). One may > > wipe out taliban once but what about 20yrs down the line when their > > children grow up remembering the bombs that destroyed their lives ? Its > > likely they will grow up hating a lot of things (of course its possible > > to do "something" to prevent/control this). > - > This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, > go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to > visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org . - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
